South Hebron Hills
At the entrance to the Meitar crossing, we went to see what was happening with the tent set up in the village Sroura, located between Tuwani and Umm Fukara but it is more important to note that it is between the outposts of Avaigail and Havat Maon.
Muhammad al-Amor, one of the villagers, sat with us and told us that village was gradually abandoned and in 1997 the last residents left as well. Now they live in Yatta.
This happened because of the constant molestation of the settlers from Maon who would come down at night on their horses and frightened the people and the flocks with beatings, their weapons and stone throwing. Now with the help and support of the coalition of various organizations in Israel and outside they want to rehabilitate this neglected place and work their lands there again. Therefore they set up a camp which is called “The Camp of Freedom” and in Arabic they called it Zumud. Today they are busy cleaning the land and there is much activity which includes the women and children. They are making bread or sage, signs and matching shirts which have the symbol of a tree on them, a tree which roots are well planted in the land. (The children wear the shirts). They hope that families will return if only to preserve the lands which are the centre of their livelihood. Also visitors from the area have come to support them.
On our way there we saw at several small junctions small groups of two to three soldiers with the Israeli flag flying next to them. Maybe there is some maneuver?
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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