Activists Rebuild Demolished Homes Near Hebron

From the perspective of Palestinians living in the South Hills of Hebron, it appears that the State of Israel is determined to act on its policy of destroying their villages. As reported in the Israel newspaper, Haaretz, on the weekend of March 9-10 dozens of buildings were demolished by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) under the pretext that the residents lacked building permits in four different locations: Qawawis, M’neizel, Um el Cheir, and the Cubeita family, near the settlement of Yatir. Such acts only reinforce the obvious reality that the sole purpose of the military occupation is the confiscation of more and more land belonging to Palestinians in the West Bank.

The majority of the demolished structures served as residences, bathroom facilities, and in some cases they had agricultural purposes. In spite the fact that most of the buildings were only temporary structures, the military destroyed them and the lives of families already made difficult by the occupation. In addition, last week the residents of the village Jinba received military orders instructing the demolition of 20 more buildings. One of the orders provided an excellent example of the military’s cruelty as it included the demolition of a small bathroom facility located within a cave used by one of the families.

In spite of the adversity caused by these demolitions, the farmers of the South Hebron Hills are refusing to be ethnically cleansed from their ancestral grazing land.

In reaction to this event, a coalition of Israeli, Palestinian, and international activists joined with the farmers to rebuild their homes in the South Hills of Hebron. The rebuilding activity was co-sponsored by Ta’ayush, International Solidarity Movement, Rabbis for Human Rights, Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, Gush-Shalom, Coalition of Women for Peace, Machsom Watch, Yesh-Gvul, Shalom Achsav (student’s organization in Beer-Sheva), Meretz (student’s organization in Beer-Sheva).

Because the rebuilding effort required financing that the local Palestinians did not have, the materials were purchased on credit so that the villagers could live in houses again as soon as possible. In the meantime, a drive to raise money for material costs is being conducted. The villagers have been living in tents on their land since the demolitions.

Last weekend, the activists began the rebuilding effort with four homes in Qawawis. They also helped repair a damaged house in Imneizil. Israeli groups Rabbis for Human Rights and Ta’ayush arranged buses for volunteers coming from Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Beer Sheba, with around 50 helping on Friday and 70 on Saturday.