Visiting Susiya, Mufaqara and Khashem al Karm

Place:

Masafer Yatta

South Hebron Hills

Susiya

Observers:

Raya (reporting) and Muhammad, and the guests Orli, Miri, Yotvat, Ruthi L., Ruthi K., Yair, Ora, Yaffe. Editing: Mira Balaban; Translator: Natanya

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May-15-2023

Morning

Mufaqara - happy hospitality by Fadel

Photo:

Raya Yeor

Khashem al Karm– with na’ib in the diwan

Photo:

Raya Yeor

A tour for Raya's Israel Trail group.

We started the tour in Susiya (the Palestinian). We stayed with Wadhah and Azzam. They told how they were moved from their place of residence in the Susiya Antiquities area, which is now part of the Susiya settlement, to the current area where they live. They told about the difficult life in the neighbourhood of the Jewish Susiya. The guests listened attentively, expressed sympathy, and bought Wadhah's own produce: fine za'atar and labaneh.

We continued to Fadel who resides with his two wives, his children and the herd in a cave in al-Mufaqara, south of the Abigail outpost. Fadel told the group about the harassments that have increased in recent times, mainly directed at Abigail settlers. It is said that there is a herdsman from Abigail who often calls the army and the police, with the aim of destroying, harassing and driving away his family and neighbours from their place of residence in the south of Mount Hebron. A Sisyphean struggle every day.

The continuation of the tour was in Khashem al-Karm, which is on the road between Umm al-Kheir and Hashem al-Daraj, deep in the area. We visited Na’ib's hospitality tent. We have been here before following demolitions and a demolition order for the school. Na’ib told about the many demolition orders, and the demolition order that still threatens the school.

We finished the tour with a trip to wonderful winter pools, located on a dirt road beyond Khashem al-Daraj. This is probably the water park of the area. Let's hope that settlers don't take over this coveted corner as well. In Khashem al-Daraj we were already told that there is a settler who has established his residence in the abandoned building of the Jordanian Umm-Daraj police. Fortunately, it is not possible to establish a sheep farm here, since there is no pasture for sheep.

Location Description

Yata / Southern Hebron hills

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Yatta is a city located in the South Hebron Hills region. It is located in the border zone between the fertile area of Hebron and its surroundings and the desert of the Hebron Hills. Yatta has about 64,000 inhabitants. The surrounding villages are called Masafar Yatta (Yatta's daughter villages). Their inhabitants subsist on livestock and agriculture. Agriculture is possible only in small plots, especially near streams. Most of the area consists of rocky terraces.

Since the beginning of the 1980s, a number of settlements have been established on the agricultural land cultivated by the Palestinians in the South Hebron Hills region: Carmel, Maon, Susia, Masadot Yehuda, Othniel, and more. Since the settlements were established and Palestinians cultivation areas have been reduced; the residents of the South Hebron Hills have been suffering from harassment by the settlers. Attempts to evict and demolish houses have continued, along with the withholding of water and electricity. The military and police usually refrain from intervening in violent incidents between settlers and Palestinians do not enforce the law when it comes to the investigation of extensive violent Jewish settlers. The harassment in the South Hebron Hills includes attacking and attempting to burn residential tents, harassing dogs, harming herds, and preventing access to pastures.

There are several checkpoints in the South Hebron Hills, on Routes 317 and 60. In most of them, no military presence is apparent, but rather an array of pillboxes monitor the villages. Road blocks are frequently set up according to the settlers and the army's needs. These are located at the Zif Junction, the Dura-al Fawwar crossing, and the Sheep Junction at the southern entrance to Hebron.

Updated April 2022

רהווה - ככה חיה משפחת אבו שארח' ברהווה בוואדי למרגלות ההתנחלות טנא עומרים

Apr-25-2024

Michal Tsadik

Rahwa - this is how the Abu Sharakh family lives in the Wadi at the foot of the Tene Omarim settlement

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Susiya

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The Palestinian area lies between the settlement of Susya and a military base.
The residents began to settle in areas outside the villages in the 1830s and lived in caves, tents and sukkot. To this day they maintain a traditional lifestyle and their livelihood is based on agriculture and herding. Until the 1948 war, the farmers cultivated areas that extended to the Arad area. As a result of the war, a significant portion of their land left on the Israeli side was lost. After the 1967 war and the Israeli occupation, military camps were established in the area, fire zones and nature reserves were declared, and the land area was further reduced.

The Jewish settlement in Susya began in 1979. Since then, there has been a stubborn struggle to remove the remains of Palestinian residents who refuse to leave their place of birth and move to nearby town Yatta. With the development of a tourist site in Khirbet Susya in the late 1980s (an ancient synagogue), dozens of families living in caves in its vicinity were deported. In the second half of the 1990s, a new form of settlement developed in the area - shepherds' farms of individual settlers. This phenomenon increased the tension between the settlers and the original, Palestinian residents, and led to repeated harassment of the residents of the farms towards the Palestinians. At the same time, demolition of buildings and crop destruction by security forces continued, as well as water and electricity prevention. In the Palestinian Susya, as in a large part of the villages of the southern Hebron Mountains, there is no running water, but the water pipe that supplies water to the Susya Jewish settlement passes through it. Palestinians have to buy expensive water that comes in tankers. Solar electricity is provided by a collector system, installed with donation funds. But the frequent demolitions in the villages do not spare water cisterns or the solar panels and power poles designed to transfer solar electricity between the villages.

Updated April 2021, Anat T.