Ramallah -

In a land that was almost deserted by its owners, known as “Ighraba” in the town of Sinjil (north of Ramallah, in the middle of the occupied West Bank), there is an old cave carved in the rock and has a hole in its ceiling with a diameter of 1.5 meters, and a depth of about 1.5 meters as well.

It is not known whether the cave was man-made or if it was formed as a result of natural factors over thousands of years, but it was known to cattle herders in the past, when they used it to collect their livestock in it from the heat of the sun in summer and from the cold weather in winter.

Restoration of the cave and the establishment of a stable for horses in its vicinity encouraged Palestinian citizens to be present in the area (Al-Jazeera)

months of restoration

The cave is located in an area surrounded by nearly a thousand dunams of Palestinian land, and settlers control lands close to it;

They established the settlement of "Ma'ale Livona", and in the past years they set up their tents in this area in an attempt to control it, but the owners' response to them forced them to leave.

The Palestinian son of the town of Singel, Karim Karakara, went to the area and bought about 30 dunams from its owners who are in Jordan.

The Karakra project, he says to Al Jazeera Net, began in March 2019, with the restoration and cleaning of the cave, the expansion of its entrance and the removal of rubbish from inside, and work began in it, paving its floor and preparing an area of ​​approximately 110 square meters to be habitable in it.

The cave that was restored by Palestinian Karim Karakra in the town of Singel, north of Ramallah, in the central occupied West Bank (Al-Jazeera)

Palestinian touches

Karakra collected old embroidered Arab and Palestinian furniture, and some equipment that was previously used, such as Mahbash, Rababah, copper coffee trays, and others, and distributed them under the engineering supervision of the Singel municipality engineer from the beginning of the project until its completion in October 2019.

Karakira built a stone wall and some stairs at the entrance to the cave, and put an iron and wood gate at its entrance, and allowed Palestinian citizens to visit and be there.

Today, the cave is intended for grooms to take their souvenir photos in it, as it contains ancient Palestinian and Arab furniture, and people go to it to hold their public sessions and celebrate their various occasions.

The restoration of the cave cost its owner Karakra more than 60 thousand dollars, and he implemented a project adjacent to the cave, which is a stable for horses. In cooperation with the municipality of Singel, the road leading to the area was paved with asphalt, and it is about 3 kilometers away from the heart of the town.

Arab and Palestinian embroidered bedding and ancient tools used in the interior furnishings of the cave (Al-Jazeera)

block settlement

To this day, there is no water or electricity service in the area, and Karakra resolved it by finding water wells, and some engines that generate electricity, and waiting for the area to be helped with these services soon.

The reconstruction and restoration of the cave prompted the owners of the neighboring lands to go to and reconstruct it, and some of them started building after building the asphalt road, and the citizens no longer see the settlers approaching the place, because the Palestinians are there almost permanently, in the area extending to the town of Abwein in the west, and to the settlement in the north, and the ancient and inhabited Singel lands in the south and east.

Karakira does not receive any wages from those who use his cave and land, and he seeks, as he tells Al Jazeera Net, to protect the land from settlement, so the settlers cannot miss the opportunity to prevent their control of it except by reconstructing it, so his investment orientation was in this land, which he seeks to build a house in which he and his children will live in in the future. near.

Karakara believes that this project, which was supported by the Singel municipality, has achieved protection and preservation of the land from settlement and confiscation, as well as opening the way for the Palestinians to expand urban and agricultural areas in light of settlement attacks that extend to every Palestinian land wherever it is found and with the protection of the Israeli occupation army.