Palestine Solidarity Project » Susiya

Israeli Authorities Deliver Demolition Notices in Susiya

PSP — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 05:21:17 +0000

On January 17th, 2011, Israeli Authorities delivered home demolition notices to five Palestinian tent residences in Susiya, in the South Hebron Hills. The tents belong to the families of Ayssa Housena Al-Jobor, Omar Housen Al-Jobor, Ahmed Housen Al-Jobor, Ayssa Badr Al-Jobor and Omar Badr Al-Jobor.

The lawyer representing the families, Yasser Al-Jobor, confirmed that the occupation civilian administration had delivered the notices this week. It is not known when the tents will be destroyed and the families currently live in constant uncertainty.

Palestinian Bedouin villagers in Susiya and other communities in the South Hebron Hills face constant harassment from Israeli settlers as well as from the Israeli military. Residences and water wells are periodically demolished and these isolated Palestinian communities are often more vulnerable to settler attacks.

After Settlers Destroy Olive Trees, Activists Join Farmers to Harvest

PSP — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 01:58:14 +0000

This week international and Israeli solidarity activists along with members of PSP, joined farmers near the Susiya settlement to harvest their remaining olives after several of their trees were cut down by settlers. The farmers arrived to their land one week ago to find trees across several dunums of land had been cut down and left to die on the arid ground. A few days later, the owners of the land returned to clear the area and harvest what they could from the felled trees and remaining groves. The settlers of the South Hebron Hills, where Susiya is located, are some of the most right-wing ideologically extreme in all of the West Bank. They have maintained a constant flow of economic destruction, violence, and harassment against the local Palestinian population while consistently trying to illegally expand and expropriate privately-owned land. When the farmers complain to the Israeli security forces, who are in charge of the area, they do nothing, and refuse to interfere when they see Israeli settlers trespassing on Palestinian land.

At-Tuwani Puts Down Roots in Face of Israeli Settlement Expansion

PSP — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 16:11:43 +0000

This Saturday, October 3, residents of the small town of At-Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills were accompanied by approximately 40 international and Israeli solidarity activists on a tree-planting mission. The group walked out of town in the direction of Ma’on, an illegal Israeli settlement that has been expanding with great speed in the last few months. In September alone, 6 new homes were erected near the settlement, continuing to encroach on privately-owned Palestinian land. In response to this illegal expansion, the popular committee of At-Tuwani organized a mass tree-planting session. Activists spent several hours clearing the ground and planting fruit trees throughout the area near the settlement, both as a symbolic reclamation of the land and as a practical legal precedent: Palestinians must demonstrate usage of agricultural land or risk having it declared “state land” by the Israeli government and then turned over to Jewish Israelis. By putting down roots, the people of At-Tuwani are continuing their on-going struggle to remain on their land in the face of right-wing settler violence and expansion.
The group of internationals and Israelis then went to the isolated community of Susiya, whose residents have also been under constant threat of violence and land theft, and participated in an art project, building kites with local youth.

Picnic in Susiya Disrupted By Israeli Soldiers, 1 Arrested

PSP — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:58:25 +0000

On Saturday, July 11, 2009, Members of Ta’ayush Movement, along with international supporters, continued their creative protest against a newly-constructed one-room outpost outside the illegal Israeli settlement of Susiya, which is built just above the Palestinian community of Susiya. This week, activists held a picnic next to the outpost, bringing a blanket, watermelon, and other summer foods, informing the Israeli military when they arrived that it was not a demonstration, but merely an outing.
Along with the construction of a “Palestinian outpost” on the land last month, the activists are attempting to bring light to the outrageous bias in Israeli policy; while the picnic was interrupted within 5 minutes and one Israeli activist with Ta’ayush was arrested while another was detained but later released, the outpost, which has been in the area for months and is certainly more illegal than a picnic, even under Israeli law, has not been removed.