And a special credit to Trace for that little gem! My second day in Hebron and I was asked to go to a small camp called Susiya south of Hebron where farmers had left the nearby town of Yatta in 1987 to camp out on their land as they were afraid that if they didnt the Israelies would take it, they have been there since. The camp itself consists of about 10 families scattered around a couple of vallies about 4km from the 1948 border or the Green Line.I tavelled with a Spanish activist who spoke Arabic which was a real bonus as I am from Colne and have yet to master English as my daughter Elz (her spelling!) told me earlier! So what did we do in Susiya? The main task is to walk with the shepards as the feed their flock twice a day, once at 6am....thats right 6 in the AM! and again mid afternoon. The reason for this is that on more days than not there will be either violence from the nearby settlements or hassle from the IOF. We arrived quite late in the afternoon and missed the afternoon sheep wandering but had an amazing dinner cooked by on of the familes, their accomodation is basic but the warmth and hospitality was immense. Why is it the people with the least give the most?
My first mornings sheep wanderings went off without incident, however as we arrived back at the family camp we were staying a neighbouring farmer shouted that he was being attacked by settlers, we ran to the guy and saw two settlers disappearing to the nearby Police outpost, our local contact called the police and the army arrived within minutes, followed shortly after by the rozzers! As we were talking to the army the settlers shot past in a car, we photgraphed it and waited for the fuzz. When they turned up the farmer explained what had happened and that we had a picture of their car, "Ah" said Inspector Morse, " a picture isnt evidence, but come with us to the local police station and we will take a statement". Our farmer friend did just that, only to be arrested on suspicion of attacking the settlers, as they had said that an unarmed shepard had attacked them! Its a weird sort of law out here, more of which later.
The nearby village of Atwani (my spelling may be wrong) was visited a couple of weeks ago by the Prince of Peace, Tony Blair so it shouldnt be too long before the situation is sorted and we can all go home!
The picture above was taken yesterday afternoon whilst on sheep patrol,Yousefs son brought out the tea pot some glasses and we sat and made tea whilst the sheep ate and shat all around us. I will use another post to update what happened this morning and where I am now, trying my best to keep up to date. see ya in a bit
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