South Hebron Hills

South Hebron Hills

The South Hebron Hills houses some of the most marginalized communities in the West Bank. These are mostly cave dweller or bedouin communites that are extremely vulnerable to the Israeli policies that aim to remove the Palestinians from this area. Since most of these communities fall under Area C (Israeli civil and military control), house demolition orders on caves or tents or wells are common.

This girl relies on a sustainiable future in Um Al-Kher bedouin community

No livelihood
We visited Um Al-Kher, a small bedouin community right next to Karmel settlement, with OCHA. The bedouins are surrounded by the settlement on three sides, and all buildings, but one, have demolition orders. That also includes the very primitive tent structures and the shacks for the animals.

In addition, the bedouins are not allowed to go grazing with their animals too close to settlement land. In a dry year such as this, that means grazing options are easily exhausted and buying fodder is the only way to keep the animals alive. However, fodder prices are very high, and the only way for the community to survive is to sell some of their animals to feed the others. Not a sustainable way to live in the long run.

As a result of the restrictive situation, the 21 families here are dependant on food aid from UNRWA. The only reason they are not evicted, is that they can prove they own the land on which they live. What the settlers seem to be hoping for is for the situation to get so bad that they will leave the land voluntarily.

One of the family fathers tells us about the dwindling options for a sustainable life

Water and gazelles
The South Hebron Hills was initially planned to end up on the Israeli side of the Wall. But a high court decision ruled that the route should more or less follow the Green Line. Continuous attempts have since been made by settlers and the army to empty this land of its Palestinian inhabitants.

Parts of the western aquifer lies under the South Hebron Hills. Many people suspect that this is one of the main reasons why there are strong Israeli interests in this area. For the Palestinian population living here, however, water resources are becoming less and less accessible. As settlements expand and swallow Palestinian wells and the Israeli authorities reject all Palestinian applications for building new ones that go deep enough to reach the ground water, water shortage is becoming more and more of a pressing issue.

It is worth noting that the Wall has not been completed in this area. An Israeli environmental group has expressed concern about the movement of the gazelles if the Wall is erected all around the area. So the building has been put on hold until an asessment is available. A gazelle is worth more than a Palestinian. Sad, huh?