Bir al ‘Idd is a village with only one family left. Protective presence is constantly needed to keep this small village alive.
by Hans, South Hebron Hills team
Bir al ‘Idd. Photo EAPPI/V. Rochat.
Every Friday night the EAPPI team in the South Hebron Hills goes on a sleepover. While it is cozy, like any other sleepover, it is also protective presence for the only family left in the village of Khirbet Bir al ‘Idd.
Bir al’Idd is located in one of the most vulnerable places. It lies on the edge of Masafer Yatta, a large area declared a firing zone for the Israeli army (despite the scattered villages still there). About a kilometer in each direction lie Israeli settlement outposts, known for violent attacks on Palestinian farmers. And in a small valley in between, Bir al’Idd lies like an eagle’s nest desperately fighting to hang on.
Khirbet Bir al ’Idd lies between the Israeli settlement outposts of Matzpe Yair and Nof Nesher. Photo UNOCHA.
Abu Tariq and his family lives in a cave. They have a few provisional buildings to house their animals, walls built from dismantled crates, rocks and mud with tented roofs. Caves are not rare in this region. It is part of the traditional housing. It stays warm in winter and cool in summer. And, perhaps most importantly in these times, they are a lot harder to demolish than buildings. They have some electricity, thanks to the NGO Comet ME that provides solar and wind power to the villages in the area. The solar panels in Bir al’Idd were broken by the nearby Israeli settlers, but they still provide enough electricity for some light in the evenings, and for Abu Tariq’s family to follow their favorite Syrian soap opera.
When we arrive in Bir al’Idd we are greeted by smiles and hugs. We sit outside and make staggering conversations in Arabic and English, helped by our phrasebook. When the sun sets, we go inside the cave and sit around the beautiful carpet Abu Tariq’s mom wove.
The family brings us food, yoghurt from their sheep, bread from their small taboon, rice and soup. It is simple, delicious and extremely humbling to see how gladly they share what little they have. Saying “no, thanks, I’ve eaten” is not an option, they would see it as an insult. After dinner it is TV-time and we watch the aforementioned Syrian soap in great delight. They, because they’ve followed the series for twenty years. Us, because of the wonderful and theatrical expressions of the actors, and the Arabic words we can recognize.
Between 8:30 and 9:00 we go to bed. The sons in the family make our beds in a small mud-walled hut above the cave. It is simple, but we are treated better than at a five star hotel, and we go to sleep to the sounds of sheep stamping and hyenas howling.
In the morning we eat breakfast with the family before they take their sheep to graze, and while the sun rises over Jordan in the distance, we go off for other duties, promising to return next Friday.
Bir al’Idd was there under the Ottoman Empire, under British and Jordanian rule, but in 1999 it was laid desolate. Harassment and threats from Israeli settlers forced the fifteen families who lived there out in a ten year exile. Rabbis for Human Rights (RHR) engaged lawyers and after a long-fought battle in the courts they won their right to return in 2009. But the two Israeli outposts were still there, and only five families chose to return. It was not an easy choice, and they did not choose an easy life. Despite near constant follow-up from RHR and Tay’ush, they have been expelled from their grazing lands, their roads have been blocked, they have suffered violence at the hands of Israeli settlers and the Israeli army, and eventually, one after the other, all but one have given up.
Abu Tariq is happy when he is working in his land. Photo EAPPI/B. Thiel.
Abu Tariq tells us he does not want pity. He is a strong and proud man, and considers himself rich as long as he is working his land. But with only one family left, there is no school in Bir al’Idd, and most of Abu Tariq’s children live alone in Yatta. The lack of parental guidance has affected their grades and their health. The pressure is too much. Staying away from their children is extremely tough. It looks like the last family of Bir al’Idd has succumbed, and when the harvest is finished, Abu Tariq seriously considers to pack his things and go. It will be yet another Palestinian village laid to waste by landgrabbing settlers.
Want to know more about issues facing the villages in the South Hebron Hills? Read HERE.
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