Kfar Giladi's quary in South HebronH ills
At the Meitar crossing, the parking lot is full on both sides of Route 60, including three buses that brought families to visit families. Apparently, family visits are yet not banned as a collective punishment.
We drove on the road to Tene Omarin and Ramadin, west of Road 60. On the way we passed through the quarry of Kfar Giladi which now reaches almost to Dahariya.
You ask: Kfar-Gileadi? How is the kibbutz in the north related to this area of southern Mount Hebron? And so an explanation can be found on Kerem Navot's website:
It turns out that Kibbutz Kfar Giladi operates the Yatir Quarry here, which belongs to the Kfar Giladi Quarry Company: the occupier is exploiting the Palestinians’ land's in the occupied territory!
On a very rough road which can hardly be called a road but which is very beautiful, we passed through the village of Shweika. In a normal place, the area would be full of tourists, restaurants and places to eat, but…
The residents of the village suffer greatly from the settlers of Eshtamo’a. The settlers do not let them plough their land, they confiscate the tractors of the Palestinians with the help of the army. The masters of the land , the settlers command the army which does their bidding, and the settlers call in the army and delay the Palestinians until the army arrives.
We went to Abu-Safi, who lives deep in the area, near the Asael outpost. On the way we met Miriam, his 12-year old daughter with the sheep on the hills. She greeted us with shouts of joy that warmed the heart. Since there was a school holiday, all the girls in the family, from the youngest to the oldest, are working, some in the pasture and some in feeding the animals. Abu-Safi himself is sick and hospitalized in the hospital in Dura.
We arrived loaded with packages that Samader had collected, which made the girls very happy, especially the toys and games.
Again we are told about the bullying of Israel Kaplan the illegal settler who
owns the farm near Asael. He throws his dead sheep on the dirt roads of the Palestinian residents, he does not allow them to graze their sheep on their lands and he brings his flock to the pastures they sowed. Everything is his.
A week before our visit, the army arrived and drove out Abu Safi's neighbour who was in his own pasture.
Two weeks before, many vehicles of the Keren Kayemeth Leyisrael (the Jewish National Fund) arrived to inspect the area. Perhaps in preparation for Tu Bishavat (the 15th of the month Shvat) which is the Jewish holiday of planting trees, looking for new national lands. We will follow to see what happens.
When we said goodbye, all the family came out to see us off.