Thus far my entries have been centered around my experiences in Hebron, which is in part due to the significance of these experiences. Following this theme, I am going to share one more adventure my friend Frank and I had during our homestay in Hebron. Thanks to the Natsheh family everyone in our group had an arranged overnight stay with a Palestinian family. Two friends of the Natsheh family, Samer and Fwas, drove us to one of their friend's apartment where we spent the night.
On the way, they decided to show us what it was like for a Palestinian to live next to Israeli settlers, so we payed a visit to the home of one of their friends, Hanny. He lives adjacent to a settler family, who are occupying the home of a Palestinian family, and an Israeli settlement. Although there is a parking lot next to Hanny's home, literally 20 yards away and through a gate, it is unusable by us or Hanny. Palestinians are barred from using the parking lot, so instead, we have to park on the street 1 km away from Hanny's home and walk through a large field to get there. However, the windy trail through the field is not lighted, so we have to navigate it in the dark. Further, the trail is incredibly uneven and covered with rocks, making an ankle sprain possible with every step. It took us about 25 minutes to walk to his home. For Hanny this is an everyday experience. He has to walk this route whenever he wants to leave or return to his home, day or night. The situation is no different for his children. Keep in mind this walk is always necessary, whether he is bringing groceries to his home or meeting an ambulance in an emergency. In fact, on one occasion his daughter needed to go to the hospital, but the ambulance couldn't park directly at Hanny's house, settler use only, so they had to carry her to the ambulance which was parked on a nearby road. Although their walk was perhaps 600 meters, which is slightly shorter than our route, it required negotiating a very steep grass/dirt embankment to get to the road.
One of the houses directly next to Hanny was recently abandoned by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) which occupied it during and after the 2nd Intifada after the Palestinian family who owned it fled for Jerusalem. The IDF left the residence only after suffering a defeat in the Israeli court system, requiring them to vacate the premises. On Hanny's other side is a home occupied by settlers. On one side of the settler-occupied home is an Israeli settlement, which is essentially a large apartment building, and on the other is Hanny's home. The Palestine family that once lived in this home recently left out intense fear of their Israeli neighbors. Because the home is directly adjacent to the Israeli settlement, resulting in alleged settler security concerns, it was illegal for the Palestinian family to be present in their backyard. Further, they couldn't be in their front yard because it abuts and accesses a settler-only street. Essentially, they were confined to the inside of their home.....so they fled and a settler family moved in.
Although a fence and a gate separates both the settler occupied house and Hanny's house from the Israeli settlement, Hanny and his son are constantly harassed. In fact, his wife and daughter are living elsewhere out of concern for their safety. Almost daily, rocks and eggs are thrown over the fence at Hanny, his son, and anyone else on his property. This recently included a Jewish delegation, who after standing in Hanny's backyard for 10 minutes, found themselves under assault. Hanny tried to report the continual harassment to the IDF, who have a military station directly on the other side of the gate and fence and next to the Israeli settlement. When he talked to them they responded, maybe it's Palestinian kids.........and did nothing.
The goal of the settler's actions are clear, get Hanny and his family to abandon their home. If the family abandons their home, a huge shift in demography will occur. Hanny's home is on top of a hill and at the base of the hill is a 2nd Israeli settlement, also a large apartment complex. One of the only things separating the 1st Israeli settlement and settler occupied home from the 2nd Israeli settlement is Hanny's home. Remove Hanny and they remove the major stumbling block to settler expansion in this area.
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