Testimonies

Kifah al-Bahabseh, 14

I am 14 years old and am in the ninth grade. On Tuesday [9 Aug. 11] around 10:30 in the morning, I went with Haja [an honorific title for a woman who has made the pilgrimage to Mecca – O.G.] Salma a-Sawarkah to graze our flock. I have 22 head and she has about 30. I began to help her, for free, a few days earlier, since she is elderly and it is hard for her to run after the animals. When we were next to the refuse dump, east of Juhor a-Dik, and pretty far from the perimeter fence, we saw an Israeli army patrol of a few vehicles on Israeli territory. They ignored us and drove off, to where we couldn’t see them.

About half an hour later, an army jeep burst toward us from the woods on the other side of the fence. It went behind a sand hill and dirt mounds, which made it impossible for me to see it. The two of us continued to sit next to the sheep. Suddenly, four soldiers who were walking next to the fence began to fire at us. They were higher than we were, and I saw their rifles. At first, I tried to move our flocks and get them out of danger, but the bullets were landing next to my feet. I was so scared that I left everything and ran toward the refuse dump to hide there. A few moments later, I saw Salma limping. She was still trying to move the sheep away. The gunfire hit the sheep, killing some of them. I moved away, and when the gunfire stopped, I went back to her.

We walked until we saw a cart with a donkey. A few young men came and put her on the cart. Her clothes were soaked with blood. After a while, a vehicle came and took her away. After the soldiers left, I saw some men go and gather the sheep that had been wounded by the gunfire and put them on the cart. Two of my sheep were killed and five were wounded.

In fact, it is quite clear that the plan is not motivated by concern for the welfare of the Bedouin but by the intention to expand settlements. Half of the Bedouin communities to be expelled are living in the area intended for the controversial E-1 plan. E-1 is called an expansion of Ma’ale Adumim, but in fact it is bigger than the existing settlement. Some 4,000 apartments are planned for E-1, though construction has been held up by the US administration over the concerns that E-1 will be a mortal blow to the two-state solution. Meanwhile Israel has already paved extensive roadways, installed the electricity and water networks and built the West Bank Police headquarters there. Ma'ale Adumim mayor Beni Katzriel has declared his intention to also expand the settlement south, towards Keidar. In both places, the Bedouin communities stand in his way.

Kifah ‘Eid Nasrallah ‘Eid al-Bahabseh, 14, is a student and a resident of Juhar a-Dik in the Gaza District. Her testimony was given to Khaled al-‘Azeyzeh on 11 August 2011 at the witness’s house.