Selim is 107 years old , born in 1907 in saba in the Negev desert . He lived his childhood under ottoman rule of Palestine , his youth under British mandate . as a young man he saw the rise of Zionism and waves of Jews fleeing to Palestine . 8n his prime he became a refugee himself when the state of Israel created . during the 1948 war , he like many other Palestinian bedouins was forced to flee his land in the negev . he escaped to the West bank . in 1967 Israel occupied the west bank and Selim became a subject to Israeli military rule . during his 66 years in the west bank he has witnessed several wars, uprisings , peace treaties , processes and negotiations. Now he lives with his oldest son mohammed in a shack made of tin ,iron poles and tarpaulin in the desert near jerusalem the family of 14 get their living from hearding flocks of sheep and goats . the hilly plains they live in are known as E1 named after one of israels most ambitious plans of settlement expansion. Approved by the israeli authorities in 1999 but halted due to international pressure. The E1 plan would link settlement of MAale Adumin to Jerusalem and create a wider settlement block by connecting it with the settlements Mishor Adumim and Kfar Adumim through a series of roads and housing initiatives This year 39 homes and livelihood structures were destroyed in demolitions carried out by Israel , selims family had their homes demolished 4 times in the past 2 years , latest just one month ago Click the link to read more ..
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 15:49:15 +0000