Masafer Yatta - a visit to Khalet al-daba'

This time, Natanya joined the shift because Anat Tuag had asked her to write, in her special style and from her point of view, about what was happening in Masafer Yatta. 

We went to At-Tuwani to meet the activist, Nasser Adara, to hear what they had been going through in the last few days.

Since we also met Fuad at the entrance to the village, we also asked him to join, because he heads an organization which struggles for their right to this land. He has already told us in the past and we have already reported  all he told us about what it is to live in that area.

Both told of the confiscation of vehicles of people who came to visit their family members on the holiday, even though the vehicles are legal and hold permits. The military claimed they were traveling in a closed military area. And really, in the last two months the army has turned the area into a firing zone, and only allows those who live there and are registered as such to walk around there.

Fuad tells of a large fence being built near Jimba. In his opinion, they intend to use it to demarcate the entire area and evacuate the people. According to his explanation, when the area is empty of people, then according to the agreement with Trump, it will be possible to annex it to Israel.

He and his friends are very active and are negotiating with the administration, regarding permits to live here. They are also protesting that the settlers are evidently fireproof and they do not have to leave these declared areas of fire.

The dialogue takes place only ostensibly because there is no real meeting of the opinions and plans of the two sides

We drove to Khalet al-Daba’.

From there we have the chance to see the whole area of Masafer Yatta.

We also wanted to see the holes in the ceiling of a house punctured by a machine gun bullet, and to hear from the people themselves how they are. We saw the holes in the tin ceiling where Sa’ud Dababse and his family live. They showed us the army base from which they thought the bullet was fired. Sa’ud says the army came to check the holes in the ceiling, and admitted that it looked like a bullet, but it could not be proven that it was caused by them. (Maybe it came from another planet)

Near the house they had set up a large tent donated to them by the PA fire services. The tent is large, spacious and equipped, and can be used for many purposes, including gatherings and residences.

Their neighbor, Jaber Dababse, arrived, who is also active in the organization which they set up to protect the villages and the land. This is  similar to the organization of Nasser from At-Tuwani. Jaber says that in the last six years their situation has deteriorated greatly, and they are suffering from the army and the settlers. The settlers burned fields, stole water, uprooted and burned the olive trees which the Palestinians had  planted. Until 6 years ago the situation was tolerable, somehow, but recently everything has gotten worse. They have no water, living conditions are more difficult, houses are demolished . In these harsh conditions families are thrown out into the sun, wind and cold.