South Hebron Hills
Visit to Hashem el-Daraj preschool and workshop
Purpose of the workshop: Creative activity with Huda in Hashem el-Daraj preschool
Topic of the activity: preparation of a mobile on the subject of sheep in honor of the Feast of Sacrifice (Eid el-Adha) that was celebrated a couple of weeks ago.
30 children were present at the preschool. The age range of the children was wide. The activity was suitable for the older children. The children were sitting outside eating when we arrived (most were eating pita without any filling). The children were happy to see us and excited by our arrival. They all ran to greet us.
Activity: The children entered the preschool and sat on chairs forming an open rectangle that was organized last year as a result of a preschool teachers’ workshop initiated by Suha, an experienced preschool teacher. Huda together with several of the children prepared a short ‘play’ in honor of the Feast of Sacrifice. The play included a priest and apparently people seeking his blessing, bringing sacrificial a sheep with them.
15 of the older children participated in the creative activity. We showed them the model we had prepared. The activity included cutting, pasting, painting, and threading. The children were very enthusiastic. Most of the children completed the mobile on their own –with some assistance and guidance from us. Also impressive was their attention to Huda’s instructions. At the end of the activity, the mobiles were strung across the classroom. We debated as to whether to let the children take the mobiles home – as they wanted to do. In the end, Huda decided that the mobiles should decorate the preschool.
Pictures of the activity (Eid el-Adha project November 14th, 2013(: https://picasaweb.google.com/113044451662544057850?authkey=Gv1sRgCNS_j8qy0sCOGA
“Staff” meeting: Drinking tea, eating peanuts and dates, we felt that the activity had been a very good one. We talked about the continuation of the activity by Huda. For this purpose we brought additional copies of the sheep outlines so Huda could work with small groups of 5 children. Each child would prepare a sheep using real wool that Huda brought to the preschool. The aim is three fold: to enrich the types of activities in the preschool, to provide each child with individual attention, and to prod Huda to engage in independent activities that are not dependent on our presence. We planned the next activity – on the subject of the olive harvest.
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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