South Hebron Hills, Fri 21.8.09, Morning
Following a visit at some friends' in Um elHir, we left the village, encountering a rolling checkpoint – soldiers piled some heavy stones on the road leading to Um elHir and Ma'on settlement and detained two more cars, additionally to ours. When our turn arrived, one of the soldiers approached. When he saw the sign "MachshomWatch" he smiled and backed off, apparently not intending to check at all.
A minute later, an officer arrived and asked us where we come from. We said that we came from U'm elHir and he asked what we did there, to which we said that we've visited some friends. He looked at us bewildered and left. A few seconds later still, he came back and asked us the same question again. When we answered, he asked whether we are Jewish, to which we replied that we are. "Do you know the people at Um elHir are Palestinians?" he asked, his bewilderment visibly increasing… we said we do. "So what did you do there?" he persisted. We explained that Jews, too, can have Palestinian friends" to which he responded "I have Palestinian friends too, how's that relevant?" we patiently explained that friends are people you may visit at times which is why we went to visit ours… "But why did you visit them there?" he insisted. We explained that this is where they live, and he glared at us, incredulous. "Because they live here" we repeated our explanation "where else can we visit them?" he looks at us for a few more seconds, wondering, then allowed us through.
We circumvented the improvised CP, returning to the road and finding ourselves up against a settlers' car. We couldn't go back, because that checkpoint was behind us, so we signaled to the settlers, asking them to move backwards. They refused, of course, and begun talking to the soldiers.
In the meanwhile, one of them got off the car and turned to us "Dog!" he muttered at M., our driver. "Bitch, daughter of a bitch! Traitor! Assisting Arabs! Terrorists' collaborator!" he muttered at me before we managed to shut our window.
The occupation routine goes on. All's as usual.
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
MuhammadFeb-24-2026South Hebron Hill, Beit Hagai: Paving an internal security road
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