- They are direct descendants of the people of the Bible.
They collect rainwater, husband livestock and grow crops in much the same
way as was done in the time of the Old Testament.
-
- The Palestinian cave dwellers of the Judaean desert have
deeds to their land that date from the 19th century, yet they are engaged
in a growing battle with Jewish settlers who have come from Europe, the
US and modern Israel to claim the mantle as direct descendants of this
dusty, stony ground.
-
- According to an Israeli lawyer and human rights groups,
the cave-dwellers are the subject of a campaign of ethnic cleansing. The
Israeli government wants them to leave the sparsely populated area of the
southern West Bank to facilitate its annexation to Israel.
-
- Schlomo Lecker, a Jerusalem-based lawyer who has represented
the cave dwellers for four years, said: 'There are no villages or towns,
so if the cave-dwellers are cleared out there is nothing in the way to
prevent them drawing a new border. There are very few people here, but
it is a large area and the Palestinian Authority has shown very little
interest in the issue.'
-
- But the cave dwellers are determined to stay on the land
they have farmed for generations and have resisted a series of evictions.
Censuses have largely overlooked them, but the latest figures compiled
by aid workers suggest there are more than 1,000 living in about 15 communities.
-
- The typical entrance is a stone doorway leading to a
cave which extends about 16ft into the soft, clay-like rock. The caves
are divided into three areas; one for livestock in winter, a living area
and a storage and cooking area. Clothes hang from the walls and possessions
are stored in alcoves carved into the rock. The air is damp and moss on
the ceiling is black from the fumes of the paraffin lamps.
-
- The only modern structures are concrete bathrooms provided
by British government aid, which the army insists must be pulled down because
they have no planning permission. The family of Mahmoud Hamash, 39, are
extending their cave with hammers and hands. The excavation is carried
out by his teenage daughters while the younger children carry out the rubble
with buckets.
-
- 'We live as we did in the time of David,' said Hamash,
referring to the Old Testament king. 'We have no electricity, radio or
television. We are happy to retain our dignity by living without politics.'
-
- The cave dwellers have been ignored by the Palestinian
Authority and claim they do not care who rules the land so long as they
are left in peace. Ironically, their most consistent friend has been the
Israeli supreme court, which has overturned repeated Israeli army attempts
to evict them.
-
- Earlier this month the court allowed Palestinians living
around the settlement of Suseya to remain for six months in tents after
the settlers and soldiers destroyed some caves three years ago.
-
- Lecker argued that there was no mechanism to grant the
Palestinians planning permission for their tents, and the court said it
would see how their planning applications were dealt with over the next
six months.
-
-
- Jaber Nawajah is one of the Palestinians granted a reprieve.
He said he is around 70 and head of a family of 38. 'If we left for one
week, they would bulldoze everything that is still here,' he said. He shows
a police notice, dated 19 August, requesting his wife, Sarah, to go to
Hebron police station. Sarah explained: 'The settlers tried to take our
water pump and I wouldn't let them. My husband has asthma and is very weak,
so I had to do it. The settlers accused me of attacking them.'
-
- Abdul Hadi Hamtash, a surveyor for Hebron municipal council
who was born in a cave but now lives in the city, said all the harassment
comes from the settlers of Maon and Suseya. 'The whole government apparatus
is in the service of the settlers. If a settler attacks a soldier, the
soldier cannot defend himself.'
-
- Lecker agrees. 'They are harassed by the settlers, and
the army and police give them no protection. While the policy is driven
by the settlers, in 1999, when Ehud Barak was Prime Minister, it became
government policy to evict them.'
-
- The fenced settlement of Maon is home to 50 families
and has never suffered an attack by militants. Rivka Kaem, from Marseilles,
has lived here for 18 years. She said the cave dwellers are not a security
threat but accused them of grazing their animals on the settlement's land.
-
- The cave dwellers claim their children are stoned by
the settlers as they walk on the roads. There are other confrontations
over grazing. Several cave dwellers have been beaten and even shot.
-
- Across the valley from Hamash's home is the deserted
hamlet of Rakiz. He said: 'They left two years ago. They couldn't take
the harassment. No matter what they do, we will not leave. The more difficult
they make our life, the more determined I am to stay.'
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- Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited
2004 http://WWW.GUARDIAN.CO.UK/israel/Story/0,2763,1312879,00.html
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