Sansana (Meitar Crossing), a-Tuwani, South Hebron Hills, Susiya
We set out after the workers dispersed for their work in Israel. The parking lot of Metar Crossing (Sansana) is full of cars. Somehow pleasing, after yesterday's curfew – because of the holidays in Israel.
Immediately after the CP there is an enormous signpost: "Yatir district tourism" and a booth manned by two young people – to draw the attention of the passers by. (another scheme to interest people in the settlement project)?
We turned in the direction of Susya and Tuwani.
We met Jum'a who invited us for tea and showed us proudly the refurbished ruin attached to his house – in which he was born, and after he had "bought" for the rest of his brothers other plots, achieved the right to stay in it and decided to rehabilitate the house – one room with a few tiny windows and a high rounded ceiling (a photo is attached).
A few minutes later Nasser from Tawani, and Nasser from Sussya with his brother in law appeared. (The brother in law is the husband of Fatma who, together with their son Hamudi is on a tour in Washington, on the success of which they reported a bit). They sat with us to tell us about their fear from the anticipated visits of the settlers, both at Ziff and a the Palestinian Caramel – the memory of last year's "visit" accompanied by the army, at the pool near Caramel and the removal of the Palestinians until the settlers finished bathing – is still deeply engraved in their minds. They wanted us to stay and to accompany them today on a tour at the south of the Hebron mount. I told Nasser Nawaja that had he informed us beforehand about this we may have been able to organize our tour differently and could then have accompanied them.
We agreed that they would keep us informed from now on. Today (30.9) I phoned Nasser who informed me that all in all everything went smoothly except for a 10 year old boy who was arrested under the pretext that he had thrown stones, was taken away in a jeep and released half an hour later.
The people of Tuwani are proud that their struggle was successful, they managed to build houses near the caves where they had lived, there is flowing water and electricity, small orchards and even a beautiful kindergarten at the entrance to the community which looks conforming to standard even in Israeli terms. It turned out that it was closed, owing to budgetary problems of the authority/local council.
The water arrives from a Mekorot building at the entrance to the village, to which all the residents of the neighbourhood who are not connected to the water supply, arrive to get their water. Jum'a told us that he pays 5 shekel for a cubic meter of water, but that there is water all the time (he collects the water in a well near his house, so that he has water perpetually).
We drove through zif. At the CP at the bottom of Beit Hagay there are no soldiers and the passage is free.
We noticed all along the roads an increased movement of the army and of locals too.
We again were moved to see that the signposts directing to Palestinian villages were in three languages: Hebrew, Arabic and English.
Meitar checkpoint / Sansana
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Meitar Checkpoint / Sansana The checkpoint is located on the Green Line and serves as a border crossing between Israel and the West Bank. It is managed by the Border Crossing Authority of the Defense Ministry. It is comprised of sections for the transfer of goods as well as a vehicle checkpoint (intended for holders of blue identity cards, foreign nationals or diplomats and international organizations). Passing of Palestinians is prohibited, except for those with entry permits to Israel. Palestinians are permitted to cross on foot only. The crossing has a DCO / DCL / DCL / DCL (District Coordination Office), a customs unit, supervision, and a police unit. In the last year, a breach has been opened in the fence, not far from the crossing. This breach is known to all, including the army. There does not appear to be any interest in blocking it, probably as it permits needed Palestinian workers without the bureaucratic permits to get to work in Israel. Food stalls and a parking area economy have been created, but incidents of violent abuse by border police have also been recorded. Updated April 2022
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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
Michal TsadikJul-25-2025The interior of the burnt house
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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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