Dura-Al Fawwar Junction, Sansana (Meitar Crossing), South Hebron Hills
Meitar Checkpoint: unexpectedly quiet for a Sunday morning, not clear why. Route 60 is calm but one wonders how the drivers there got their licenses, maybe there's a competition for breaking traffic rules. Checkpoints at Al Fuwwar and the entrance to Hebron at Beit Hagai. We went to visit our old friend Ata Jaber who has long standing struggles against invading settlers and also with the Civil Administration
(CA)regarding his water supply. It may be recalled that a year or so ago we reported that the CA destroyed his vegetable garden on the grounds that he "stole" water. Things have not improved, he is paying for water that he does not receive and therefore has to purchase water privately (in tanks) which is prohibitively expensive. We sat with him in the shade of melon vines (which require relatively little water) and he regaled us with an incident involving a well-known settler from Hebron: Ofer Ohana, whose modus operandi is photographing activists from very close-up, all the while cursing and defaming them. About two weeks earlier, Ofer arrived at Ata's plot and began his usual tirade. Ata decided that enough is enough and gave him a good drubbing. Ofer, begging for mercy, called all the State defenders: police, army, GSS and more. They all arrived,removed Ofer to "safety" and winked at Ata, as if to say: we know who we are dealing with. Ata was mighty pleased with himself and so were we! A video of the event can be seen at
https://www.facebook.com/atta.
We returned via Route 317, deserted in the heat.
Although we would like to see more Palestinians defending themselves against settler attacks, in reality this is not feasible since the settlers are armed and do not hesitate to use their weapons. Not only that, but Ata was lucky in this case not to have been arrested and charged with assault, if not worse! And on a happy note: some 20 years ago or more we supported relatives of Ata whose son was attacked by settlers and spent months in Hadassah hospital being treated for gunshot wounds to the stomach. We asked after him and heard that he is now a doctor.