South Hebron Hills
Activity at Huda preschool, Hashem-al-Daraj
Topic of the visit: Winter rain coloring activity and a supervisory discussion led by Zeinab
Road 317: The road was sparsely traveled and there were no army vehicles on the road.
Hashem-el-Daraj: The construction of the second floor of the preschool building continues which is disruptive to the functioning of the preschool because of the noise and construction material scattered around outside the building.
Huda, Chaula, and Amna were happy to see us and greeted us warmly. Because of the wintery weather, only five children were present. The children were seated at a table and given a piece of paper with 4 small panels depicting a boy from when he realizes it is beginning to rain until he opens his umbrella. Several small baskets of pastels were put on the table for children to use in coloring the pictures. We sat next to the children to help and encourage them in their coloring. Once the children finished coloring, their names were put on their pictures. At the end of the activity, Zienab cut out the 4 panels of the picture to make a book which she then used to tell the children a story about a boy and rain.
As the children were eating pita with zaatar prepared by Zeinbab, she sat at another table with Huda, Chaula, Amna to discuss the importance of a daily lesson plan. Zeinab suggested changes to the existing plan which were accepted by the teachers. She also suggested ways to reorganize the preschool room, such as having a list of the names of the children at the entry to the classroom so that the children can learn to recognize their names as they are greeted by name each morning, having a cubicle for each child to keep their artwork and workbooks. Zeinab provided tea and homemade pita with zaatar to accompany the discussion.
Pictures of the activity in the preschool – 3.1.2019 album in the album gallery of Gan Huda:
https://sites.google.com/view/gan-huda/home
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
Smadar BeckerDec-14-2025A World Food Program (WFP) sticker at the entrance to a grocery store in Tuwani
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