Etzyon Bloc: Palestinian villages and makams - disappearances and presences
We first heard the name of the village Shushhala only after having climbed the hill and reached the home of a brave farmer family who has lived here for generations. Its land and home were surrounded by the Jewish settler-colony Neve Daniel and 16 years ago by its outpost Sdeh Boaz. In the heart of Shushhala, on the Roman track between Jerusalem and Hebron (City of the Jewish Forefathers), in the shade of ancient oak trees (altitude 1050 meters) stood maqam Nabi Danil, thanks to which we learned about this place. In former reports we wrote that it was made to disappear by unnamed hands 15 years ago, and its place has been taken instead by a commemoration site for a son of Neve Daniel who died during his morning run, close by.
We have met the father of the Palestinian farmer family in the past, and asked him then about their relations with the Jewish settler-colonists. He answered that there was no problem. We raised our eyebrow in wonder. This time the true story was revealed in all its horror and violence. A gate has been cut in the settler-colony’s fence and through it, soldiers enter nightly and harass the family. A projector, on all night, has been placed above the gate and next to it a large camera with two lenses that revolves and follows every single movement. The family vineyard has been bulldozed on the way to demolishing the house in which the family father was born. Reason: No Palestinian residences may exist inside farming lands within Area C (totally controlled by Israel).
We do not know at present what the area of Shushhala village was before it was parsed, just as we do not know now how large Bet Zakkariya village used to be – these are two Palestinian villages surrounded by Jewish settler-colonies of the Etzyhon Bloc, where the farmers used to live in peace and contentment, their residences surrounded by fruit tree groves, vineyards and crop-bearing fields. This fact has been cruelly eliminated by the paving of roads and land-confiscations in order to build Jewish settler-colonies and outposts. Shushhala is fundamentally tied to its mother-village of Al Khader where the children go to school. We spent about four hours there and at the request of the family we shall attempt to organize a group of guests to show our presence.
The Regavim association has published an item claiming that Shushhala village is fake news disseminated by the European Union:
The isolation of the Saras family’s organic farm – the only Christian family in Bet Zakkariya – from its mother-village shows how the system operates. The village has been parsed into five separate residential areas, among which Israel paved the Etzyon Bloc’s roads, the Etzyon Bloc Junction, the settler-colony of Alon Shevut, and the “Lone Tree” compound, symbol of the Etzyon Bloc. Around the tree a mini-amphitheater is being constructed, for teaching the visiting public about the battle heritage of the Etzyon Bloc in 1948.
The farm is beautifully run on private lands belonging to the Saras family and in the family’s historical houses. They have opened a restaurant serving food prepared of their organic crops, and a wine bar serving wines from their own vineyards. The food is excellent and highly recommended to anyone happening to pass at Etzyon Bloc, Jews and Arabs alike. The entire bloc is officially inside Area C so the farm is denied its elementary right to place a sign directing drivers on the road, as well as receiving electrical power. The Etzyon Bloc’s shopping center is located right opposite including a large branch of Rami Levy supermarkets.
The sole guests at the restaurant were our group and an Italian television crew filming a story about the chances of this brave enterprise to succeed, as it nurtures traditional and organic Palestinian farming methods. Except for the family members, we were the crew’s random interviewees. The Jewish settler-colonists stay away, and the Palestinians fear coming.
In the little time we had we went out to two places, so close both geographically and historically: Deheishe refugee camp where 20,000 refugees of 1948 and their descendants live inside a tiny area; and the destroyed Palestinian village of Al Kubu whose refugees moved to Deheishe, and over whose ruins the Jewish National Fund (KKL) planted Begin Park.
Etzion area / Gush Etzion
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Etzion Area / Gush Etzion is a group of Jewish settlements south of Jerusalem, between Bethlehem and Hebron. Attempts at Jewish settlement in the area began in 1927. 4 kibbutzim were established between 1943–1947 but were destroyed during the Battle of Gush Etzion during the War of Independence in 1948.
After the 1967 Six Day War, Jewish settlement in Gush Etzion was renewed, and since then another 14 settlements and 10 outposts have been established. According to the info-icon of the Civil Administration, Gush Etzion is now 7 times larger than its historic area, and the Jewish lands purchased before the evacuation in 1948 constitute less than 15% of the large settlement bloc of the Gush Etzion Council today, which Israel demands to annex in the permanent agreement with the Palestinians.
The Palestinian localities in the area are concentrated in enclaves, the largest of which is in the east - the Bethlehem area, which includes Beit Jala, al-Khader, Beit Sahur and more. To the west are settlements such as Husan, Nahalin, Al Jaba'a and Batir and small and ancient agricultural villages such as Shushahala, Khalat Sakaria and more. These are scattered on the last agricultural land left by the Palestinians in the area. In the 2000s, many illegal outposts sprang up, taking over private Palestinian land under the auspices of the administration and the army, trying in an extremely violent way to evict farmers from their land and homes and thus expand the settlements. Watch the video about the harsh reality in the Shushalah and Makam Nabi Daniel area.
During the 1990s, the new Road 60, most of which is forbidden to Palestinian traffic, was paved, and a separation wall was built next to it. Access to many of the Palestinian villages and agricultural lands in the area was blocked, and a buffer was created between the villages themselves as well as between them and the lands they owned. The layout of the settlements and the network of roads and checkpoints in the entire Etzion area indicate the intention to create a territorial and transportation continuum between Gush Etzion and Jerusalem.
Machsom Watch members have been active in the for many years. We talk to the Palestinians at intersections, DCOs, villages and Makamim (ancient Palestinian heritage sites) and try to publicize the looting, apartheid and violence they are experiencing. You can read about their activities in the attached reports.
in 2021, after many years of negotiations, the Civil Administration issued a new plan for the central village of Khirbet Bet Zakariya, including construction permits. The adjacent settlers protestated and asked the minister of defence to cancel the permits. Our members are in contact with the village and are trying to involve other organiztions and use public opinion and to stop this cancelation.
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Shushahala
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The village Shushahala and Maqam Nabi Daniel: The village was destroyed and the Palestinians were expelled. Now they can hardly reach their lands, or visit the spot where was the Maqam Nabi Daniel. The lone oak symbolizes its location in the past.
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