Zanuta - hope of returning to their village after the Supreme Court's decision

A visit to Fares and his family in Shweike, south of Mount Hebron

We are going to visit Fares who was evicted at the end of 2023 from the village of Zanuta, which we have already documented several times of the incessant abuse of him by the settlers of two nearby farms, Meitarim Farm (Yinon Levy) and Yehuda Farm (Elyashiv Nahum).

It is important for us this time to hear about the High Court's permission for the residents of Zanota to return to their village. They are going to return there this week, after having been forced to leave by the harassment of settlers.

Already at the entrance to the dirt road that turns from Route 60, near the pool of water, in the direction of Shweike we see garbage that, according to the packaging, was thrown by Jews.

We photographed and documented.

Fares receives us as usual, happily for our arrival and with him two of his sons and grandsons. We are sitting in a well-kept and tidy shed and after a few minutes of conversation one of the grandchildren arrives with plates of prickly pears and warm pita bread.

They graze the flock as close as possible to their residential area, so as to avoid an encounter with the settlers (which is sometimes accompanied by beatings and violence from the latter). Of course this is problematic, because it requires buying food in sacks and less natural grazing. Fares says that Elyashiv Nahum from Havat Yehuda, occasionally sends a drone to take pictures of their home.  

There is hope for a return to Zanuta which has been their home for generations, but they know it will not be easy and the violent harassment that has accompanied them for years will not stop.

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*Two days after our visit they returned to Zanuta. Many activists from Human Rights organizations accompanied them on this exciting day. It is painful to see the great destruction. Several sheds were erected by the returning residents, which were soon destroyed, as expected, by the settlers.

Who controls the territory? Pretty clear.

This is the occupation.