The israeli occupation killed the children of Tayseer Abu Aysha before they could reach the world. 16 years ago, his wife went into labor at night. She went into labor in a house surrounded by steel barslocated in the middle of a settlement of israeli settlers and crowned by a military base with which they share a wall. The arrival of help in the form of ambulance or medical personnel is practically impossible in this neighborhood of hebronsouth of the occupied West Bank. Israeli soldiers can hold them for hours at checkpoints. That night the Abu Aysha had to walk to the hospital. It was already too late. His son was born lifeless. A year later, history repeated itself, but one of the twins was saved. Now, three decades later, Mohammad cannot return from school without the protection of his father.
Tayseer Abu Aysha lives in a house known as “the cage & rdquor;. “It’s been almost 30 years since I received anyone in my home & rdquor ;, explains this Palestinian father of eight children from his store in the center of hebron. His business is just five minutes from his home in the neighborhood of Such Rumeida but there are several Israeli checkpoints that perpetuate their displacements. This 60-year-old vendor is one of the 215,000 Palestinians forced to live with 850 Jewish settlersprotected by 650 combat soldiers israelis. “Before the arrival of the settlers, we had freedom: we moved around with our cars, we organized meetings with family and friends at home,” he recalls, going back to a time that no longer exists, four decades ago.
hebron, or al jalil in arabic, it is only palestinian city in which the israeli settlements They are within the town itself. Only 15% of the largest city in the West Bank is administered by Israel, but this makes it one of the most tense areas of all the occupied territories. “The colonists, coming from USA, Russia either Polandthey constantly attack us and we cannot respond because we would end up behind bars or dead& rdquor ;, denounces Abu Aysha. The jewish ultranationalists who settle in Hebron are among the most radical. “They always go armed“, he adds. Among them is the controversial Minister of Public Security, the far-right Itamar Ben Gvir, either Baruch Marzelleader of the extinct Kachconsidered a terrorist group by Israel and the US for its extreme right-wing ideology.
settler attacks
The roof of the Aizza home has been the scene of the marzel attacks and his followers. Fatima Aizza and her children live at the foot of an Israeli settlement on top of a hill. From there, the settlers they throw stones or they send their dogs to frighten them. Right in front of his house, Marzel resides with his wife and his nine children. “Life here is very difficult,” he says fatima. This refugee family has been suffering from constant attacks by the settlers and the limitations of the Israeli Army for 20 years. “The soldiers have blocked all the streets that give access to our home, so we have to cross our neighbors’ fields to get home; that only if the Army does not hold us at the checkpoint & rdquor ;, denounces this mother of a large family. deprive them of their time it is another weapon of the Israeli occupation.
aisha he has witnessed violence since his childhood. He has seen how thousands of ultranationalist settlers attacked his home during the Jewish holiday of Chayei Sarah, and how they beat his brother Yusef until he was unable to walk. He has accompanied his relatives to the hospital, and has had to hide in the holes of his own roof during the constant assaults of his neighbors. But he is not afraid. “We have to be strong & rdquor ;, defends this young Palestinian at the gates of majority. “If they see that we are weak, the soldiers and the settlers become tougher with us & rdquor ;, she adds. Almost daily Aisha is protagonist and spectator clashes at checkpoints.
“Army Protection”
“Only the colonists have freedom, because receive the protection of the Army& rdquor ;, points out his mother. In Hebron, there are 650 combat soldiers deployed who have been ordered to not intervene when settlers act violently against Palestinians. The presence of a sacred place for Judaism and Islam, the Tomb of the Patriarchs wave Abram’s Mosque respectively, aggravates the tension in the city. In addition, the ten checkpoints Israeli Army forces dismembering Hebron have caused the forced disappearance of Palestinian commercial and residential streets.
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More of 1,800 companies in the city center have closed. Its turquoise doors have been welded for decades. A 42% of Palestinian households have been abandoned in area H2, under Israeli control. The families that have stayed they scale roofs, or hills like the Aizza’s, to access their homes and defy curfews, violence and harassment. Meanwhile, thousands of young Hebronites spend their days jobless in one of the cities with the highest unemployment in the West Bank. “The youth here have nothing to do all day; therefore, they have no choice but to go to Israel to try to find a job& rdquor ;, explains Fátima, whose eldest son works in Jerusalem. “Here, the Palestinian authorities do not offer us anything & rdquor ;, he criticizes.
On a rainy day in Hebron, a dozen people huddle in a check point presided over by an automatic weapon. An electrical blackout has left them trapped inside with a israeli Soldier, it refuses to open the door manually. He doesn’t want to do it and he doesn’t do it because he has that authority. Not even the pleas of the soaked Palestinians convince him. accustomed to cruelest reality of the occupation, some kids open the gate and slip mischievously. The adults look at them proudly. Meanwhile, from the hill of Tal Rumeida, Fatima maintains the hope. “I trust in a beautiful future in peace & rdquor ;, he acknowledges, “inshallah [si Dios quiere]”.