Demolition in Rahwe, Solidarity visit
A visit to Rahwe following the demolition of houses.
Omar Jabarin explains about the ruins of two houses, and his children and we listen, it’s hard for all of us.
On Thursday, June 6, 2024, by phone, Omar Jabarin from the village of Rahwe, says that a short time ago, around 10:00 in the morning, heavy vehicles arrived and destroyed a number of buildings in their area.
We went to hear from the family and document the details of this brutal event. We arrived and immediately notice piles of bricks, which is a record of what remains of the home of Omar and his brother Murad.
Omar tells us that a convoy that included one power shovel, 4 jeeps, 3 vans and a transit in which were Israeli workers, the force of the demolition. The border guard, which included male and female policemen, was also present. Before they carried out the demolitions, the Palestinians were allowed to remove the contents of the houses.
They ordered the sons and daughters of the families, including their children, to stand aside, while watching the ruins, for about an hour and a half.
The sacks of wheat and sacks of feed for sheep, they managed to save.
6-year-old Jude asks his father Omar, “Why did they destroy? Did we do something bad?”
Omar carefully formulates an answer that will not make his son hate. He explains that they don’t want them to live there.
We sat together and talked with the children who thanked us for coming, were interested and hugged us. We gave them sweets on the occasion of Eid al-Adha and a hope for better days.
From there we continued to a family that lives nearby, which includes the Majdi and Jamal Altake family. Majdi is a teacher and his brother Jamal is a shepherd, who shepherds the family herd and that of their four other brothers who live in Dahariya.
We brought games and clothes and the children, who are at the beginning of summer vacation, were happy that we came.
Majdi’s and Jamal’s wives insist that we have lunch with the families.
We wished them a happy Eid al-Adha as well.
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
Muhammad D.May-13-2025Susiya - at Ahmad and Halima Nawaja'a
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