Settlers Eyes

On Saturday, we were asked to head south to Suseya. If you look on a map you will find a settlement in the West Bank, just south of Hebron called Suseya, but that is not the community that invited us.

We were asked to come to meet with Palestinians who live off the map, off the grid, in a horseshoe-like spread of tents and other structures on hills around this settlement. This community is similar to Qawawis and it is close to it.



Like Qawawis, families in Suseya face terrorism from settlers who want Palestinians to just disappear, to leave the land, so that the myth of "a land without a people for a people without a land" may make some sort of sense. These families are "forced-Bedouins." They are not necessarily connected to the rich history of bedouins in the region but have no other choice but to live like them due to the lack of employment opportunities in Israel since the Second Intifada.



Around a month ago, settlers came in the middle of the night and attacked a Palestinan family with knives and sticks. They also burned the fabric roof off of their stone and mud hut. The family has sinced moved further from the settlement and in with relatives. This is exactly what the settlers want -an exodus. But the Palestinian people are not so easily scared off.

Internationals and progressive Israelis, such as Ta'ayush, were invited to assist this community in setting another roof on the damaged home and watering their crops.



However, while we were there a group of masked settlers approached the area where we were gathered and proceeded to try and intimidate us with their presence. They took pictures of us and stood their ground, right in the middle of where we were walking back and forth. When we turned the cameras on them and challenged them to remove their masks, they proceeded to attack the camera-woman. A few of us got in between and provided a measure of safety until the aggressive settlers began to calm down a little and step back.

What I remember most vividly was their eyes, staring at us with venom through their make-shift masks. Settlers' eyes are icy, cold, and stoic. They must believe they belong where they stand, the land they occupy, and stand their ground fervently against the truth.

Interestingly enough, the settlers called Jeish who arrived and asked all parties involved what was going on. The result was the soldiers ordered the settler to go home and leave the area. It is rare that Israeli soldiers do what is best and take the side of innocent Palestinians over settlers, but it happened. However, the families were frightened by the potential for renewed violence and they asked us to stay with them for a few days.

We stayed and for two days. We learned about the serenity of the semi-desert environment, good company, farming, and shepherding. No settlers returned in an aggressive manner, although some young Israeli shepherds did bring their herd near the renovated Palestinian home. Overall, we felt safe amidst the farmers as we sorted through limited English and Arabic and they seemed to appreciate our presence.

After two days, we left. Made our way back to Beit Ummar and received a call that the moment we left settlers rode in to the village and threatened to burn down their houses again. I can imagine what their eyes looked like.

We will continue to support these "forced-bedouins."