Protective presence near Qawais with Khalid the Shepherd. After spending the night at Abu Tariqs in his cave at Bir Al Idd. Me and my friend left Bir Al Idd around 7:30AM and walked to meet Khalids son who was taking his sheep out to graze. There are several illegal settlements and outposts nearby so internationals try to accompany the shepherds several times a week in the Firing Zone (South Hebron Hills). After we had walked the sheep back to the shepherds tents, we sat down to watch the grandmother make fresh bread she made us Zaatar tea and we ate bread. Later on we walked down to meet Khaild and his family who were cleaning a water well from which they use for daily use and for their livestock. Khaild was at the bottom of the well filling buckets full of mud and the family were bringing them up using a pulley system. The settlers nearby were driving past and stopping and watching us. The family had to pull up around thirty massive stones which the settlers had dropped into the well to try and destroy and ruin it. The family had been working to clean the well for around six and a half hours the job was made even more difficult due to the massive stones which had been dropped down the well by settlers. One of the stones was so big we could not lift it out of the well, Khalid had to smash the big stone with a hammer to break it into pieces in order to bring it up piece by piece. Settlers are often violent so the need for internationals to be present when shepherds work is always needed. Internationals document harassment and also try to prevent attacks from happening, it is vital for internationals/organizations to keep in contact with Shepherds in the south Hebron hills as they are more vulnerable and susceptible to settler attacks due to the isolated locations that they live and work in.
Posted on: Sun, 02 Nov 2014 15:24:29 +0000
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