Susiya - the settlers’ children and their herds trample the sprouting fields of the Palestinians
Smadar and Michal (filming and reporting) with Muhammad; Translator: Natanya
Concerned phone call from members of the Abu Kubeita family this morning.
A convoy of demolition vehicles is seen approaching their homes from a checkpoint on the Metsadot Yehuda side. Don’t know who exactly. After fifteen minutes it was completely clear to them. They entered the property of their cousin Mahmoud and began to destroy a new house built for his son Osama. Two weeks before, he was happy to show us how much he invested and this and built a beautiful house from light materials, but a very well-invested house that will be ready for Osama’s wedding. He expressed hope that they would not come to destroy the situation by knowing him, even though this is his land and his inheritance from time immemorial. And in the morning of the 23.1 they came and destroyed. They sent pictures in real time. So, we rushed there.
First, we brought basic necessities to his nephew and his neighbours, thanks to your donations. They live in great need,. They were happy to show us how they installed the net we bought for them to protect their windows from the stones thrown by the settlers.
When we came to Mahmoud and his destroyed house, our hearts were broken. There was no warning, no notification, and then all the objects and furniture in the house were buried under the rubble. They had no time to save anything.
In the video I took of it and in the photos, you can see the extent of the destruction.
“They want to kill us, the moment of the explosion in the West Bank is approaching,” he says.
The warnings are coming from all sides, including from our security bodies and security experts. But the settlers and the army go on.
Wadha, our friends from a long time ago. It is always important to come see and hear. Azzam has also not worked for 3 months and is at home.
He says:
The settlers from the settlement Susiya send their children with their herds purposely go up to the fields that are sprouting now. He also tells of policemen who came and demarcated their space of freedom of movement. Only 50 meters from the house you are allowed to walk around without permission. This is what they said: “They limit us in every sense, and we must live.”
He also asks: “Are they waiting for an explosion?” Wadha, despite everything, smiling, serves a simple and incredibly delicious khubeiza stew and a pita that is not like it anywhere. Wonderful olive oil and thyme. We bought olives made by her. Only hers are so delicious. Noble and good people whose garden always blooms, and their “home” always shines with its cleanliness. They also do not intend to move from their ancestral land. The heart is always heavy in these meetings. Despair and shame aree what we feel all the time.
Back, at the Meitar junction at the entrance to the South Mount Hebron Regional Council buildings is a new concrete block, manned by two soldiers.
As we approached the Meitar barrier about 100 meters in front of it, soldiers were holding up cars. A soldier with a gun guards and the other searches the trunk and the car itself.
20 minutes from the house on the other planet.
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.May-13-2025Susiya - at Ahmad and Halima Nawaja'a
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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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