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ISRAEL WEST BANK / HEBRON HILLS DEMOLITION
STORY: ISRAEL WEST BANK / HEBRON HILLS DEMOLITION
TRT: 2.20
SOURCE: UNRWA
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ ARABIC/ NATS
DATELINE: 8 SEPTEMBER 2011, UM AL KHAYR, WEST BANK, OPT
1. Wide shot, boy reading comic book in the ruins of demolished shelter
2. Med shot, boy reading comic book in the ruins of demolished shelter
3. Zoom out boy walking among the demolished shelter
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Christopher Gunness, UNRWA Spokesman:
“On the eve of the statehood discussions in New York, the Israeli authorities have resumed the demolitions. Here near Hebron five domestic structures have been demolished, affecting over 30 people and there are demolitions happening elsewhere in the West Bank. The bulldozers, as the talks begin in New York, are demolishing the prospects of Palestinian statehood.”
5. Various shots, demolished structures
6. Wide shot, girl walking in Bedouin camp
7. Various shots, Bedouin chief walks among demolished tents next to Karmel settlement houses
8. Wide shot, Bedouin clothesline under Karmel settlement houses
9. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Suleiman Eid Hadalen, Bedouin Chief:
“We will not leave our land here. We will leave it only if we die. We already left our lands in 1948 and came here.”
10. Wide shot, Bedouin woman and child walking among tents
11. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Little Bedouin Boy:
“When I was a sleep the soldier was shouting and woke me up.”
12. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) UN Officer:
“Do you feel better now or are you still scared?”
13. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Little Bedouin Boy:
“I am still afraid.”
14. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) UN Officer:
“You are still scared. Why?”
15. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Little Bedouin Boy:
“I feel afraid of the soldiers.”
16. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) UN Officer:
“Why? What did the soldiers do?”
17. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Little Bedouin Boy:
“I am afraid because the soldiers came and shouted.”
18. Various shots, children among rubble of demolished shelter
As discussions on Palestinian statehood get underway in New York, Israeli authorities have resumed home demolitions in the West Bank after a month long suspension.
In the early hours of 8 September, five residential structures in the Um al Khayr Bedouin community near Hebron in the southern West Bank were demolished displacing twenty people and severely affecting the 145 strong community. According to the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) a two year old boy, abandoned accidentally as the bulldozers moved in was severely traumatised.
SOUNDBITE (English) Christopher Gunness, UNRWA Spokesman:
“On the eve of the statehood discussions in New York, the Israeli authorities have resumed the demolitions. Here near Hebron five domestic structures have been demolished, affecting over 30 people and there are demolitions happening elsewhere in the West Bank. The bulldozers, as the talks begin in New York, are demolishing the prospects of Palestinian statehood.”
UNWRA says the twenty-two families living in the Bedouin community of Um Al Khayr on a hilltop southeast of Hebron have faced years of harassment, leading up to the demolition of their dwellings. Mere metres away, on the other side of a high wire fence, live some 70 families in the Israeli settlement of Karmel. Though they share a hilltop, life for the residents of these two communities are worlds apart.
The residents of Um Al Khayr are Bedouin refugees whose traditional tribal territories were in the Negev desert. In 1948 their tribe was displaced; some tribe members came to make Um Al Khayr their home. In 1980 Karmel was established, encroaching on the community’s land. The residents of Karmel live in large red-roofed villas. The residents of Um al Khayr live in a mixture of traditional tents and concrete houses. The irony of the contrast of life in these neighbouring communities is not lost on the families of Um al Khayr.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Suleiman Eid Hadalen, Bedouin Chief:
“We will not leave our land here. We will leave it only if we die. We already left our lands in 1948 and came here.”
In contrast to the residents of Karmel, who live behind a fence surrounded by the patrol road, have a big iron gate and armed guards, the residents of Um al Khayr have little security. The Palestinian refugee agency says the community has repeatedly suffered incidents of harassment at the hands of settlers and the Israeli military.
These incidents have ranged from settlement children throwing stones to night search operations and physical violence. Harassment, compounded by the anxiety resulting from demolitions, has had a significant psychological impact. Many of the community’s children display signs of psychological trauma such as speech defects, insomnia and bed-wetting.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Little Bedouin Boy:
“When I was a sleep the soldier was shouting and woke me up.”
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) UN Officer:
“Do you feel better now or are you still scared?”
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Little Bedouin Boy:
“I am still afraid.”
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) UN Officer:
“You are still scared. Why?”
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Little Bedouin Boy:
“I feel afraid of the soldiers.”
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) UN Officer:
“Why? What did the soldiers do?”
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Little Bedouin Boy:
“I am afraid because the soldiers came and shouted.”
The insecurity has also affected the community’s livelihood by the increasing threat due to the permit and closure regime imposed by Israel.
While the residents of Karmel are free to come and go as they please the residents of Um al Khayr are subjected to severe movement restrictions, making it increasingly difficult for them to make a living. The permit system and closure regime, implemented following the start of the second intifada, meant that the community could no longer rely on work in Israel and reverted to dependence on herding.
However, available grazing land is shrinking because of increasing restrictions on movement and the effects of drought. Today, herding can no longer support the community, which is sinking into debt. The problems Um al Khayr has been facing are typical of the situation of many of the Bedouin and herding communities in the West Bank.
More than seven hundred people have been displaced in the West Bank this year alone, surpassing the 594 people who were displaced during all of last year.
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