South Hebron Hills, Sat 5.4.08, Morning
Road 60
All road blocks are in place. No Palestinian cars on the road and there's sparse traffic of Israeli cars.
Near the Maun Farm a group of Taayush and "Worriers for Peace" activists is escorting shepherds to their pastures near the settlement. The shepherds are afraid to approach the area on their own. After the shepherds are there, three young settlers arrive. There's tension. The "security" man of the settlement arrives too.
After a few minutes soldiers from the border police arrive and after that more soldiers. The tension intensifies.
The young settlers realize they will not be able to harm the Palestinians today. Too many soldiers and activists are present.
After an hour in which the sheep continue to eat and the tension is a bit down, all of a sudden the security man jumps and starts walking towards one of the Palestinians that is pasturing in a more distant place. The cameras are out again. He walks quickly and nothing stops him.
We are told that he's walking towards a Palestinian that was arrested the previous week because the security person claimed he slapped him. The Palestinian was released and the security person wants to get even with him.
Albeit the tense incident the soldiers seem indifferent. At the end they stop him from harming the Palestinian.
In the meantime the young settlers left the place and succeeded in driving out another group of shepherds in the wadi below Maun. Over there the presence of leftist activists does not help and the Palestinians are too afraid and prefer to go to more remote areas although there are more weeds in the wadi.
At the end of the day the Palestinians are satisfied. No one was hurt, there were no clashes and they were able to get to new areas.
On our way back the Meitar checkpoint is "full" of cars. 17 cars. The Israelis too have to learn that there a price to the occupation.
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
Muhammad D.Jun-7-2026A stone placed by settlers on the road leading to the Thiel family's territory in Rahwa
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