In memory of the fallen of Burqa
The suffering of Burqa villagers from attacks by the colonists of the violent outpost Homesh is endless. With more demonstrations, more people are hurt. What new information can we add to what is already known? To the articles at “Local Call” and the items by Gedeon Levi and Hagar Sheizaf in Haaretz? Indeed, information about past and present local culture is not mentioned by them.
At our meeting with the local council, to which we arrived late because the colonists blocked our way into Burqa, we were glad to find out that representatives of the American Embassy and several European countries visited, heard and learned first-hand of the situation at Burqa under Israeli occupation. A young man showed us photos on his cellular phone of his own body after the harsh wounding he suffered at the hands of the outpost colonists. An elderly councilman showed us the photo of his grandfather’s house in Haifa’s Halissa neighborhood. We gave those present the Arabic version of our Maqam Survey booklet and focused on the two pages dedicated to Maqam sites connected with Burqa. (Maqam Al Qubeibat is caged inside Homesh colonist outpost – p. 32, and Maqam Sheikh Abu Yazid inside Homesh nature reserve – p. 59)
The survey booklet in Arabic has become our calling card and proof that the issue of local culture and tradition are of great interest to us. The connection between such interest and our opposition to the occupation makes for a real alliance.
We were invited to a tour beginning with the roof of the village council house, from which we tried to identify Maqam Al Qubeibat on the hilltop inside the outpost. We accompanied our gracious hosts to the ancient village site, the ancient market that has been restored by a Belgian organization, Qasr Mas’oud (palace of the ruler Mas’oud, of the Ottoman period), and two new memorials presenting the people’s resistance to occupation and colonialism.
The first memorial is dedicated to a Palestinian hero, a noble farmer called Zarif Al Tul, expelled from his northern village by the British rulers in the 1930s. His image has been sculpted by the gifted ironsmith of the village, Moussa Abu ‘Asba (who was unfortunately absent from the village that day. The image has inspired a traditional Palestinian song of praise
The second memorial is dedicated to the fallen defenders of Burqa against the Israeli occupier. Near the stone wall with the names of the fallen stands a sculpture of the child Handala, his hands crossed behind his back – based on the well-known caricature by the famous Palestinian artist Naji Al Ali, expelled during the Nakba at age 8 from his Galilee village to Lebanon, and assassinated in London as an adult.
The caricature, representing the Nakba, is seen in many places throughout the West Bank, both on refugee camp walls and in Palestinian villages. Here it has become (for the first time, I believe) a 3-dimensional sculpture presenting a person’s back on both sides. The back represents the existential condition of the expelled, his back to the place where he belongs.
Burqa (Nablus governate)
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Burqa (Nablus govenate) was a throne village, meaning a political and military center in the Ottoman regime and has palaces and ancient buildings. The village owned approximately 18,600 dunams of land, but in 1977 approximately 1,500 dunams were expropriated for the establishment of Homesh sttlements and another 50 dunams for the benefit of Shavei Shomron settlement. In 2005, following the disengagement from Gaza, it was decided to evacuate Homesh, which had 50 settlers and its maintenance was a burden on the army. After the evacuation, the area around the settlement was declared a closed military area and the Palestinians who do not own land there, have since been prevented from accessing and cultivating their land in the area.
About 50% of the residents of the village are farmers and mainly olive growers, 20% are laborers in Israel and 30% are government employees. Those who are not married are not allowed to work in Israel, but some are married and are not allowed for security reasons. Today, the village has about 5,000 residents, many residents have left for Jordan and abroad. The village of Burka was visited by volunteers from Checkpoint Watch following the Survey of the Maqamat they prepared, the popular places of worship that since the occupation the villagers are not allowed visit for various reasons. The Maqamat in the area are: Sheikh Abu Yazid, Al-Qubayba , sheikh who ascended.
After the evacuation, the settlers continued to come to the place from all over the West Bank. Iמ order to declare their ownership of the territory, a yeshiva was established there, and despite being evacuated several times it continued to be inhabited. There were many acts of violence between the residents of the illegal outpost and the village of Burqa.
In July 2023, after the law under which the settlement was evicted was repealed, tthe yeshiva had been moved to the area defined as state land, on the way to its regularization and on August 2, 2023, the High Court of Justice ruled that the Homesh outpost would not be evacuated, after rejecting Palestinian petitions.
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