On Wednesday May 10, our delegation went to four Palestinian bedouin areas to find examples of apartheid.
As mentioned in other posts from this trip, find the day’s pictures on our Facebook page.
The most surreal moments where when we could hear F-16s flying overhead on their way to drop bombs on people in Gaza during an operation announced by Israel we had heard that two days before that several children and mothers were killed along with militants. We thought we could also hear an explosion or two in the distance. We heard the jets while at our first stop and again at the second with sorties about every 4-6 minutes several times. Knowing our tax dollars support such operations is part of why we are here.
The group is led by staff of the American Friends Service Committee in the US and local staff. Three are Israeli Jews. The invitees include two Methodist pastors, a Baptist pastor, two Presbyterians - one a pastor and one to be ordained this year, a United Church of Christ pastor, a Quaker meeting leader, an Episcopalian lay leader, and the leader of Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East. We are also enjoying the bright and energetic company of the three-year-old son of one staffer.
The focus on bedouins this day was brilliant. At the time of the Nakba in 1948, there were 300,000 Palestinian bedouins in Palestine under the British mandate, and this was reduced to 10,000 from people fleeing the Jewish militias. Now, almost exactly 75 years later, they again number 300,000. The problems are that Israel has been displacing them to townships, upending their ways of life, to make their former lands available for settlements or military exercises. Our guide this day was a bright law student named Bashir who is a bedouin and whose family ended up in a densely populated apartment block in a township created to displace bedouins into.
We learned that the bedouins became semi-nomadic a few hundred years ago, meaning they would have an area with plantings and the women and children would stay there while the men would take the livestock to a second location for grazing and then return. There are bedouin communities in many areas of Palestine including the Naqab (Negev) arid region in the south of Israel as well as several clusters in the occupied West Bank south of Hebron there are others scattered across the West Bank in very small or sometimes single family units. Another thing we learned was that there are recognized and unrecognized bedouin communities. The ones that are unrecognized are under constant threat of demolition. We were told that Israeli policy is maximum land with minimum Arabs. What we learned matched this saying.
Our first stop was in Araqeeb (emphasis on second syllable), a small bedouin community living on land for which it has ownership dating back to more than 100 years. In the 1948 Nakba, Jewish militia came to their encampment and took away 28 men of all ages to a stone house in the area and executed them all. Their names are listed on a banner at the camp entrance. In the past ten or so years, they have experienced the Israeli army coming in and demolishing their housing structures 217 times. The government wants them to vacate their land and go to a township. We were welcomed into a tent made of wood and covered with plastic tarps with some plastic chairs in a semicircle and some cushions on the ground. The sheikh and his father both spoke to us. Both have spent time in Israeli prison for protesting demolitions. Both are currently under court order not to set foot in their own community and if caught they will go back to jail for 10 months. The father reported that Israeli aircraft have sprayed Roundup on their area several times and that this has caused some livestock to die. His daughter died of cancer and he believes the spray is to blame. They also reported that the army comes and confiscates livestock and cars periodically. They lost all their camels in this manner and also their olive trees were uprooted. The most recent demolition was two weeks ago and they are still sleeping under the trees until they can get materials to rebuild.
Our hearts were heavy. As we listened, a teenage boy quietly went around serving us Arabic coffee and then dates, which is the tradition for a short visit, and generous given the situation. Several women took video of our visit and a few other men and a teenage girl joined the group. We heard F16s maybe twice during the presentation. The two men thanked us for our interest and urged us to tell people in the US what is happening to their community.
The next stop was a more permanent looking and much larger bedouin community called Abu Queidar which is a mixture of cement block houses that are finished and some with corrugated steel walls. There is a cement community center where we were welcomed to colorful couches and chairs and heard more from Bashir who then translated what the community leader Mohammed wanted to share. Here we heard more F16 sorties. My brother-in-law who lives in the West Bank called on WhatsApp to make sure we were safe. After the presentation, we were served a delicious lunch by his wife and a few other women. He then took us on a short walking tour to see a recently demolished house. There is clear poverty in the area they have no electricity or water from the state because they are unrecognized. They must bring their own water and make their own electricity from solar panels and generators. Many houses are under this threat of demolition and one never knows when it will happen.
The last two stops were in an area called Masafer Yatta. All of the hills in this area south of Hebron are bedouin settled. Israel has been creating military outposts that turned into settler outposts for awhile. The settlements take up spots on hilltops, making the land around them unavailable under threat of violence from settlers. The first bedouin village was At-Tuwani. We stopped at a house that has a dwelling on an uplifted floor and an open covered patio sitting area, kitchen, sleeping room, craft shop and bathroom below the house. One of our tour guides lived here for awhile as part of an effort to stop demolitions and protect people from violent settlers. A woman community leader, Kefaa, spoke to us about how they built a school. She is head of the women’s craft committee. Ali, a journalist from the nearby village of Tuba, was interpreting. She started the idea of building their own school. The children have been walking over the hills. What would normally be about 20 minute walk to a school in another Bedouin village. But with the increasing numbers of Sattler outposts, it became unsafe for the children to walk, and they had to go a long way around to avoid the settlements, which could take them two hours to get to school in the morning in two hours to get back in the afternoon. So she and her husband and other people want to speak to Yasser Arafat and ask him for funding for a school which was arranged although there would be no help with the actual construction, and no guarantee that it would not be destroyed by settlers or the military. It was done at night by men and during day by women. They were afraid to have their efforts detected and disrupted by angry settlers. After thirty days they added the roof. It was a bitterly cold night but they were afraid to start warming fires not to attract settler attention. It was a success, and the children to second grade could stay locally for school and the PA sent teachers. Now it is enlarged and has 23 rooms and students through 12th grafe
There were no settlements in their area, just military camps, before the 1970s. Israel decided to transform the military outposts to settler agricultural outposts from beginning of 1980s and working on declaring this land a firing zone officially 1985. Demolitions started. Bulldozers demolished small caves and cottages close to settlements. Still a vast area of land - how to ensure in future a way to take these lands? They enforced laws under Ottoman Empire and British mandate. Settlements grow with the state land law; if Palestinian land is not used for a few years it becomes public and then the state can lease it. They started leasing to settlers. During COVID to today, many hills that before 2020 were for grazing with big flocks, including for his grandfather, were not allowed any more. Pogroms happened against villages here. But a government should be responsible for individual violence. It makes no sense to disallow people who have been grazing for generations…the court will say the land (that they were barred from) has not been used. Villages are separated with a chain of settlements.
You can read Amira Hass in Haaretz who tells how Israel uses excuses. Who was there before? the residence or the firing zone. There are docs proving they want to use firing zones to kick out.
Ali’s grandfather was born in this area in 1942.
In Aug 1999 the first evacuation orders were issued - he was 1 year old - against 700 people. The people were not thinking to find new shelter as winter was coming with also their thousands of livestock. In November the Israeli authorities started forcing people and flocks out to make way for a firing zone.
Neighbors in Tuba started living in old houses of those forced out. Hoping to return. They lived next to the firing zone borders. They slept in their caves at night and took care of animals and children in the day.
His family moved from Tuba 1999 and built a few tents for the people and for 300 goats and 500 sheep. It was the time for sheep to give birth so every night 10-15 sheep were born and needed warmth. They did not have to face just eviction just eviction but also nature that was cold and rainy. After the camp was built, they got a good Israeli lawyer and won their firing zone case - ACRI helped also; but the army at the supreme court argued the other side. If brought to Isr Civil Admin it is part of the military. Ali proved this land is registered to his family; Supreme Ct says can be firing zone but you are saying you own. Started legal case in 2000. Not many people knew about this - just the two Israeli rights groups Taayush and Btselem.
Before the legal case started the military showed up at temporary camp and said it is in the firing zone and confiscated the tents and seven eggs his grandma had picked up. Neighboring villagers came with tents and blankets for the 20 or so people. And 23 lambs died that night in the cold rain. They left the firing zone borders and built another encampment. They then got a temporary permit until the hearing to decide. It took 20 yrs to get to the first ruling. Because Israeli outposts are built in or partly in firing zone, for them to evacuate the Palestinian villages but not settlers’ illegal outposts they divided the firing zone into two parts - wet and dry firing zones. Apartheid within apartheid. B’Tselem says the Supreme Ct is a court of occupation. Several villages were in dry area and others had to be evacuated. The lawyer submitted an appeal from 8 villages; from 2018-2022 it took. At At the court hearing the villagers were accompanied by Breaking the Silence, a group of former Israeli soldiers in solidarity with Palestinians. The judges again ruled in favor of the army. Shouldn’t court protect civilians? The court ruled that the army can train with tanks or guns in the firing zones.
When they wanted to kick out the people they started the training before the green light.
The Maon outpost/settlement is 600 meters from his village and also between it and West Bank. It is 2 km from here to his village the straightest way, but since 2002 they have to go another way. To get to the town of Yatta needs a route that adds 10 km. That is a lot of time to get to a hospital for childbirth or emergencies. They are not allowed to build a clinic. And the route is driving over the fields, not a road. It used to be a 20 minute walk to school on a road. His uncle and aunt when young were driving on a tractor in 2002 and were assaulted by settlers who destroyed the tractor and caused much injury.
Now some students ride donkeys to take a longer way to be safer.
He recalls in 2003 people had to start before 6 am to be at school at 8 am. If there is an attack they have to run and find a farther way or go home. Same in the afternoon and they might come home at dark.
CPT is an American group that came in 2004 and offered to live in village and escort children to school.
The first day was peaceful.
On the second day there was an organized attack from settlers. Before kids got newr the outpost there were masked settlers with chains and sticks. You can find video of a volunteer calling ambulance while bleeding.
A specialized chief of army was sent in to do what CPT was trying to do escorting young children.
He had to transfer elsewhere until second grade.
People follow the kids progress on Whats App to and from school. Because the army will not keep this as a top priority.
We then did some craft shopping in the small store in the building.
Then we had a visit from about a dozen schoolchildren. Two teenage girl activist storytellers - Banan and Janna - each told stories growing out of a storytelling class led by Jewish activists. One told the story of her family getting to Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem with a long awaited permit and the other told a story of witnessing the beating of a 17-year-old boy outside Al Aqsa and being sprayed with skink water at rhe bus station trying to leave for home. these young people were vibrant with great stage presence and we wished all of them the best.
After tea and coffee, we got back on our bus and headed to the last stop for the day, the small bedouin community of Umm Al Khair, also with land confiscation and home demolitions.
In this community we parked at the community center. It has small dimensions and a small play yard for children. Children ran up to investigate as we trailed onto the patio and sat on benches. Our group leader handed out lollipops to their great delight. We could see the painting of a deceased community elder on the side of the building. He died when the army came to demolish and confiscate a few years ago, being run iver and drafged by an army vehicle. Below is what our host, Awda, a writer and English teacher, said to us.
His name means return, as in the right of displaced people to return to their homes and lands.
Everything started here in 1948 - nakba.
His family lived the nakba.
The family was living in Araad. It was a war. People were killed, jailed, arrested, transferred. Families thought it it would be resolved quickly. When it was not, they gathered their money and bought this area of land and lived normal bedouin life.
In 1982 they lived at the top of hill in summer and in winter the valleys. They bought the top of two mountains. A Settlement started as a military checkpoint in that year. They stopped the bedouin people from building houses or fences. The Israeli authorities confiscated more than half (60%) of their private land although they have all the papers to prove ownership.
His grandma used to live by where there is a water tank now.
Now near them is one of the largest settlements in South Hebron hills. And then the settlement built a chicken farm. This is the closest bedouin village to a settlement. Electricity passes the village to the chicken farm and not to the village. Israel always talks about its democracy but they do not share the electricity. The Umm Al Khair electricity is all from solar which is a problem in winter. They have water only 7 hrs a week. This is hard for up for 180 ppl and the sheep. They tried to adapt. In 2007 Israel started a phased demolition process. He remembers all the details of the first demolition day and wishes he can forget. He was in 2nd grade going to school with two cousins wearing the uniforms. A cousin was 1 year older and another was 1 year younger. Older cousin said why so many cars around. Awda did not want to see. The younger cousin said what they can do — they took our land and water — what can they do more — we will not leave. His chair was next to the window. They passed the first class. They were preparing for second class and he saw yellow bulldozers and thought they were to kill people. He got back home from school. He remembers his mom’s face. The anger in the men’s faces. Children shouting. Five houses got destroyed including the one he had been in a few hours ago. From that town the story started. More than 15 demolition processes and 80 structures demolished. An elder, Haj Suleiman, was the most famous activist in the area. The army came to confiscate three cars. Haj stood in front of bulldozers saying God is Great and you will regret. He was run over by a truck with 3 confiscated cars on it and was dragged 7 meters. He died 17 Jan 2022. After the accident we took him to the hospital. Police and the driver left. I saw he was very damaged, brain damage. He was in an ICU in Hebron for 12 days. We got a call from authorities apologizing but also threatening violence if any protest happened at the funeral.
“Who we are? Simple people seeking simple rights but unfortunately … our dreams are water, electricity, decent house. We want to feel safe. Not having to be asked for ID. We are not terrorists. We got stuck in the middle. It is not a conflict. Not a struggle. It is oppression. I have been jailed, arrested. They broke my mom’s knee. My father was disabled and still was attacked. It did not end. Last thing was we lost people. We are continuing activism just because of Hajj Suleiman. We want peace.”
Awda then took us on a tour showing the electric lines passing along the supposed edge of their land to the chicken farm. There is no electricity or eater service for the Palestinians here. Meanwhile we could see a row of settler homes with nice design and tile roofs within a few hundred feet of the bedouin children’s play area. Awda said once the kids kicked a soccer ball across to the settler area and he asked one of the settlers to return it. The settler said nasty words to him and called him a terrorist. His answer was a question: How many times did I attack you, and how many times the Israeli army came to our community and attacked us? We want peace.
We saw the rubble of demolished homes, the very bright lights lining the tall barbed wire topped settlement fence, and the impoverished condition of the village homes. Nevertheless, they have murals painted on some walls of the community kitchen, with a line from the revered Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish.
A warm and tasty dinner was served outside right after sunset. Following dinner, Pastor Michael led us in a reflection of one word that makes us grieve from what we experienced today and one word that gives us hope. He led us in singing We Shall Overcome and then we shared our words. Loss-Possibility. Children-Children.
We thanked our community hosts and headed for the bus and a somber and reflective ride back to East Jerusalem.
