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Israel: In Masafer Yatta, West Bank, the cycle of evictions seems endless
Audio 03:30
Mohamed Mamdouh has 96 hours to destroy his house himself, as demanded by the Israeli occupation administration.
© S.Boukhelifa/RFI
Text by: Sami Boukhelifa Follow
5 mins
For years, the same drama has been playing out in the hills south of the city of Hebron.
Masafer Yatta is a semi-desert area that is home to a community of Palestinians.
They live mainly from agriculture and livestock.
Their homes are regularly destroyed by the Israeli army, which has declared their land a military training area.
Demolition, reconstruction, an act of resistance, but for how long?
The coming to power of the new right-wing government in Israel has the inhabitants fearing the worst.
They fear being permanently driven out of the region.
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From our correspondent in Jerusalem
,
The small 4x4 speeds along the rocky dirt road.
On board, three anti-occupation activists.
Two are Israelis, the third, Bassel Adra is Palestinian.
From his village, he saw the cars of the Israeli administration heading towards the neighboring hamlet.
With his companions, they decided to follow them: “
It's never a good sign when you see them.
For us Palestinians, their presence means that they have come to issue demolition, eviction or seizure orders.
Sometimes they also tell us that this or that area is actually a protected archaeological area.
That we Palestinians risk destroying these archaeological sites
.”
At the wheel, Yuval Avraham (Israeli).
On the passenger seat, Bassel Adra (Palestinian).
Both are anti-occupation activists.
© S.Boukhelifa/RFI
Bassel Adra and his comrades may hurry, but they arrive too late.
The officials of the Israeli administration, protected by the army, have already left.
Within minutes, they posted a demolition notice on Mohamed Mamdouh's door.
The breeder discovers it, helpless: “
I was feeding my animals, the soldiers arrived and asked my wife and our children to leave the house.
They stuck this sheet on the front door.
Here is the document: it is written in Arabic, and in Hebrew.
They say I have 96 hours to destroy my house myself.
So in four days, if I haven't destroyed my house, they will come and tear it down, and make me pay the demolition costs.
They consider that my house was built illegally, whereas I own the land.
They say that the land here belongs to Israel, whereas it is in our family from father to son.
And I intend to bequeath it one day to my daughter, or to my son, if one day, I have one
.
Mohamed Mamdouh, resident of Massafer Yatta, and his daughters.
He holds in his hand the order for the demolition of his house.
© S.Boukhelifa/RFI
► To read also:
In Masafer Yatta, the plight of Palestinian residents
Moahmed Mamdouh built his house just four months ago.
With his wife and their four daughters, they lived until then in a tent.
In this region of the occupied West Bank, it is Israel that decides whether or not to issue building permits.
But the Jewish state has declared this region a firing zone for its army.
“
It's just a pretext to chase the Palestinians off their land
,” explains the shepherd.
Because at the same time, Israeli settlements are only expanding in the region.
"
I built this house because I wanted to shelter my daughters.
My eldest is only six years old.
But the Israeli occupation is ruthless.
The Israelis don't care about our children, they have no problem kicking us out in the middle of winter.
Our situation is likely to get worse with this new right-wing government.
They see us Palestinians as insects.
They can crush us, kill us, whenever they want
”.
Mohamed Mamdouh has 96 hours to destroy his house himself, as demanded by the Israeli occupation administration.
© S.Boukhelifa/RFI
On the spot, Yuval Avraham, a young Israeli activist, protests against this situation.
He speaks in perfect Arabic: “
I hope that one day these functionaries of the occupation administration will be ashamed of what they have done.
I hope that one day their children will say to them: "
Daddy, what have you done in your life?
“And that they will answer: we have destroyed homes, and broken families. But until that day, they are proud of their deeds. Today, we find ourselves with the most right-wing government in history of the country, and the extreme right is very powerful. And people don't even make the connection between the extreme right and the occupation. Everything is nevertheless linked. If Itamar Ben Gvir, from the extreme right, became a powerful minister in Israel, it's thanks to the occupation. I feel so helpless. I'm enraged. It's too much injustice
."
That day, nine demolition notices were distributed according to residents.
Forced population displacement is a war crime.
► Read also: Conflicts around the world have forced more than 100 million people to move
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