We set out to meet Hussein Dawabsha at the entrance to the village because the roads inside it are very disrupted and being fixed now.
Over a cup of tea with peppermint, Hussein told us about the trouble they have with their “new” neighbors, in other words the settlers outpost so close to Duma. There is already a paved road and harassment is a daily matter.
Hussein has his own grove of 50 olive trees, but like the other villagers he is not allowed to access it. To my question what will happen to the olives, his answer is “I can forget about them…”
At the same time, he and his wife Satira get organized to pour the oil into bottles. Hussein asked us to bring only soda or water bottles. Not coke, so as to keep the oil’s pure taste.
Outdoors we picked peppermint with him. He explained that in the summer they have tea with peppermint sprigs, and in the winter drink it with sage.
From there we turned to his “flock” which contains 5 sheep… They are all pregnant.
On the sheep pen concrete wall he wrote down the delivery date of each sheep.

Toward the end of our visit, we asked to see some of the village. He showed us the ancient part of the village, where he was born. I asked whether this happened in a hospital. He laughed and said: “Nothing doing, I was born here, at home”.
His parents’ old home.
We saw children coming home from school. This year they attend school only 3 days a week because of budgetary difficulties of the Palestinian Authority.
In the end we asked to go by the incinerated house of his daughter, his son-in-law and grandchildren.
We bought 40 bottles of olive oil.
Our way back was strewn with signs inviting one to join the “rich” and buy a house.