Susya – colonists come at night on horseback, throw stones, frighten people
We arrived at Susya to visit A’ and Kh. They said that in the morning, at Wadi Ikhish, colonists burnt a wheat field. We, passing near the wadi on road 317, no longer saw any signs of it.
Before we arrived at Susya, a colonist went by there with a flock of cattle, but this time only passing A.’s house and not making trouble… Every night colonists wonder around amidst the houses on horseback, throw stones and look for trouble. The Palestinians walk around at night amidst their own homes in order to warn the residents or check for problems. They are connected by WhatsApp and are up to date.
While we were there, the eldest daughter came back from school. Her transport reaches the center of the village and A. come to fetch her for she is afraid to walk alone to her home, situated at the edge of the village.
Between Susya which is Area C and the school in Area B, colonists erected a tent 3 weeks ago, from which they scare the children on their way to school.
The day before we came: near Susya, at Wadi Amnir, colonists burnt straw piles that remained in the field and were meant to feed animals. The colonists forbid the shepherds to graze in further areas including their own olive tree groves, prickly pear bushes and farmland. They are only allowed to graze near the home.
When they need to shop, they walk to the main road and take a taxi to Yatta. Naturally there is no bus service for them, nor any private cars.
On the way back on Road 316, we saw plenty of Israel flags, apparently added since Independence Day.
We drove toward Arad, to the Metzudat Yehuda Checkpoint near Munaizal village. At the car park near this checkpoint, as near Meitar checkpoint, there are not many cars.
On our way we saw vehicles of the electricity company, doing maintenance work on power poles.
From the main road, a dirt track leads to Wadi Nias. On a large stone at the entrance, an Israel flag is drawn. The track leads to an observation point.
Later, right opposite Asael, is a dirt track leading to a hill, where we see a container and a watchtower. Perhaps a new outpost? We shall be on the lookout.
Location Description
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
Smadar BeckerJun-28-2026The vegetation that Najh planted around the house in Umm Qusa
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Susiya
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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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