Sha'ab al Butum - settlers destroyed the vegetable garden and stole the greenhouse
A shift to Sha’ab al Butum, from Masafer Yatta
The family of Leila and Muhammad Jabarin suffer on a daily basis, even at night, from the settlers of Avigail and the two outposts next to it (which according to the settlers are farms).
How unsurprised we were when we noticed a car parked on the road leading to the home of Amichai Shilo, which is very close to the Jabarin family home.
This area, of course, belongs to them, but when settlers decide, they usurp and determine facts on the ground.
We met at the family’s home two Israeli activists S. and A. who have been in the area for several months, have been in villages that are being violently harassed, and are even sleeping there. Both say that this vehicle comes every day, for at least two hours, shows the presence of the settlers. They know how that the driver is from nearby Avigayil.
I ask about their daily life as young activists who see destruction and cruelty every day, and my heart expands. How few of such people are there in the midst of evil and racism.
In January of this year, a number of settlers entered the area of the vegetable garden and greenhouse. They destroyed the vegetables and took the greenhouse with them. The family members show us that the looted hothouse has become a hothouse in the outpost opposite, called the Amichai Shilo bus stop.
The settlers take over by force and are waiting for them to be evicted like dozens of communities that have already been evicted in the occupied territories.
Muhammad says that the donkey, which, following the blockades, was used to transport them to Yatta shopping and riding within the village, was stolen for the third time.
The Palestinians have filed a complaint with the police for documentation but they have no expectations that anything will be done about it.
Kamar, the lawyer who helps them, also tries to deal with the police.
While staying there, the two activists receive a stream of news about the demolition of houses in Umm al Kheir, including Eid’s house.
Occupation routine.
Mesafer Yatta
See all reports for this place-
Masafer Yatta
-
South Hebron Hills
See all reports for this place-
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
A Palestinian residentMay-12-2025A sheep carcass dumped by settler Shimon Atiya from the Shorashim farm near the school in Umm Qusa.
-
Umm al-Kheir
See all reports for this place-
Umm al-Kheir
A Palestinian village in the southern Hebron governorate, populated by five families. The Palestinian residents settled there decades ago, after Israel expelled them from the Arad desert and purchased the land from the residents of the Palestinian village of Yatta. The village suffers from the violence of nearby Carmel settlers, from water shortage and is subject to frequent demolition of buildings by the Civil Administration.
-
