They live inside rocky caves, surrounded by settlements from all directions
Khirbet Zanouta: 450 Palestinians preserve the heritage of the last inhabited village in the south of the West Bank
A harsh life for the residents of Khirbet Zanouta.
Emirates today
The occupation prevents the residents of "Zanouta" from installing water and electricity lines.
Emirates today
Israel prohibits the residents of "Zanouta" from grazing their sheep.
Emirates today
picture
Among the rocky caves and ancient Roman columns, the Palestinian citizen, Adel Al-Tal, overlooks a small area of Palestinian land, located within a closed circle of settlements, outposts, and Israeli military sites, to practice a daily activity, which is his refuge to preserve what remains of his village, from Landmarks of civilization and agricultural lands.
Adel (32 years old), keeps cultivating his family's land on a daily basis, with all agricultural crops, to remain the only witness to future generations of their clinging to the usurped lands of their fathers and grandfathers.
After he finishes that, Adel returns again to the cave in which he and his family live, to broadcast on social networks the reality and details of daily life in Khirbet Zanouta, in order to document the heritage of the last Palestinian residential village in the West Bank, and preserve it from settlement expansion plans.
Adel lives in Khirbet Zanouta, which is a small village, located south of Hebron, in the last inhabited point in the southern West Bank. 450 Palestinians, belonging to 30 families, live inside ancient caves, to which stone and rocky entrances have been added, as the occupation prevents them from building. Above their lands surrounded by settlements from all directions.
Reality narrative
Palestinian Adel travels between the caves of “Al Khirba” to tell the world, through the available live broadcasting technology, through social media, the reality and chapters of the suffering of the population, to come out to the surface of the earth again, documenting the repercussions of the theft of their lands for the benefit of settlement expansion, while they are deprived of housing and building on the land.
Al-Tal takes pictures documenting the tragedies of farmers, as a result of being denied entry to their fields, or even access to them, as a result of their proximity to settlements, and dozens of pictures of children seeking refuge in the caves of the past, after Israel destroyed their present and squandered their future aspirations to live in freedom and dignity on their land.
Adel remains inside the lands of Khirbet Zanouta, wandering with his mobile phone among the fields of grapes and olives, conveying closely the details of the daily life of the residents, who still preserve the heritage of their village, famous for agriculture and grazing livestock, and persevere in the simple primitive life they inherited from previous generations.
While he was preparing the dough disks using a traditional oven made of clay, known as (the taboon), Adel, who works as the media director in the local council of Khirbet Zanuta, told Emirates Today: “All the residents of (Khirbet Zanuta) live the Palestinian life. The traditional as we inherited it from the parents and grandparents, where they cultivate their land and tend their livestock with their own hands, in order to secure the livelihood of their children and families from the good of their land, and the effort of their daily work.”
He added: "In every house, you find enough for them from the fruits of their land, and they have what meets their needs of birds and their eggs, and the products of livestock that we nurture. We also have an annual stock of wheat that meets everyone's needs throughout the year, as we plant and harvest it in the summer, and in the winter we use it in Preparing bread inside the traditional (Taboon) oven, which is one of the most important components of every Palestinian home since time immemorial.
Tal moves from the room designated for the (Taboon) oven next to a rocky cave, to sit in the open air, and then goes on to say: “All the scenes of daily life in (Zanuta) in all its details are documented as they are in their nature, and I broadcast them through social media technologies, so that everyone stays inside. Palestine and abroad are in constant contact with our culture and heritage, and so that history keeps reminding our village (Zanouta) throughout the ages and ages.”
Besides Adel, all the residents of "Zanuta" are keen to protect the heritage of their archaeological village, which is rich in Roman antiquities, by being on their land, cultivating in its fields, living in caves dating back to the Roman era, and perpetuating traditional customs and traditions in the details of their daily lives.
settlement encirclement
Within the archaeological Khirbet Zanouta, which covers an area of 12,000 dunams, the daily life of the Palestinian residents is absent, and they are deprived of the means of survival and resilience, due to the refusal of the Israeli forces to allow them to create a structural plan for their village, and denying them the expansion and construction on their land, according to demand.
The director of media at the local "Zanouta" council says: "Zanouta is the last Palestinian area inhabited by residents, which makes the scenes of settlement and deprivation clear. We are prevented from providing water and electricity lines, and infrastructure networks, and it is meters away from the caves of the people of the ruins. Israel establishes its settlements and military sites on Palestinian lands in (Zanouta), which it seized over the past years, leaving only 4,000 dunams for the residents to live in and agriculture.
According to the view, the settlement bypass road borders Khirbet on its western side, besieged on the eastern side by the settlement industrial zone and the apartheid wall on the southern side, and on the northern side of the archaeological ruin surrounded by the settlements of “Mitarim”, “Tima” and “Shama’a”.
On the other hand, the head of the local council of Khirbet Zanuta, Fayez al-Tal, says: “The residents of (Khirbet Zanuta) in the caves of the Roman era are facing the threat of expulsion and displacement from their land again, as large areas of their lands spread between the settlements of (Shamaa) and () were confiscated. Mitarim), and it was added to the three new settlement outposts that the occupation established on Palestinian lands in the archaeological (Khirbet) during two months in the middle of 2021.
He shows that the new settlement outposts were added by the occupation to the borders of the "Shama'a" settlement that has been lying around for 30 years on Palestinian lands, and they are connected with the apartheid wall, the settlement bypass road, and another section of the wall from the southern side of "Zanouta".
He added, "After the new settlement outposts established control over Palestinian lands, the occupation tightened the grip on the residents' only source of livelihood, and issued a decree prohibiting livestock grazing in the vicinity of these outposts."
• The residents of "Zanouta" live the traditional Palestinian life as they inherited it from their parents and grandparents, as they cultivate their land and tend their livestock to secure the livelihood of their children and families.
• The residents of Khirbet Zanouta in the Roman era caves are facing the threat of expulsion and displacement from their land again, as vast areas of their lands stretched between the settlements of Shamaa and Mitarim were confiscated and included in the three new settlement outposts, which the occupation established on Palestinian lands in The archaeological ruin, during two months in the middle of 2021.
Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news