Accompanying shepherds high above hamra

Most of us speak with the shepherds and their families in broken Arabic. I wonder – what language will sprout between the cultures eventually, as Arabic has so many dialects and is so interesting, and not only because of this.

Today we accompanied the flock on hills above Hamra and rose higher than usually. This was not only for finding food: one of the days earlier this week, someone from the illegal ranch down the hill broke towards us with ITV and a drone. His determination brought the army there and it was decided that the shepherd and one of the accompaniers come to Binyamin police station to bear witness to an assault. It is always the ‘attacking’ side that is the weaker side. It is the shepherd who is attacked by the settler-colonist, continuing to tirelessly steal the shepherd family’s land, against the law and supported by the state institutions.

The police hearing ended with limitations: the shepherd and his accompanier will avoid coming to the disputed area, the one which the settler-colonist invaded with his ATV…

Thus the flock, the shepherd, the sheep and the accompaniers climbed up today, drank up the view, and enjoyed the greenery that is slowly coming out (hoping that the crocus flowers are not edible for the sheep and goats…

And about the broken language? Let’s hope that the hearing which the shepherd had was documented fairly. The verbal violence exerted by the settler-colonist upon the accompanier and the shepherd, as well as the lies he spread while summing the army and police – all of that will come to an end.

Finally, at the end of the day the shepherd received information about the kind of treatment needed for lambs and kids beginning their first day on earth with diarrhea. Don’t worry, someone there did translate into Arabic.