Apparently, it was a day nearly devoid, but in actual fact routine and relative peace are merely external. Shepherds are very concerned, and uncertainty as to what any moment can yield does not enable them to relax – no one knows where and how evil will show up next.

Friday morning brought us to the concentration site at Al Farisiya and we separated into teams that would go to villages on the ground:

En Sukut is a site with springs and fields owned privately by Palestinians who as owners grow barley and corn as well. Sheep follow the harvest, eating the plentiful dried material.

Grazing (at 6-10 a.m. and 5-18 p.m.) went without disruptions, although shepherds expected colonists from Shadmot Mekhola colony. Noontime finds them resting in an improvised compound.

En al Hilwa – four families usually live here. They all have cattle. One of the brothers moved for the summer to the Tayassir area, because of colonist violence. Shepherds from the other two families are limited in their grazing grounds. They go to Hamam al Malih which has plentiful grass but the Israeli army declared it a closed military zone during the week. That is why the shepherds use Friday afternoon and Saturday for two grazing sessions each in the morning and afternoon. At times, colonist Hagai, owner of the farm opposite En al Hilwa, stands and observes on Saturdays as well. This time, the accompaniers (Miki and Tathalie) joined the shepherds, who went out of En al Hilwa and crossed over toward Hamam al Malih. At times Hagai arrives, observes and calls out the army, but this time both morning and afternoon grazing sessions were unhampered. Accompaniers joined the flock along its walking route in their car, with shepherds occasionally letting them know how they are.

The fourth shepherd was too weak for a lengthy grazing session, so after the morning session and prior to the afternoon session, he and the accompaniers turned to have the cattle drink at the En al Hilwa spring. He didn’t spend more than 15 minutes there, for both the heat and the fear of colonist Hagai.

Samra – accompanying shepherds’ privately owned areas living there near the road. Actually, until recently they had grazed in all the hills surrounding the compound. Now they are prohibited from grazing there for the colonists built their homes right next to the shepherd homes and these call up the army every time the shepherds go out to graze their flocks. This is how they dispossessed Palestinian areas illegally, using just force. Only the fields next to the road are still available for grazing.

Humsa – this morning was quiet. Accompaniers served Protective Presence at Q’s while the shepherds went out to graze their goat herds. There were no disruptions in the morning and the accompaniers were cooked in the heat and played with the children. This turned around in the afternoon: ATVs arrived, driven by young children. They drove around and bothered flocks. Accompaniers were called to assist and accompanied the flocks, buffering between the shepherds and the colonists. After about an hour of failed attempts to bother, they left. Later the same colonists were seen near W’, another shepherd who went out to graze, but they left when the accompaniers did not let them do their thing.

Hamra – situated in Area B on the way to Tubas. For months Moshe Sharvit, owner of Emeq Tirtza, bothered the shepherds and even entered their homes. The shepherds managed to get a distancing order against him and his messengers and for several seeks it was indeed quieter. But Moshe Sharvit refuses to let go. At noon volunteers were called to the compound because two boys were reported seen and walking around there. When they saw the volunteers, they left. At first glance, they seem not to have done anything, but further checking yielded that one of the boys had cut the ropes of pool covers and spoiled them. Complaint might be lodged on Sunday.

We hoped that the night would pass quieter as did the day. But at 9 p.m. we were urgently called to En al Hilwa. A colonist was walking around on the road and had begun to head for the animal pen. Shepherds were impressed that he would open the fences and scatter the flock in all directions. The asked him to stop and leave, and asked the accompaniers to call the police. Suddenly colonist Hagai was seen as he collected the boy and brought him to Maskiyot, before going home. The shepherds saw this as a sign of another conspiracy, perhaps to steal the flock. We stayed for another half-hour with the shepherds and then drove to Farisiya. We asked the shepherds to call us with any problem that arises.

The rest of the night passed quietly everywhere. But at 7 a.m., I (Miki) heard from Z’ that colonists had invaded their home when they were asleep in the compound nearby for fear of colonists. When they returned home in the morning, they discovered much destruction where the house had seemed empty at night. The colonists had been there and broken the electricity panels and the sink in the bathroom. During the day, police were summoned and this time showed they were serious for a change. The policemen wrote down and photographed all the damages and promised to look into it. A complaint was lodged, but no one has been found to date.