Three days in Susya

This afternoon, I came back with some fellow ISMers after spending three days and three nights in Susya. We received a call on Sunday afternoon that volunteers were urgently needed in the village. Ramadan had just ended, and the villagers were informed that soon after Eid (three days of celebrations that conclude the month long period of fasting), the demolitions would begin.

When we got to the village, we were amazed to see not only us, but many other people there. There were EAPPI (Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel) volunteers there, as well as a guy and his girlfriend, who came from England to Hebron to study Arabic, and having heard about the situation, decided to go to the village and see what they could do to help. Every day, there were also visitors from nearby Palestinian villages, as well as Israeli Jewish activists from Rabbis for Human Rights, and Ta'ayush.


I met Nasser, the co-ordinator, and a man who is very good at organizing and networking. He managed to contact various media sources, and is leading a campaign to raise as much awareness as possible. The results have been quite spectacular. Every day, the village has been receiving visits from Israeli and Palestinian journalists, working for some very influential newspapers. However, the village has also been receiving coverage and journalists from some international news stations also, including CNN and Agence France Press. In addition to the journalists, there were also diplomats from the Green Party from many EU countries, as well as EU commissioners and consuls. There was an Australian High Commisioner. There was a delegation from Willow Creek Community Church, one of the biggest evangelical churches in the United States, numbering 26,000 members. Many of these people were brought in by the Israeli groups. Awareness is definitely being raised.

The only way that the demolition can be stopped is if enough pressure is put on the Israeli Government to convince it that there will be a heavy political price that will be paid if this village is destroyed, and the people in it are displaced once again.

I will post contact information of suggested politicians and organizations in the following post.


In addition to Nasser, I met Z*, a woman of incredible dedication and courage, who has been in the village many times in the past, and has been standing in solidarity with the people, both inside and outside Palestine, for many years. She has been organizing international volunteers, and has taken on training and directing people to help out where needed as well as planning activities, and at the same time doing some advocacy work. If it would be possible for someone to work 25 hours a day, she would be that person.
The international volunteers from ISM, EAPPI and others who have been coming to the village are busy. We put English lessons on for the kids, help lead fun activities that involve children from the village, accompany shepherds who often face attacks from settlers of the nearby settlement of Susya, do night guard duty- from 10:00 PM to 1:00 AM, then 1:00 AM to 4:00 AM, then 4:00 AM to 7:00 AM, a few volunteers watch the road, in case we see a convoy of military jeeps followed by bulldozers coming to the village and can raise the alarm, take part in cultural events organized by people of the village, and in other ways try to be a presence. Z does all that... as well as being in charge of organizing us all. Despite being overworked and stressed out, she always has time to talk to people who need to talk to her for advice, and has a smile for everyone.

The real heroes, of course, are the people of Susya. Hosting multitudes of reporters and volunteers is not easy. It involves feeding many people, and finding places for them to sleep, as well as giving up time from work to lead people around.

It would be a lot of work for any community, but keep in mind that the people of Susya have no real homes- they live in tents. They were evicted from the  were destroyed... in fact, since 1986, the village has been completely destroyed three times. Twice this was done for archaeological reasons and once, in 2001, the pretext was the murder of an Israeli settler- although when Israeli settlers murdered a Susya resident in 1991 and then again in 1993, their whole settlement was not razed to the ground.
Several other times, the Israeli Army targeted and destroyed certain homes and structures in their village, while leaving others. What is being planned now is another complete demolition.
They have little access to running water or electricity. The Israeli Army has cut them off from the power and water supplies that Israeli settlers have access to. People get water from wells that are on village land that they had been displaced from... and of course making such trips is always risky because they involve going near the property of the settlers, who now own land that the people of Susya once used to have. Electricity only exists because of some solar panels that had been funded by the German government.
Many people in the village are shepherds, yet taking sheep and goats to graze into the rocky terrain also carries great risks. Soldiers regularly harass the shepherds, forcing them to change the direction of where their flocks graze. Settlers launch their own attacks, beating up shepherds and stealing their animals.
On top of all this, there is the realization that any night, the soldiers and bulldozer drivers may arrive.
Try to imagine living with your family, not knowing when your home will be destroyed, and your children and spouse and elderly parents will be thrown out into the harsh desert terrain, with nothing but the clothes on your back, and perhaps what you have been able to take out of your tent and barn during the 15 minutes you were given to evacuate everything, at around four o'clock in the morning (many previous demolitions have happened around that time).
Every day, they see the settlement to the left and the "archaeological centre" (on land where their homes used to be), to the right. They see Army jeeps driving by, and get occasional visits by soldiers who examine their buildings and photograph them, to plan their destruction, They see settlers on top of the hill, and tourists who come to visit them, who cross through the remaining land of the village, to go on organized excursions of the archaeological centre.
I wonder how the prophets would feel if they knew that innocent people were being displaced and thrown out of their homes so other people could find traces of their ancient past. As the Bible makes clear, the prophets of old were very human and very fallible. They loved God, but committed many sins, and some of them were punished harshly for this. However, they also loved justice. And their love for justice was nothing compared to God's love for the poor and the oppressed.

Do the settlers and their supporters never consider this? What will their answer be before Him on the Day of Judgement? What will be the answer of so-called 'christians' who have been blinded by Zionist misuse of Scripture and have never made the effort to question the claims that led them to support these crimes?

The people of Susya are facing state terrorism. There is no other word that I can think of to describe what they are being subjected to... the fear of the destruction of everything they have. An evil and malicious threat of a whirlwind of destruction, that they don't even when is coming,

So what do the people of Susya do? Do they give up and evacuate their homes? Beg for mercy? Form gangs? Abuse drugs? Start drinking? Do they start hating all Jews or Israelis? Strap bombs on themselves or build rockets on behalf of Hamas? Flock to join ISIS?

No. They continue living, and refuse to give up their God given dignity. They continue working; making embroidery, beekeeping, shepherding, growing vegetables and herbs. Some work in Yatta, the nearby city. They are under stress that most of us could not even begin to imagine, and of course it shows. One has to be blind not to see it. At the same time, they continue to love and support one another, and treat visitors with a hospitality and grace that would put many people in my country to shame.

On the next page, I will provide the contact information of some people you can try to get a hold of, who will hopefully be able to play a role in convincing the Israeli Government to not go through with the this unconscionable and evil act.