Huda's kindergarten in Hashem alDarej
Mira (report) and Muhammad (photography)
Meitar checkpoint: The previous break in the fence was blocked, but a new loophole found if one is to go by the number of people passing, and the vehicles on both sides.
Opposite Susiya – behind the nursery and the cemetery, you see a lot of new buildings. Worth checking out – a new extension?
Road 317:
Opposite Carmel – young plantations, a vineyard. Probably belonging to Carmel. A kind of “agricultural expansion.” Settling the land of Israel!
Kindergarten of Huda:
I have not been for a long time, the whole corona period. The road to the garden passes through a number of villages. Umm al-KHir – the upper part (which is not close to the Carmel settlement), seems to have developed. More beautiful houses, and even roadside paving, which is also less rutted. But, the structure of the kindergarten that operated here for several years is still desolate and neglected. No garden. Later, when passing to Umm al-Daraj, the road is as bumpy as before.
Hashem-al-Daraj: A large and beautiful mosque had been built and the school was also renovated. There is also talk of opening a kindergarten in the school. How this will affect the kindergarten of Huda is unclear.
In the building of the kindergarten of Huda a second floor has been built (renovated) which is probably used by the administration of the village? Maybe. It was closed when we were there. They also paved the yard and built an electric gate. Funding? In the building of Gan Huda Benno (completed) a second floor that is probably used by the administration of the village? Maybe. It was closed when we were there. They also paved the yard and built an electric gate. Funding? Contributions from Europe probably. In general, the kindergarten seems to serve as some sort of center for this village, whose houses are scattered throughout the surrounding desert, and it is not how one imagines a village. The entrance room of the kindergarten is packed with clothes, blankets and other equipment. We are told that at the end of kindergarten day, Huda distributes the donations to needy families. She seems to be a kind of central figure in the community.
. When we arrive, there are over twenty children in the kindergarten, Huda, Haula – her assistant, Amna, who also helps, and a number of mothers. Everyone is in the yard. Everyone is happy to see us, after about two years that we have not been. But, the kids of course, no longer know us, and are a little scared.
We planned a short activity, which included a story (hot corn – we brought the book in Arabic), its presentation accompanied by musical instruments we brought (percussion, bells of various kinds, castanets, Marrakech, etc.), and games.
We started by reading the story by Huda, and the kids acted it: each child chose a musical instrument, and a series of “playing” (noisy) children were formed, who finished the round with Muhammad who handed out cakes as a substitute for corn. The kids demonstrated how they throw all the covers in the trash!
Then we played the quilt game in which she invented a ball or a child (small), and rocked it to a song rhythm that demonstrates a strong or weak wind. It’s a game that always brings great joy.
We finally entered the garden which was very tidy (too tidy), and Huda summed up the activity.
We also brought some crafting and cleaning supplies. Hopefully they will be used.
Overall, the garden seems to hold up well, function, and serve as a community center. Hopefully it will continue to function even when there is a partnership with the school.
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
MuhammadFeb-24-2026South Hebron Hill, Beit Hagai: Paving an internal security road
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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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