Susiya - constant fear of violent settlers
Already on our way from the Shoket junction to the Meitar checkpoint, we noticed that traffic was thinner than ever. We received the explanation for this when, before our trip to Susiya, we went to check on what was happening at the Dahariya checkpoint. It turns out that the checkpoint is only open to trucks traveling to and from the nearby quarry. Several soldiers are standing guard with weapons in their hands.
The roadblock to the Dahariya and Ramadin areas prevents residents of the surrounding villages from reaching shopping, medical treatment, car repairs, and more. On the road leading from the checkpoint to Dahariya, many businesses have opened along the road, such as car washes, pita bakeries, greengrocers, nurseries, and containers.
The blockade will eliminate them and the investment will go down the drain.
We went there to buy food for our friends in nearby Rahwe.
Pure evil.
We continued on Highway 60 and noticed that the traffic of Palestinian vehicles was more active than usual, apparently this was the solution to getting to Dahariya.
Samu’ checkpoint south – open, soldiers are checking every vehicle that exiting and entering.
At the entrance to Dahariya north – near the settlement of Otniel, a checkpoint that had been closed for many months is partially open. We went in to take a closer look and were told that they opened a week ago, but not continuously.
Abda checkpoint – closed
A checkpoint from Route 60 to Khursa is closed, but an Israeli car driver opened it without getting out of the car and the checkpoint was closed again. Settlers can pass, but not Palestinians.
Nearby is a settlement in one large building, whose purpose was a regional emergency center called Beit Dror. The place is called Adorayim.
We went to take pictures there several times, but this time it was not possible. There is a new checkpoint there and there is no access.
Zif checkpoint, entrance to Yatta– closed.
Khalet al-Mai checkpoint – open.
We understood that if one checkpoint s open another one is closed.
We continued to Susiya to visit Halima and Ahmad Nawaja’ah. The area on which their small house, a guest house and a sheep pen, are located at the entrance to the village. Their two daughters are in elementary school. We sit in the guest house and ask how they are doing. The answer will always be Alhamdulillah. (Thank Allah).
They live in constant fear of violent settlers who choose different victims every day and every night. At night, two volunteers stay with the Palestinians permanently.
This does not prevent Shem Tov Luski, a violent settler living in ancient Susiya, who is known for the terror he and several of his friends inflict on the Palestinians, from continuing to do so. A few days before our arrival, the above-mentioned and another settler threw stones at their house at night. One of the activists who was there called the police, who arrived after half an hour. The police vehicle drove back and forth on the road but the police did not enter their land to hear and record the event. After a while, the settlers left.
As in all the villages, Ahmad also received threats and he does not dare to go further than 50 meters from his land to graze the herd. The food is purchased in bags and further burdens their difficult economic situation.
As we were about to leave, two women from Bethlehem arrived from an international organization operating in the area. It turns out that they are from Bethlehem and provide psychological assistance to children in the area. War Child International is an independent non-governmental organization founded in 1993 by filmmakers, Bill Leeson, David Wilson, and peace activist Wilmaine Warlop. The organization works with parents, caregivers, community members, NGOs, governments, corporations and other partners around the world to ensure that children have access to protection, education and psychosocial support. War Child’s work is anchored in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
It’s good to have someone who does this, once a week, every two weeks.
Location Description
Meitar checkpoint / Sansana
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Meitar Checkpoint / Sansana The checkpoint is located on the Green Line and serves as a border crossing between Israel and the West Bank. It is managed by the Border Crossing Authority of the Defense Ministry. It is comprised of sections for the transfer of goods as well as a vehicle checkpoint (intended for holders of blue identity cards, foreign nationals or diplomats and international organizations). Passing of Palestinians is prohibited, except for those with entry permits to Israel. Palestinians are permitted to cross on foot only. The crossing has a DCO / DCL / DCL / DCL (District Coordination Office), a customs unit, supervision, and a police unit. In the last year, a breach has been opened in the fence, not far from the crossing. This breach is known to all, including the army. There does not appear to be any interest in blocking it, probably as it permits needed Palestinian workers without the bureaucratic permits to get to work in Israel. Food stalls and a parking area economy have been created, but incidents of violent abuse by border police have also been recorded. Updated April 2022
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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
Daphna JungMar-16-2025Simia: Farhan and his wife
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Susiya
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Susiya The Palestinian area lies between the settlement of Susya and a military base. The residents began to settle in areas outside the villages in the 1830s and lived in caves, tents and sukkot. To this day they maintain a traditional lifestyle and their livelihood is based on agriculture and herding. Until the 1948 war, the farmers cultivated areas that extended to the Arad area. As a result of the war, a significant portion of their land left on the Israeli side was lost. After the 1967 war and the Israeli occupation, military camps were established in the area, fire zones and nature reserves were declared, and the land area was further reduced. The Jewish settlement in Susya began in 1979. Since then, there has been a stubborn struggle to remove the remains of Palestinian residents who refuse to leave their place of birth and move to nearby town Yatta. With the development of a tourist site in Khirbet Susya in the late 1980s (an ancient synagogue), dozens of families living in caves in its vicinity were deported. In the second half of the 1990s, a new form of settlement developed in the area - shepherds' farms of individual settlers. This phenomenon increased the tension between the settlers and the original, Palestinian residents, and led to repeated harassment of the residents of the farms towards the Palestinians. At the same time, demolition of buildings and crop destruction by security forces continued, as well as water and electricity prevention. In the Palestinian Susya, as in a large part of the villages of the southern Hebron Mountains, there is no running water, but the water pipe that supplies water to the Susya Jewish settlement passes through it. Palestinians have to buy expensive water that comes in tankers. Solar electricity is provided by a collector system, installed with donation funds. But the frequent demolitions in the villages do not spare water cisterns or the solar panels and power poles designed to transfer solar electricity between the villages. Updated April 2021, Anat T.
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Zif Junction
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Zif Junction located on the crossroads that directs towards Road 356 to Yata. Yata is the district city of the southern Hebron Mountains. Usually, this junction is open to traffic. The nearby pillbox is unmanned. But the army and police are present occasionally, sometimes setting up a checkpoint and sometimes detaining residents from the big city. Often, the Israeli policemen inspect vehicles and distribute driving reports to Palestinian vehicles. s
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