Corona Times Report: Now you will learn what living in closure is all about
Translator Charkes K
Corona Times Report: Now you will learn what living in closure is all about
F. has been a friend since the establishment of the Etgar school in Simiyya, built by the Palestinians and demolished by the Civil Administration.
She’s a school principal and also the pedagogical consultant to Huda’s kindergarten. She lives in Kafr Idna, on highway 35. An extremely impressive woman.
Her children had been studying in Jordan, returned home, and quarantined themselves. Schools have been closed for more than a month. It’s sad and depressing.
The only shops open are those selling food (of which there’s no shortage). Everyone sits at home. The army comes through from time to time…but doesn’t engage in any unusual or annoying activity.
She ends the conversation by saying that now we’ll find out what it’s like to live under closure.
South Hebron Hills
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South Hebron Hills
South Hebron Hills is a large area in the West Bank's southern part.
Yatta is a major city in this area: right in the border zone between the fertile region of Hebron and its surroundings and the desert of the Hebron Hills. Yatta has about 64,000 inhabitants.
The surrounding villages are called Masafer 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, many 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 withholding 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. Roadblocks 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
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