South Hebron Hills, Thu 1.12.11, Morning
Aim: Art activity in Gan Huda for the 5th time this year, with the assistance of Eid & Huda according to the plan we made with Suha.
Road 317
Palestinians are working on the roads on the way to Tawani. We picked up Eid at Um El Kheir, who told us that on Sat. settler children came down from Carmel and uprooted olive seedlings belonging to a resident of Um El Kheir. There were soldiers, but they didn't intervene. There were also adult settlers including one who is particularly aggressive. In the end Eid called on a "nice settler" who managed to chase away the kids. According to Eid, there were similar incidents in Susiya.
Hashem Al-Darj: The kindergarten has 25 youngsters. There was much less crying than in previous visits. It seems that the kids are getting used to us and happily shake our hands.
Workshop topic: The winter. Huda drew elements of winter on the blackboard: rain, winds, children dressed in winter clothes.
Workshop plan: Reading a story on the subject, and pasting objects on a picture depicting "winter". Each child gets a page that is filled-in with cut-out elements and, then is colored.
Eid and Huda told a story, which kept the kids attentive, though less than the last time. Perhaps because the story was more abstract. Some of the children asked questions. We'd prefer it if Huda read directly from the book.
They need to be taught in stages and to work together.
1. Eid and Huda demonstrated the whole project. But it was difficult for the kids to understand the explanation, so we just started directly with the work.
2. We helped them cut out the pictures, some of the children knew how to use scissors, and others found this a difficult task. It was also hard to get the kids to decide by themselves where to put the pasted item. In other words, to think. But we saw that they were learning how to paste, without dumping all the glue onto the page. (Those of us who re psychologists will understand the importance of learning these skills.)
3. We collected the scissors and the glue and put the crayons. We also saw the same problem in choosing colors, Some, seem to work automatically, without expressing a conscious decision for a color or for an item.
4. Finally, we hung up the pictures.
5. We opened a garbage bag, and we all, including the kids, collected the left over from the floor. Cleanup is something that will take time to absorb.
6. Muhammed distributed candies that MW women left in his vehicle, and the children threw the wrappings into the garbage bag.
We felt that some friendly connections with the kids have been forned.
Photos (Nurit, Muhammad, Mira):
https://picasaweb.google.com/115469912026094971633/WinterWorkshopDecember12011#
“Staff” meeting:
After the kids went home we stayed on to discuss the project and the next workshop which will be on Thurs. Dec. 15 – showing emotions according to music.
In summary: satisfactory – have to work on the idea of how to choose and communications between the children.
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
Raya YeorMay-15-2025No-traffic signs around Dahariya
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