2015-07-24 PALESTINE:
#SaveSusya
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a
Israeli journalist Amira Hass:
"European foreign ministers roll the name of the tiny village of
Susya, as if it were a suburb of Brussels"... Bulldozers were
standing ready to demolish the village this Tuesday, but the Israeli
government back out, after the European Union foreign ministers
defined the action “Transfer” - a war
crime.
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Susya, Palestine, July 24 - a few hundred
demonstrators descended today on the tiny Bedouin village of Susya,
in the desert south of Hebron in the scorching heat in support of the
villagers resistance against attempts by the Israeli government to
demolish the village.
The Israeli government appears to have been
frustrated this time. The demolition was scheduled for this past
Tuesday. However, following a decision by the European Union Foreign
Ministers, defining the action "Transfer" - a war crime -
the Israeli government backed out. As usual, the Israeli Supreme
Court found the action perfectly legal...
The demonstration was organized by
Rabbis for Human Rights, an Israeli NGO, which supports Susya in
recent years, and by Combatants for Peace - an Israeli-Palestinian
organization. The crowd was mostly Israeli and Palestinian, but also
included international representatives - Anglican priest from Bet
Hanina, Scottish priestess from Jerusalem, Swedish volunteer from
World Church Council, Nepalese volunteer from ActionAid, etc, etc...
The villagers lived on location for decades, if not a century or
more. Initially, mostly in caves, but later also in huts and tents.
The local micro-agriculture is based on olive trees and wheat,
growing in the areas benefiting from the rain watershed. Otherwise,
two wells, not much different than those used thousands of years ago
water some fruit trees. Traditionally, the Bedouins also roamed with
herds, but today that practice is practically gone. The men
typically work outside the village.
Their land of Susya was taken
over the decades of the occupation by the building of an
archaeological park on the one side, site of the Talmudic period
Jewish Susya, and an Israeli settlement, also named Susya, on the
other side. Therefore, there are three Susyas today over less than 2
miles.
Regardless of the extensive Israeli
development in the area, the Bedouin village is not permitted to be
connected to the electrical grid or the general water system, and is
slated for demolition and transfer.
In striking contrast with
numerous other demonstrations in Palestine over recent years, there
was absolutely no military to be seen... Apparently low profile was
the order of the day... On past occasions, it was enough for 5-10
people to show up in nearby Hebron, and the military would
immediately appear and stand watching and videotaping, or in other
cases, block the movement of visitors or demonstrators...
