A New Settler Hut Popped Up in Hebron. What Followed Confirmed the Palestinian Neighbors' Worst Fears - Twilight Zone - Haaretz.com
When you leave the building, the metal shed outside catches your eye – a rickety shack decorated with small Israeli flags, blue and white. The shack has been here for some four months, ostensibly marking its builders' territory and sovereignty. A larger Israeli flag stuck in the land owned by these Palestinians is even closer to their homes.
Judea and Samaria is here, on the privately owned land of the extended Tamimi family, who live in Jabal Jales, a southwestern neighborhood of Hebron, in the West Bank. The entire valley of olive groves that is spread out in front of their home, stretching all the way to Route 60, belongs to the family – but since the war began almost two years ago in Gaza, they have not been able to approach the trees for fear of the settlers. Since the shack was put up, they are even afraid to leave their own home. Not long ago, when two members of the family, a father and son, nonetheless dared to go to their fields and gather the berries from which they make the sumac spice, settlers showed up and beat them. The father was hospitalized for 10 days and underwent two operations; he is still not in good shape. His teenage son was almost strangled and his neck was injured.
The shed was defiantly erected a few dozen meters from the entrance to the family compound. No one sleeps in it, but settlers go there frequently – just to irritate the residents. The Palestinians say they were once forced to watch sexual activity by settler teenagers inside that embarrassed them terribly. They called the police, and the officers removed the door to the shack. But the structure remains in place and the settlers have even put a sofa and a few chairs that they stole from the Palestinians' homes outside it.
The invaders have also created a dirt access road to their illegal outpost, Givat Gal, in front of their houses. A court order halted the paving of the road, which had already begun, but settlers from the outpost still drive on it, even though they have other roads; this too is intended to provoke the owners of the lost land. This week we saw dozens of cars, driven mostly by religious women, driving near the Tamimis' homes – a compound of multistory buildings.
On one side is the industrial zone of the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba and the military base that guards it, including a terrifying forest of antennas; on the other is Givat Gal. It is a wild offshoot of Kiryat Arba that took root in 2003, a large part of which was built on privately owned land forcibly stolen from its residents. Settlement researcher Dror Etkes from the NGO Kerem Navot says that under the cover of the current war, this outpost has expanded greatly and now boasts a few dozen families, according to his estimates.
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Faraj Tamimi and his sister Riham in Jabal Jales this week. He believes the settlers intended to kill them.Credit: Alex Levac
Givat Gal is also a very violent outpost, Etkes notes. Kerem Navot released an investigative report in 2021 about a nonprofit group of extremist settlers called Geula Titnu La'aretz ("The land shall be redeemed"), which was registered with the Justice Ministry under the address of a ministerial employee, who happens to be a resident of Givat Gal and who has received a demolition order for his own house. A dubious nonprofit, an unlawfully built house, an illegal outpost – all this under the auspices of a government ministry, in a land of legal absurdities.
In the Tamimis' metal sheep pen, located in front of the last house on the edge of the valley, only 10 animals remain; others were stolen. It's no longer possible to send the flock out to graze in the pasture because of the menacing settlers.
Two researchers from the Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem, Manel Jabari and Musa Abu Hashash (who has since retired), reported that over the years they documented dozens of attacks by neighboring settlers against the family and its property – including poisoning and stealing sheep, burning trees, vandalism and arson attempts, and violent assaults on the inhabitants. These attacks became worse after 2016, though it is not clear why: The locals say that Eliyahu Goldstein, the son of Baruch Goldstein (the Kahanist perpetrator of the 1994 massacre in the Cave of the Patriarchs that killed 29 Palestinians) lives in Givat Gal, and that National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visits there often.
About a month ago, a member of the family went out to plow his land with his donkey. Settlers swooped down immediately, the farmer fled and they stole the donkey, which has not been returned. The residents have no doubt that the attacks are meant to drive them out of their homes and take control of even more of their land, as is now apparently acceptable throughout the West Bank. But nothing prepared the family members for the violent pogrom that occurred here on August 19, which almost ended in death.
Residents have no doubt that the attacks are meant to drive them out and take control of even more of their land. But nothing prepared the Tamimis for the violent pogrom that almost ended in death.
Faraj Tamimi is a 40-year-old unemployed construction worker and farmer, the father of seven. He is a powerfully built man who is now a broken vessel, suffering pain from every movement he makes, even more than two weeks after the settlers battered him with batons and iron bars; they broke his arm in a number of places and injured his groin. He lives in the three-story building with six apartments in which his relatives live. Faraj's sister, Riham Tamimi, 37 and a mother of two, is a special education teacher who volunteers at B'Tselem, documenting attacks by settlers with her phone. Currently she is caring for her wounded brother. About two weeks ago, two days before the incident in question, Riham had back pains and wanted to go down into the valley to pick medicinal herbs to ease them, but Israel Defense Forces soldiers immediately showed up and told her the land belonged to Givat Gal, warning that if she didn't leave immediately, they would shoot her.
Faraj says he and his family own 74 dunams (18.5 acres) of olive and almond trees in the valley; his extended family has another 150 dunams there and can no longer reach any of them. The abandoned olive trees in the valley look sickly. We ask: Why don't you try, at least, to take down the Israeli flags from the shack the settlers put up in front of your homes? "You try doing that and you'll see why," they replied.
Faraj and Riham explain that since the war began almost two years ago, they have become extremely cautious about their movements because they are frightened by the settlers and military. In November 2023, settlers set 20 of their cars on fire. A police officer advised them at the time: "Every time the settlers approach, run into your homes and lock the doors."
Faraj Tamimi in Jabal Jales this week.Credit: Alex Levac
In any case on that particular Tuesday a few weeks ago, Faraj went out around midday with his 14-year-old son Qusai, heading in the direction of the valley to collect berries for sumac; it is now sumac season in the fields of the West Bank. The two set about gathering the fruit when suddenly three settlers stole up quietly behind them. Faraj estimates now that one was about 45 years old and the other two were roughly 30; he says he recognized them as residents of Givat Gal. The older one held a long-barreled rifle, the others were armed with batons and iron bars in their hands.
The younger two began to beat him harshly, shattering the bones in his left arm; after he collapsed they continued to pummel him – at rifle-point. They also beat Qusai and tried to choke him; he collapsed as well. All this occurred just meters from busy Route 60. Faraj is convinced the settlers intended to kill them, noting that even after the beatings they had thrown him and Qusai down some stone steps from a height of about 2.5 meters (about 8 feet) into the field.
To their great fortune, the drivers of two cars on Route 60 noticed what was going on, stopped and got out of their vehicles. Upon seeing the Palestinians approaching, the three thugs fled the scene. The drivers rushed the wounded men to Al-Ahli Hospital in Hebron; a photo taken of them upon arrival shows them panicked and bloodied. Qusai was treated and released, but Faraj was hospitalized and had to have surgery.
Faraj's _expression_ is one of constant pain; he's suffering mostly from the operation in his lower abdomen. His arm, in which a metal rod was implanted, is bandaged. Due to fear of the settlers he says he didn't dare file a complaint about the attack with the police this time, even though he done so many times in the past; none, of course, were ever dealt with. But this time the fear has paralyzed him and he afraid for himself and children.
He tells us he once asked a police officer: "Who will protect us?" and the man said: "Ask Abu Mazen," referring to Mahmoud Abbas, chairman of the Palestinian Authority. He smiles bitterly and scoffs when asked whether he has ever thought about leaving. "Would you leave your home?" he asks us.