The features of 61-year-old Palestinian Fathi Daraghmeh from the Ain al-Hilweh community in the northern valley of the West Bank recount tales of steadfastness and defiance of a land that has been resisting for more than 60 years despite all the oppression carried out by the Israeli occupation. Daraghmeh experienced all this pain with its bitterness throughout the years by living in tents with his family and some other Bedouin families which have been inhabiting the area for so many years.
Most of the families live in tents some of which are rusty and old with dirt roads that are neither paved nor suitable for cars hindering their own movement from one area to another in order to have access to distant services thus increasing their suffering.
A Jewish-only settlement is located on a hill overlooking the northern Palestine Valley and it is located three kilometers away from Bisan checkpoint separating the West Bank from 1948 Palestine with a total area of 2000 dunums of land.
The surrounding land belongs to the village’s residents. It is registered in the Tabu the land registration office and it has a population of 500 citizens most of whom are from the Al-Faqah family. It is classified as Area B of the West Bank while the village of Ein Al Baida is located to the east.
Daraghmeh says that life in the area is very difficult as it is surrounded by five Jewish-only settlements in addition to army camps. Israeli mines in the area killed many young Palestinians.
“The occupation has imposed very difficult living conditions on the people of Kardala community violating their right to live in dignity and preventing the provision of the necessary services to them thus separating them from the outside world” he added.
He pointed out that the Bedouin community is home for about 500 Palestinian families who live mostly in tents while the rest live in caravans and most of the families received house demolition notifications from the Israeli occupation army.
According to statistics issued by Abdullah Al-Hourani Center for studies these five Jewish-only settlements occupy about 7518 dunums in addition to the vital area surrounding them. Palestinian farmers are not allowed to enter the area nor build there. These five settlements are inhabited by about 2000 settlers.
Mahdi Daraghmeh a member of the Ain al-Maleh local council said that the most important problems facing the region are the lack of pasture drought lack of water and infrastructure in addition to the lack of security and safety due to the proximity of the Jewish-only settlements.
