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Friday, July 21, 2017

Waiting in Umm al-Khair


The heartbreaking details of people waiting for their homes to be destroyed by the Israeli authorities is told again and again by the people of the Bedouin village of Umm al-Khair. Umm al-Khair is a Palestinian village located in the Hebron Governorate of the southern West Bank. The people eloquently describe the waiting as something akin to pregnancy. They are waiting for the birth of something, perhaps early one morning, with the realization that it will bring about the cruel destruction of their homes and their way of life. The villagers search the apparently fertile world around them—nearby settlers who enjoy modern life, the new military closed zones, the hum of drones above them near their rural homes, they search for answers. They may wonder why muted responses come from the international community as Israel continues demolitions that contravene explicit provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention. They may wonder how the world goes on, as if unaware of or forgetting real human beings in Umm al-Khair. Who will shelter them from an empire whose army has conquered the land where they live and before whose power they are otherwise powerless? Who will protect them from a power that tramples on their basic human rights and cruelly forces them from their homes? Who will save them from a force that destroys their livelihood? Who will halt the aggression? ‘Id al-Hajalin, a resident of Umm al-Khair ask, “Why do they want to destroy my house? Where can I go? Can I go to America? I have nothing, and they want to take that nothing from me. Can you help me? Where am I supposed to go?[1] Demolitions of homes and other structures that compel the people of Umm al-Khair to leave their homes may amount to the forcible transfer of residents of an occupied territory, which is a war crime. It is 5:15 am in Umm al-Khair. I hear the rumble of a large vehicle coming up the road. No, the domolition is not scheduled for today. Umm al-Khair is featured in the 2016 book "The Way to the Spring: Life and Death in Palestine" by Ben Ehrenreich.[2]




[1] David Dean Shulman, 'On Being Unfree:Fences, Roadblocks and the Iron Cage of Palestine,' Manoa Vol, 20, No. 2, 2008, pp. 13-32

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