The people whose homes are being demolished

JVL Introduction

Our friends and colleagues in The Villages Group have been supporting the communities of the South Hebron Hills for more than 20 years.  This is Erella’s report on visiting the community of Khalet a-Dabe just after demolitions were carried out by Israeli forces as part of their general pressure on Palestinians in this area and throughout the West Bank – pressure to leave.  This was reported by Euronews as: Israeli bulldozers demolish most of a West Bank Bedouin hamlet displacing dozens of Palestinians. 

This a portrait of a community behind the headlines; a snapshot of what they are dealing with time and time again as we reported, a sad solidarity story but also, as always, a story of sumud, of the astonishing resilience and determination of so many Palestinian people.  We can perhaps begin to imagine the impact on the people trying to live peacefully in their land.  This is at least the 6th time their property has been demolished.  But people should not have to be so strong and so resilient in order to try to live their lives.  Admiration is one thing but solidarity – and a sea change in our governments’ thinking and actions is what is needed.

We shared the Villages Group report in February after the 5th demolition here.  If you are able, do help support the work of the Villages Group, which is supported by the British Shalom Salaam Trust: you can donate to the work via their website  British Shalom Salaam Trust

LL

May 8, 2025
Dear friends,
On the morning of May 5th, I heard the sound of a WhatsApp message on my phone, while doing physical therapy exercises for the recovery of my operated leg. I wanted to go on with the exercises, but that sound at 8 a.m. was ominous. I answered. In the WhatsApp video I saw several bulldozers and cars in a convoy on the main road of the South Hebron Hills, and it was obvious that a demolition was brewing today in Masafer Yatta. It just wasn’t obvious yet where this would take place.

At 11 a.m. everything was already very clear – Khalet a-Dabe yet again. This time destruction was extensive. Most of this hamlet was pulverized. 9 houses, 6 caves, 10 water tanks, 4 sheep pens, 11 outhouses, 7 water holes, the central electricity control, 400 meters of outer perimeters of farmland, and a hundred human hearts that could not even weep for sheer shock, to say nothing of crying out loud.

Yair and Yoav were there immediately after the demolishers left the village. On their way home, they came to see me. Their faces and eyes were all-telling. No words sufficed. My mind found no place.  The next day, Ehud and I came to see what had been Khalet a-Dabe. I went to the women. They were sitting in the shade of a tree on mattresses they had fished out of the rubble. They were glad I came. When I offered them and the children sweets we had brought, I said that when the heart is sad, at least the stomach should be gladdened… They smiled.

Amer, too, sat next to them with his two beautiful 3-year-old twin daughters, who were happy with the soft animals we brought the children to hold on to something soft in the midst of all the horror. Out of the profound sadness that emerged from him, Amer said to me: “They can demolish houses, caves, trees, water holes, they can destroy nearly everything except break my heart. This – no bulldozer is able to break. I know it’s annexation, I know they don’t want us to be here, but I’m not going anywhere. If I have to die here, this is where I’ll die.” Amer is the brother of Jaber, and his words echoed Jaber’s words at previous demolitions. There were many previous demolitions. They were painful but partial. This time it was near total.

We took our leave and turned to the shade of another tree, where old Haj Ali was sitting, father of Amer and Jaber, and a bit demented. In my heart I thought that sometimes dementia is a blessing.

There we placed several sacks of flour and several gas stoves we brought until the electricity would be fixed again. The older children played football. How much power life has, I thought.

We said to Rian, Jaber’s 14-year-old son, that we were headed to their home on the other side of the village. Rian said: “But there is no longer a home”. A knife-cut hurts less than the cut left in the heart by these words. Jaber’s wife and the 3-year-old twins sat on the lawn in their fruit tree garden that had been left whole. Jaber built an arbor there without a roof, where they spent the previous night in the open, like all the inhabitants. Every person in a personal corner. They hadn’t
tasted anything since this morning. Food had not yet been brought from Yatta, the nearest town.

Jaber’s smile was sad today. We spoke a bit about how to cope with helplessness when everything seems to close on you. Again, I told him the story of the man and the tigers. Again, we laughed with his twins who played with the soft dolls and reminded ourselves that in such situations the most helpful thing is to do little possible things.

That whole day, we heard not a single word about vengeance, hatred. Only abysmal sadness, grief, existential sorrow, heavy mourning, and alongside them a simple, strong life force and anger that breaks up through rebuilding. Yesterday Ehud drove there again to bring fruit and vegetables and visit our friends. He sent a single picture that needs no captions – Jaber and his family had removed the rubble from one of the caves and the family will be able to sleep there tonight.

Others in the village, too, were busy rebuilding.

The way to rehabilitating the village is long and arduous, if at all. Israel’s government hasdecided to annex and ethnically cleanse the territories. In the meantime, the living – as always – wish to live. Please help us help them.

Much love,
Erella, on behalf of The Villages Group

The Villages Group has a website with many more stories such as this one: The Villages Group: Cooperation in Israel-Palestine