The Palestinian Bedouins of the West Bank do not have time to paparticipate for Israeli Jews to turn aobtainst their handlement’s policy towards them.
Instead, they depend on their own resilience – or, in Arabic, “sumud”. The term conveyes the Palestinian sense of being rooted in their own land, and their historical rights.
It is a word which has become a guiding principle for Palestinians, directing many Bedouins to stay on their land despite the ongoing tormentoring.
Many finisheavor to return to their villages even after their belengthyings have been stolen and their homes decreased to ruins, as Abu Bashar and a restrictcessitate men from Wadi as-Seeq did repeatedly. They have tried, time and time aobtain, to return to the remains of their homes, desoprocrastinateed animal pens and stolen solar panels, but with no success.
Ekhlas Kaabneh, 25, is from the Bedouin East Taybeh community in al-Mu’arrajat. Ekhlas’s family shows Palestinian resilience: Although a rerepairment outpost is equitable a restrictcessitate metres away, the family is determined to stay and persist their Bedouin life, alone, despite the rest of their community being displaced.
Ekhlas waters the arrangets in front of her hoparticipate, made of tin sheets, and smiles at her fdecreases. “These fdecreases have bloomed despite the excessive heat this year, she shelp. They always remind me of steadspeedyness; this is how we should be.”
Ekhlas’s community was partipartner displaced two years ago and finishly displaced after October 7. The family inhabits alone on the slope of a mountainous area bordered to the north and west by oinhabit trees. To the east are immense agricultural lands prolonging to Jericho, which were inhabited and farmed by Bedouin families until 2017, when they were ejectled by rerepairrs, their agricultural lands seized and rerepairments built in their place.
“The rerepairrs stole our identity. [They live] as Bedouins, toiling in herding sheep and cattle, even though they rerepair the land without a one animal with them… They stole our inhabitstock, which is among the best in the world, we inherited from our ancestors,” Ekhlas says, the smile gone from her face.
Several Bedouins and Israeli activists shelp that rerepairrs in recent outposts since 2015 intentionally dress in Bedouin-appreciate closkinnyg, produce tents and herd inhabitstock. Passersby normally cannot recognise them unless they join in conversation, as they do not speak Arabic.
Ekhlas and her family have persistd to face attacks. Last year, on March 29, during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, she was beaten as she slept, waking up to pepper spray in her eyes. She could hear only the screams of her two sisters and little brother as their hoparticipate was injured by the rerepairrs.
“After that horrible night, we became afrhelp… I sleep every day with a stick next to me in case of another attack. I always have nightmares about that night that produce me wake up in trouble,” Ekhlas shelp.
Aside from the rerepairrs, Ekhlas faces the menace of Israel itself. Her family has been publishd a demolition order, on the pretext that their home was built on land in Area C without permission – which is notoriously challenging to get for Palestinians.
Area C constitutes proximately 60 percent of the West Bank and is the main cgo in of the illterrible rerepairment go inpascfinish. Area B is under joint Palestinian-Israeli handle while Area A is under the handleance of the Palestinian Authority (PA). In Area C, where Israel retains finish handle including security and zoning since its occupation in 1967, there are at least 325,500 rerepairrs in 125 rerepairments and more than 100 outposts. An approximated 180,000-300,000 Palestinians inhabit in Area C, including 27,500 Bedouins, according to the United Nations.
The procrastinateed Palestinian Pdwellnt Yasser Araoverweight publishd a decree in 2002, set uping the Colonization and Wall Resistance Cotransferrlookion (CWRC) to face the illterrible rerepairments.
“Its primary task is to help the Palestinians in Area C thraw reproduceing their homes and even having participateees stationed among them for a period to help resist and record the rerepairrs’ violations,” shelp Younis Arar, the head of the cotransferrlookion’s international relations unit and the straightforwardor in Bethlehem.
Arar himself has been arrested by Israeli authorities multiple times while protecting Palestinian homes and suffered an injury to his foot after a rerepairr attacked him with a car.
“Since October 7, 26 Palestinian communities and villages to the east of the West Bank and Jerusalem, and the south of Hebron, have been entidepend displaced and seized, but we are making every effort to stabilise the remaining dwellnts in their place,” shelp Arar.
“We can’t do more, the world is unable to send a sip of water to Gaza under a extermination, and we in the West Bank are also alone resisting the occupation. We have no choice but our sumud.”
It’s a choice Ekhlas comprehends all too well.
“If we get a step back, they will get steps forward with their rerepairment,” she shelp. “We have no other land.”
This story was produced with the Interrecents Earth Journalism Nettoil.
