Susiya - “We always say alhamdulillah for the hope”
The 74th day of the war on Gaza and its consequences on the West Bank
I joined this shift after nearly a year during which I had not gone out. I had decided that it was still not time to stop, as Yael had suggested, and I joined Ariela whom I have been following since she photographed the elaborate garden belonging to Wadha.
Our objective was to visit A-Tuwani and Susiya. For me the drive there was the main part of the visit.
Route 317
Where are the rujums? no rujums; These are stone towers that farmers used to mark the borders of their fields since Biblical days. These no longer exist. Instead of the fields that Palestinian farmers tend and care for, there are now fields cultivated by the settler-terrorists and there is no access to them because there is now a fence along the road.
In addition to the fences there are now dirt embankments and stones along the road. This is how the siege is getting tighter.
There were no Palestinian vehicles on the road except for many dozens of vehicles/ ‘Mashtuba‘ cars without license plates that were confiscated by the army from the Palestinians and are now being driven by soldiers. The photo shows the exit from A-Tuwani in front of Carmel, part of the Mashtuba convoy led by a soldier..
A-Tuwani:
We were met by Nasser Adra and we were later joined by his son Bassal, who is an activist in B’Tzelem and was interviewed by Christiane Amanpour from the CNN. He spoke about what is happening in Hebron and the South Hebron Hills. The interview was broadcast yesterday. He emphasized that the settler militias are doing everything they can to promote unrest in the area. He sent us a photo of a teacher who was beaten but he had no details of the incident.
It is possible to enter the town of Yatta only from one direction and hopefully no one will be in need of an ambulance or emergency vehicle.
Susiya
We arrived in Susiya. Mohammed parked the car in a space in front of the entrance to the village that was surrounded by rocks that were placed there by the army. The entire village is surrounded by boulders and it is not possible to enter with a vehicle.
We arrived at the home of Azam Wadha and their grandson Eyal (who was named after the tireless volunteer, like there is a little girl named Mira after our Mira). “How are you doing?” “Alhamdulillah (Arabic phrase meaning “praise be to God”)” answers Azzam. “We always say alhamdulillah for the hope that at the end of the tunnel a tiny ray of light will shine,” says Azzam in his wonderful and rich Hebrew.
It was extremely important to me to make this trip during the shift and to see for myself what is going on. I adopt the phrase used by Azam about the tiny ray of light, and believe we must not lose hope.
A-Tuwani
See all reports for this place-
A-Tuwani
The locals came to a-Tuwani during the 20th century from the village of Yatta. They settled in abandoned ruins, utilizing the arable land, pastures for grazing sheep and the abundance of natural caves for habitation. The residents who settled in the caves came from families who could not purchase land for houses in the mother villages, as well as shepherds who did not have enough land to graze. They were joined by clan members who quarreled with other families in the mother locality.
Some of the residents today live in concrete buildings built above the caves. In the area of the village are several water cisterns and an ancient water well called 'Ein a-Tuwani. Local residents are forced to buy water in containers and transport them through many road blocks to the village. With the help of international organizations, an electrical system was installed in the village. In the late 90s of the 20tTh century, an elementary school was established in the serving several small villages in the area.
In 2004, MachsomWatch began visiting and reporting from the Khirbet Tuwani cave village, which suffers badly from the settlers of nearby outposts, and especially from the extremist Ma'on outpost. . The settlers contaminate cisterns, poison the flocks and uproot trees.Particularly notable is the harassment of children from the surrounding villages on their way to school in a-Tuwani, so much so that military escort of children is required to separate them from the attackers (this was arranged following an initiative of the organization's members). In the past year, the escort has been without the vital presence of overseas volunteers.
Near a-Tuwani there are several families who have returned to the caves due to the incessant demolitions of the civil administration (as there is a total construction ban in all of area C). Destroyed are not only residential and agricultural buildings, but also water pipes, machinery. Even water cisterns are clogged up. a-Tuwani residents have created an association for non-violent demolition protests, but in the past year the army’s harsh harassment and settler violence have intensified and escalated. The incident of the small generator confiscation, which left a young man paralyzed, is one of many examples - any legitimate protection of property rights leads to violence and even shootings by the army and the civil administration.
Updated April 2022
Muhammad D.May-13-2025Susiya - at Ahmad and Halima Nawaja'a
-
Susiya
See all reports for this place-
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.
-
