Return to Al Buwehreh

Yesterday, a group of CPTers and ISMers went on a walk to Al Buwehre. It is a Palestinian village just outside the outskirts of Hebron, and the people there are farmers and many grow grapes. Beside the village is the settlement of Harsina, and the villagers have had many unpleasant encounters with their neighbours.
Attacks on the villagers had in the past included crops being set on fire, and kids attacked on the way to school. Things had been quiet for the past while, but the man we met who unofficially acts as a leader in the village who we met told us they are afraid things will get bad again in September, when the schoolyear begins again. It will be a place to keep in mind at that point.

The village also has special significance for me, as it was the place where, six years ago, my friend Koba and I were attacked by the settlers and beaten up with a metal pipe and sticks. I had a broken nose and Koba's leg was very badly bruised. The event can be read about here: http://livingstones-tomasz.blogspot.com/2010/08/friday-morning-under-fig-tree-weekend.html

Of course, in comparison to what happens to many Palestinians, our situation was not that bad. We are alive and in one piece.

Going up the road that divides Harsina settlement from Al Buwehre village.

Entrance to Harsina settlement.

A Palestinian house in the village.

Local kids greet the journalist who went with us.

Grapes. We didn't have any but they look delicious. Many of the people here are farmers.

A field of grapes. Last summer this same areas was covered in ashes, after the settlers nearby doused it with petrol and set it on fire.

Another Palestinian home in the village.

The Harsina settlement is illegal according to international law but the tent above is part of an outpost that is illegal even to Israeli law. The settlers set up outposts, which later sometimes expand and cause more land to be taken from the village. Many of the attacks happen when settlers come down from the outposts to assault the villagers.

The outpost was built in memory of a thirteen year old girl from the settlement who was killed by a teenage Palestinian attacker with a knife, who was later shot dead by the security guards. I of course deplore this act of murder, as do Palestinians I have spoken to about it.

I don't see how it justifies stealing yet more land, and this outpost also existed in 2010. 

An Israeli soldier on duty, guarding the outpost that should not be here even according to the laws of the occupation.

Israeli settler youth walking into the outpost.

The soldier greets them.

Walking down the road, which divides the village (left) from the settlement (right)- which is actually stolen village land also. The fig tree in the picture holds special significance for me, since that is where my friend and I were attacked by settlers last year.

We were sitting on these rocks, eating figs, when it happened.

What happens to Palestinians on a regular basis is far worse than what we experienced.