Nabi Samuel - A visit to Hana and Amar Barakat, whose house was destroyed
A visit to Hana and Amar Barakat at Nabi Samuel, Road 60 works and a visit to the Dadua family in Al Khader
8:30 Nabi Samuel A month and a half after the demolition of their house, its garden and the well-kept compound without a warrant, we met with Hana and Amar at the house of Eid, Amar’s brother. Since they were threatened that even if they set up a tent at the site of the demolition down the village they would destroy it, they are forced to live in a small Eid warehouse, together with their two twenty-something sons. Attached is the video taken after the very violent demolition.
But since then, the troubles multiplied: Hana and Amar say that following the demolition, the entry and exit permits through the Al Jib checkpoint (in front of Givat Ze’ev), which are Nabi Samuel’s residents’ only option for going towards Ramallah and the territories, were immediately canceled. The excuse is that they don’t have a place to live now. Hana and the sons, who have Israeli documents, can come to Jerusalem and Israel, but not enter the territories. Amar is trapped in Nabi Samuel without an address and cannot work at all. The couple’s absurd situation has worsened – with no possibility of living anywhere together. Their requests for family reunification were repeatedly rejected for many years.
The couple told us this time about the hardships they have been going through since the demolition.
We parted, our hearts aching, from the lovely couple who are in existential limbo.
Ramat Shmuel checkpoint – the checkpoint that was open to the passage of laborers and pedestrians from the Biddu enclave and the neighboring villages was blocked. The entire area between Beit Iksa and road 446 was sealed off with fences. The last time we visited here, the checkpoint guard and two young men dressed in settler uniforms attacked us, cursed and threatened us. In order not to endanger K. our Jerusalem driver, we went down on foot and took pictures from a distance. We were impressed by the number of buses that arrive in the settlement to make life easier for the residents.
Driving on road 60 to El Khader – the road from Jerusalem to the south of the West Bank is quite empty, because only Jews drive it. All the car exits from the villages that were blocked most of the time, have become permanent blocks since the signing of the abductees deal phase one. The crossing on foot is also supervised and the queues are long.
What hurts the eye is the huge expansion of Route 60 at the expense of the beautiful hills of olive trees and Palestinian orchards on the west side of the road (the truth is that the land owners’ way to their plantation is almost impossible, there are not permits to cross the road from El Khader and Bethlehem, and there are no cultivation permits). The pace at which the expansion is taking place is impressive. A large number of bulldozers and Palestinian workers building stone fences.
The Nashash intersection checkpoint, which usually has long queues of cars, is open today. This is the only exit and entrance to El Khader and Bethlehem, so we are satisfied with the relief, even if it is limited in time, as passers-by say.
The Dadua family house – the house is located on the access road to Efrat North, and the demolition order approved by the Supreme Court constantly threatens the family’s life. Today is still a holiday in the Palestinian schools, so Nafuz (who was widowed a few months ago) and her children are at home. They receive us nicely, tell us the family news and take pictures at our request. Nafuz arrives only at the end of the visit, returning from a medical examination of her 16-year-old who had severe stomach pains this morning.
Location Description
A-Nashshash
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A-Nashshash
Junction on Road 60 from leading to the southern outskirts of al-Khader, to Salomon pools and to Bethlehem. Until 2015, a blockade at the junction prevented the passage of vehicles from the south (from Hebron) to Bethlehem and from there to the north of the West Bank and vice versa, and a small market developed at the junction, with taxis serving both directions on two sides of the blockage. Until 2015, Members of MachsomWatch police reports team would come to the scene to receive and return traffic violations reports for payment (possible only in Israel).- from Palestinians without a entrance permit to Israel. There is usually no military or police supervision i n place.
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Nabi Samwil
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Nabi Samwil - a village literally placed in a transparent cage.
This Palestinian village is 800 years old. It is located on top of a hill, its altitude 890 meters above sea level, and overlooks the entire area. According to Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions, the Prophet Samuel was buried here. In recent years the mosque has been turned into a popular Jewish prayer site. Jews use the basement for prayer, and Muslims the upper part of the mosque. New signs are placed here, containing verses from the Jewish scriptures and mention of exclusively Israeli historical times. The nearby spring has become a popular site of ritual bathing. On Iyar 28th, every year, a mass-celebration is held in memory of the Prophet Samuel.
Until 1967 this was a well-off village that developed around the mosque, with a population of 1,000 owning thousands of dunams of farmland. In 1967 most of the villagers fled, and only 250 remained. In 1971 Israel expelled them, and until the 1990s completely razed its houses that were sitting on a Crusader and Hellenist archeological stratum, without any kind of compensation for the expelled inhabitants. Parts of the village lands are at present used for the settler-colony of Har Shmuel, another part has been declared a national park. Villagers have tried to restore their lives on their remaining lands, a short distance from their original homes, in an area that formerly held structures to house the village’s livestock.
Then the Separation Fence was erected in the West Bank, the village remained an enclave caught between the Green Line and the Fence, and its inhabitants were torn away from other West Bank villages. Any exit to the West Bank requires crossing the distant Jib checkpoint, with a permit. The movement to Israel inside the Green Line is forbidden as well. In 1995 the entire village area was declared a national park – not only around the mosque and antiquities around it which take up about 30 dunams, but an area of no less than 3,500 dunams including the new village and all of its land. Any additional construction is forbidden: any room, caravan, fence, a newly planted tree. Work permits are issued sparingly. There is a tiny school made up of several caravans.
Watch the movie by Eran Turbiner and MachsomWatch: NABI SAMWIL 1099-2099, a film by Eran Torbiner
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