Sansana (Meitar Crossing), South Hebron Hills, Susiya
Almost complete quiet at the checkpoint due to the closure of the Occupied Territories during the holidays. A little traffic on Route 60 and on 317 slightly more than usual. We entered Susya: everything is quiet there too. Azzam is busy, his two sons marry this week and move to Yatta. Congratulations.
At A-Tuwani volunteers of the Operation Dove organization called to the cave village of Umm Fukara because of confiscation of property by the army and we went there via a road intended for Avigail settlers. Halfway down we encountered a “situation”: a truck belonging to a resident of the village and a pile of material for the construction of a house next to the road + an army jeep. The camera chose to die at this moment, but a volunteer of DOVE promised to send me the vast amount of photographs she had taken.
To make a long story which lasted an entire hour short: the owner of the truck left the village and going up to the exit (unpaved of course) the building materials in the open truck, which were not connected (!) fell on the road. Totally by accident in the middle of nowhere an army vehicle arrived came. Two officers (a captain and a lieutenant) decided that there had been a traffic violation and the materials must be confiscated. What were they doing there in the middle of nowhere ? The day before there had been a “quarrel” between Jews and Arabs. Not settlers, “local residents” and they had had to be separated. They had come today to check that all was quiet. Then they found the man who had been driving too fast with a load which was not tied (and at an elevation of at least 45 degrees!) and the materials had to be confiscated because the driver tried to build illegally … and the confiscated material will come to the unit and there he can get it back, perhaps, and the truck. He did not think he would have to pay money.
Later on the villagers arrived, and the volunteer who said that last week there had been a demolition in this poor village (which is indescribably poor) and the soldiers (the same soldiers, but it is not clear) were extremely brutal. M, who was on her own and not used to the sights and sounds she heard and was really upset and angry. The captain said that here he was the authority on the ground and he decided to confiscate. After a few minutes, he said that he was not the authority which decided which building was illegal and he was only obeying orders. Who knows. It is not possible in words to exaggerate the absurdity and the injustice here. Muhammad and I have connections in the village and will find out what happened to the man, the building materials and the truck, which of course is his livelihood. Then more soldiers arrived, and another officer. So of course it became a very serious incident, and the security of the state was in danger, not to mention road safety which also worried our courageous soldiers. I’ll update details if I receive more information.
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
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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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