Maktal Mesalem - settlers throw sheep carcasses in ther area
On Thursday, Abu Safi called Muhammad and told him that Israel Kaplan, a settler from Mikne Yehuda farn - adjacent to the illegal settlement, Asa’el, has been intruding more and more into the lands of Abu Safi's house, several times in fact.
Amer, Abu Safi's neighbour in Wadi Radim, also describes what happened to him.
Yinon, the settler from Meitarim , came to his well and tried to drive out Amer and his herd. Without a water well, the herd cannot survive and will die of thirst.
Amar stood his ground and warned that he would call the police. Yinon left. We will follow what happens.
We went to see for ourselves the incessant invasions, and indeed, while still on our way, on the dirt road visitors from road 317 to Abu Safi, the ATV with two young men in it, (they looked like boys to us), drove quickly and passed us. We managed to take pictures.
We picked up Abu Safi and went to check if the purpose of the trip was to throw another sheep carcass under the bridge, possibly a gruesome one as we reported 10 days ago. Amer, the shepherd from nearby Maktal Mesalem, was there with the flock. He was there when the two settlers arrived with the ATV and climbed a nearby hill. He speculates that a sheep carcass was thrown there.
We went up the hill with the jeep. We walked on foot in the area to the carcass site, but what we discovered was an additional area to the one next to the bridge, where many bones are lying. It is hard to see.
In the afternoon, Amer from the Maktal Mesalem sent a photo of a dead carcass which had been thrown down about half an hour earlier on the hill, by Kaplan.
Two parts of the territory on which Abu Safi has lived for generations is claimed by two settlers, Yinon from Meitarim and Kaplan from Mikne Yehuda. Their goal is to expel the Palestinians.
Abu Safi asked if we could help him to visit his daughters in the village of Ramadin in a place near the Meitar crossing. His daughter Rania gave birth two months ago and this was also an opportunity to bless her and her family.
Abu Safi had some satisfaction from visiting his daughter, and then he returned to his home and to the increasing difficulty in his life.