‘No other land’: Palestinian Bedouins forced out under cover of Gaza war

The Palestinian Bedouins of the West Bank bash not person clip to hold for Israeli Jews to crook against their government’s argumentation towards them.

Instead, they trust connected their ain resilience - or, successful Arabic, "sumud". The word expresses the Palestinian consciousness of being rooted successful their ain land, and their humanities rights.

It is simply a connection which has go a guiding rule for Palestinians, starring galore Bedouins to enactment connected their onshore contempt the ongoing harassment.

Many effort to instrumentality to their villages adjacent aft their belongings person been stolen and their homes reduced to ruins, arsenic Abu Bashar and a fewer men from Wadi as-Seeq did repeatedly. They person tried, clip and clip again, to instrumentality to the remains of their homes, bare carnal pens and stolen star panels, but with nary success.

Ekhlas Kaabneh, 25, is from the Bedouin East Taybeh assemblage successful al-Mu'arrajat. Ekhlas’s household illustrates Palestinian resilience: Although a colony outpost is conscionable a fewer metres away, the household is determined to enactment and proceed their Bedouin life, alone, contempt the remainder of their assemblage being displaced.

Ekhlas waters the plants successful beforehand of her house, made of tin sheets, and smiles astatine her flowers. “These flowers person bloomed contempt the utmost vigor this year, she said. They ever punctual maine of steadfastness; this is however we should be.”

Ekhlas's assemblage was partially displaced 2 years agone and wholly displaced aft October 7. The household lives unsocial connected the slope of a mountainous country bordered to the northbound and westbound by olive trees. To the eastbound are immense cultivation lands extending to Jericho, which were inhabited and farmed by Bedouin families until 2017, erstwhile they were expelled by settlers, their cultivation lands seized and settlements built successful their place.

“The settlers stole our identity. [They live] arsenic Bedouins, moving successful herding sheep and cattle, adjacent though they settee the onshore without a azygous carnal with them... They stole our livestock, which is among the champion successful the world, we inherited from our ancestors,” Ekhlas says, the grin gone from her face.

Several Bedouins and Israeli activists said that settlers successful caller outposts since 2015 deliberately formal successful Bedouin-like clothing, physique tents and herd livestock. Passersby often cannot recognise them unless they prosecute successful conversation, arsenic they bash not talk Arabic.

Ekhlas and her household person continued to look attacks. Last year, connected March 29, during the Islamic beatified period of Ramadan, she was beaten arsenic she slept, waking up to capsicum spray successful her eyes. She could perceive lone the screams of her 2 sisters and small member arsenic their location was damaged by the settlers.

"After that horrible night, we became afraid… I slumber each time with a instrumentality adjacent to maine successful lawsuit of different attack. I ever person nightmares astir that nighttime that marque maine aftermath up successful fear," Ekhlas said.

Aside from the settlers, Ekhlas faces the menace of Israel itself. Her household has been issued a demolition order, connected the pretext that their location was built connected onshore successful Area C without support - which is notoriously hard to get for Palestinians.

Area C constitutes astir 60 percent of the West Bank and is the main absorption of the amerciable colony enterprise. Area B is nether associated Palestinian-Israeli power portion Area A is nether the governance of the Palestinian Authority (PA). In Area C, wherever Israel retains implicit power including information and zoning since its concern successful 1967, determination are astatine slightest 325,500 settlers successful 125 settlements and much than 100 outposts. An estimated 180,000-300,000 Palestinians unrecorded successful Area C, including 27,500 Bedouins, according to the United Nations.

The precocious Palestinian President Yasser Arafat issued a decree successful 2002, establishing the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission (CWRC) to face the amerciable settlements.

“Its superior task is to enactment the Palestinians successful Area C done rebuilding their homes and adjacent having employees stationed among them for a play to assistance defy and papers the settlers' violations,” said Younis Arar, the caput of the commission’s planetary relations portion and the manager successful Bethlehem.

Arar himself has been arrested by Israeli authorities aggregate times portion defending Palestinian homes and suffered an wounded to his ft aft a settler attacked him with a car.

“Since October 7, 26 Palestinian communities and villages to the eastbound of the West Bank and Jerusalem, and the southbound of Hebron, person been wholly displaced and seized, but we are making each effort to stabilise the remaining residents successful their place,” said Arar.

“We can’t bash more, the satellite is incapable to nonstop a sip of h2o to Gaza nether a genocide, and we successful the West Bank are besides unsocial resisting the occupation. We person nary prime but our sumud.”

It’s a prime Ekhlas knows each excessively well.

“If we instrumentality a measurement back, they volition instrumentality steps guardant with their settlement,” she said. “We person nary different land.”

This communicative was produced with the Internews Earth Journalism Network.