CPTnet  
21 August 2008
HEBRON REFLECTION: Ten years since demolition of Jaber home

Ten years ago this week, the Israeli military demolished ‘Atta and Rodeina Jaber's home for the first time.  "The rubble is still in my face, on the ground," ‘Atta told Christian Peacemaker Team members as he and his family harvested tomatoes in the hot, late-morning sun. "If I forget, the rubble reminds me. Every day."

On 19 August 1998, 140 Israeli soldiers and two large bulldozers arrived to destroy the home that ‘Atta and Rodeina Jaber had built six years before on land where Atta's family has lived for more than 100 years.

Their land in the Beqa'a Valley is in Area C, which is under full Israeli control. Palestinians are routinely denied building permits in Area C.

Neighbors, family members, Israelis and internationals immediately came together to rebuild a two-room house with donated and supplies. But on 16 September, the army demolished this house as well. When ‘Atta tried to hand his infant son to a soldier to take to safety, he was beaten and then arrested. He spent four days in jail and was unable to work for eight months due to his injuries.

The harassment of the Jaber family has continued ever since.  In December 2000, settlers from Kiryat Arba occupied their new house for two days. They broke windows, drew graffiti on the walls, stole tools, busted walls, and burned some of the family's possessions.


The Jabers repaired the damage and still live in that house, built on a hill above their tomato fields.

"[The Civil Administration] talks about the law. What kind of law? They are breaking the law," ‘Atta told CPTers as he carefully packed tomatoes into a wooden crate. 

That morning, ‘Atta and his twelve-year-old daughter, Dalia, had to remove crates and vegetables from under a tarp next to the main road. The day before, an officer from the Civil Administration had told them that they were not allowed to sell their tomatoes by the road.

The road, restricted to Israelis, internationals, and those with special licenses, is off-limits to the Jabers. In building the road the Israelis had confiscated much of the family's land.  Now the Jabers cannot even benefit from the business it could bring.

As 'Atta thinks back over the last decade, he does not regret his decision to stay here. Despite his suffering, he says he is happy. He, his wife and children continue to work the fields in which, almost forty-six years ago, 'Atta's mother gave birth to him. "This soil, I nursed from it before the milk of my mom," he said. "I belong to this land."

While he talked, a military jeep drove by slowly. "They are watching us," he said. For now, ‘Atta has these fields and his house, but the struggle for his family's land continues.

"I wish to have a state," he says, "and first of all, freedom and humanity."

See ‘Atta Jaber reflect about the last ten years at
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHRs_I0pOac

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