Palestinians are not allowed to go out to pasture and settlers enter their territories unhindered.
This shift was dedicated mainly to meet A.N., and video a talk with him that would be shown at our 25th anniversary.
A’ answered Nurit’s questions about our relations, and described how worse their situation is now as they are surrounded by new colonist outposts, in addition to the colony of Gadi and Shem Tov Lusky right next to the ancient site of Susia. These are extremely harassing colonists. We have already passed on photos of these colonies from afar.
Three new outposts have been established in the area between the ancient Susia and the well-off veteran colony of Susia: the home of shepherds inhabited by Amishav Peled, near him a couple whose names are Malka and Pavel, and near them new caravans with new colonists whose names we do not know yet, coming there after October 7, 2023.
They trample Palestinian fields and groves with their flocks, and the animals eat everything that grows there. In a video that A. forwarded me one can see colonist Amishav introducing his sheep to the olive tree grove of the Nawaj’a family, A.’s neighbors.
This is their routine, night and day.
A’ goes on to tell us that tonight, too, they tried to steal sheep from the Adra family who live near Dirat. The residents chased the thieves and managed to catch some of the sheep near Tawane and return them to their owners. He also says that several days ago, military personnel came and asked them what went on. They tried to persuade the villagers that they wish to take care of the problem, and promised to be back. When? Who knows.
He believes neither them nor what they promise.
In the meantime, nothing in the security forces’ conduct has changed in their favor. Palestinians are still restricted in their movement while colonists can approach even the entrance of their homes, no questions asked.
Procedure of arresting Palestinians and taking them from their home to the Susia army base for “interrogation”, and then leaving the detainee after hours in the middle of nowhere – is still ongoing.
As we were talking, N. Nawaj’a joined us – our old friend employed by B’Tselem. We were glad to see him since we could then congratulate him on his election to head to Palestinian Susya Council. This council controls Wadi Rahim and Susya, numbering about 500 persons.
When I asked what this means, he answered: mainly headaches…
Location Description
Susiya
See all reports for this place-
Susiya 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.
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