Night guardians of the mountain in the occupied West Bank

2 hours ago 6

Al-Mufaqara, occupied West Bank – In al-Mufaqara, a colony successful Masafer Yatta, southbound of Hebron, the nighttime feels different.

Instead of remainder oregon sleep, it is marked by vigilance and interest for the village’s men who defender their colony against attacks by Israeli settlers from adjacent amerciable settlements and outposts.

A colony facing it alone

Al-Mufaqara is location to astir 23 families comprising 220 people, including 50 children. Its inhabitants trust connected herding, agriculture, and carnal husbandry.

But this elemental mode of beingness is met with regular attacks from settlers and Israeli authorities, who person demolished their homes repeatedly, destroyed their cultivation lands, burned their dwellings, and adjacent resorted to murder.

The latest unfortunate present was a awesome of resistance, Awda al-Hathalin, who was changeable by an Israeli settler.

Others person been injured, immoderate adjacent losing limbs, successful different attacks.

It was this relentless information that made the villagers determine to found the Mountain Guardians Committee – a radical of astir 30 young men who walk the nighttime connected the elevation overlooking the settlements and the village, taking turns to defender from sunset to sunrise.

The sanction comes from their elevated presumption overlooking the colony and the settlements, wherever they observe nighttime movements and alert the villagers.

There’s a squad of scout monitors, a squad managing lights and alarms, a squad that feeds everyone and makes blistery drinks, and a enactment team, assisted by immoderate elders who walk by with java oregon sunflower seeds for the watchers – the items arsenic overmuch symbols of solidarity and steadfastness arsenic they are snacks.

Hamida, a mother’s fearfulness and hope

Hamida Ali Hamamda is simply a 51-year-old parent of nine, ranging successful property from 33-year-old Mufid to 20-year-old Bayan. She lives with her 53-year-old husband, Qassem Hamamda, successful 1 of the village’s mud-brick houses.

“Life successful al-Mufaqara was saccharine and simple… We lived successful safety, and the sheep grazed freely, until fearfulness came,” Hamamda says, looking retired of her model astatine the hills.

Hamida Hamamda successful her gait with her grandchilren. One of her granddaughters stands successful the house, down the metallic grates they had to instal to effort to support themselves froms settlers

Life has changed since October 7, 2023, she explains, recounting however Israeli settlers interruption into homes with stones and insults, endanger residents with decease and displacement and merchandise their sheep onto Palestinian lands to destruct crops and trees, onshore that galore Palestinian owners cannot access.

She describes an incidental wherever 4 settlers approached their location aft seizing a adjacent cave, throwing the household that lives determination out.

“They told my husband: ‘You person to permission here. This isn’t Palestinian land.’

“Life has mislaid its meaning… Everything has go hardship, with nary comfortableness oregon security.”

Hamada dreams of an extremity to the information posed by the settlements, and that her grandchildren tin unrecorded successful safety, going to schoolhouse without fear.

Families successful the colony person resorted to elemental protective measures for their homes, she says, similar barbed ligament connected windows and dogs successful the gait that bark astatine approaching danger.

But, she says: “If it weren’t for the defender committees, we wouldn’t slumber a wink… They are our archetypal enactment of defence.”

The manus that feeds the guards

Hamamda does her portion to assistance defender the colony – each night, she asks a colony pistillate who prepares homemade sweets, cakes and different treats to nonstop immoderate up to the young guards successful the hills.

“They defender us, and we nonstop them sweets… At slightest we stock thing tiny to easiness their burden.”

Hamamda’s granddaughter, 11-year-old Asala, Mufid’s daughter, has grown up with much fearfulness than she knows play.

Pointing to a spread successful the ground, she explains: “When the settlers onslaught the village, we tally present … to the cave.”

She describes it arsenic their underground haven, the spot wherever she and her younger siblings fell distant from windows and doors.

“In my nightmares, I spot them attacking us… I privation I could unrecorded my puerility and spell to schoolhouse without fear.”

On the outskirts of al-Mufaqara, Qassem Hamamda stands contemplating the caller settlements crowding the skyline astir his village.

Before October 7, 2023, the settlements of Avigail and Havat Ma’on surrounded it.

Today, settler encroachment is painfully clear, with 5 caller outposts, amerciable adjacent nether Israeli law, acceptable up astir the village.

Qassem tells the aforesaid communicative his woman told.

“They came aft seizing a cave adjacent my location and threatened to unit maine out. I told them, ‘You privation maine to conscionable leave? How?

This is my land, inherited from my begetter and grandfather… I won’t permission it. I’ll dice here.’”

He adds that the extortion committee has made things better.

“I consciousness a small safer. The aged and women slumber with comparative bid of mind… but we request a structure to support the young radical from the wintertime cold.”

A photograph of 1 of the guardians dishing retired blistery chickenhearted livers (that look delicious) for the others

Watchful eyes of the night

Torchlight shines successful the manus of Muath al-Hamamda, 32, a farmer, begetter of three, and 1 of the astir salient members of the extortion committee.

“We support ticker each nighttime due to the fact that an onslaught portion you’re dormant is overmuch much unsafe than an onslaught portion you’re awake,” helium says, eyes darting astir him astatine the hills.

He estimates that the beingness of the upland guards has reduced attacks by much than 80 percent, due to the fact that the settlers nary longer find the colony unguarded.

When an onslaught occurs, the committee moves quickly.

One radical rushes children and women to underground caves, different heads for the sheep pens to support the villagers’ livestock, portion a 3rd confronts the settlers until reinforcements arrive.

“We each cognize that the settler is merciless,” Muath says. “But the Palestinian volition not wantonness his land. Even the children present cognize that the onshore is life.”

Near the defender post, Jalal al-Amour, 47, crouches adjacent the fire, stirring a ample pot, the aroma of chickenhearted livers helium prepared wafting from it.

The spot wherever helium is cooking was his home, helium says, pointing astatine a adjacent cave with a Star of David astatine its rima and an Israeli emblem flying supra it.

“I was calved successful this cave, I lived successful it with my begetter and grandfather… until the settlers came, they forcibly evicted us, they destroyed everything.

“When we complained to the police, they said: ‘It’s a closed subject zone.’”

Al-Amour cooks for the guards each night. “Every time we take a antithetic dish, trying to support the spot warm… Fire and fume are each that stay of the scent of home.”

As dawn approaches, the lights slice implicit the hills.

Tired faces grin arsenic they spot the archetypal rays of morning. The young men spell home, immoderate to their sheep, others to a abbreviated slumber earlier a caller day.

Between moonrise and sunrise, the mountain’s guardians person done their duty, awake done the nighttime to support a colony that wants to enactment connected its land.