CPTNET
April 17, 1998
HEBRON: SETTLERS CONFISCATE LAND AND THREATEN FAMILIES IN BA'AKA VALLEY
by Jane Adas

On Monday morning, April 13, Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) members
visited the Ba'aka area, east of Hebron. This area is divided from Hebron
by the Israeli settlements of Kiryat Arba and Givat Ha Harsina. We found
three concentric rings of settler fences representing three stages in the
confiscation process.

Settlers bulldozed the land uphill from the first fence, uprooting trees and
grape vines and destroying stone structures. The owner of the land lodged a
complaint to the Israeli police, who told them the settlers had no
right to do this. Nevertheless, the area is still inaccessible to
the family for replanting because the settler fence remains in place.

The next ring of fencing includes more land for grazing and ends in a rough
sort of road. Settlers have been at work on the two Palestinian stone summer
houses there, filling them with concrete and covering the walls with barbed
wire. The road is in the process of being widened and paved.

On the outer edge of this road, the older barbed wire fence is being
replaced by razor wire. Palestinian workers are doing the job. While we
were speaking with them, their Israeli boss drove up in a van, walkie talkie
to the ear. The Palestinian foreman walked away, probably to indicate that
our presence had nothing to do with him.

The boss asked us what we were doing in the area. Without waiting for
an answer, he told us we couldn't be there because the land belongs
to Kiryat Arba. CPTer Anne Montgomery pointed to the Kiryat Arba
settlement, visible more than a kilometer to the south. The boss's response
was, "Don't YOU tell ME where is Kiryat Arba." The Palestinian translator
went to the window of the van to ask if he wanted us to go away. He flicked
his fingers at her in a dismissive gesture, saying she wanted
trouble. When he asked why she continued trying to talk with him,
she responded that as he is human, they should interact like humans,
not like an Israeli and a Palestinian.

Soon an unmarked car arrived and a young man in jeans came to take
control of the situation. He told us that the Mayor of Kiryat Arba
had ordered the fence because the land belongs to Kiryat Arba. There
were papers to prove it, but because of Passover, we wouldn't be able
to see them for a week.

We then walked further down the hill and came to the third and newest
settler fence. This one is not yet complete. The family told us
that the settlers work on it at night under special lights. Beyond
the razor wire lay a destroyed vineyard.

We visited members of the family who told us that creeping land
confiscation is not their only problem. Most Saturdays the settlers
find ways to harass them. A week ago some of the children were
herding their goats in the area where the vines were cut, just beyond
the 3rd settler fence. Armed settlers came and unleashed their dogs
on the goats. The dogs killed one goat that was tethered to a stone
and began eating it. The settlers pointed their guns at the children,
who ran away.

The family has complained to both Israeli and Palestinian
authorities, but nothing has been done for them. They told us that
when they go to complain to the police station in Kiryat Arba, they
are often made to wait all day at the checkpoint by the entrance to
the settlement, then sent away without ever seeing an official.

The family hopes within the next month to clear large sections of the
land now used for grazing so that it can be planted with grape vines
and fruit trees. They hope thereby to protect it from being
confiscated. However, they also told us that it is obvious the
settlement has plans to grow towards the east, all the way down to the
new by-pass road that has eaten up much of their land from the other
direction.