“Zanuta Never leaves my thoughts”: Abu Suleiman’s story of displacement and struggle

***Abu Suleiman is the Head of the Local Council from Zanuta, a village in the South Hebron Hills in the southern occupied West Bank. He, along with all 250 Zanuta residents, has been forcibly displaced from the village for three years as a result of Israel’s ethnic cleansing campaign targeting Palestinian Bedouin and herding communities in Area C. ***

Zanuta, my village, never, ever leaves my thoughts. Now, I live in Al-Dhahiriya, a stone’s throw away from Zanuta. But between me and Zanuta stand Israeli settlers, checkpoints, outposts and soldiers, reinforced by [the authorities’] lack of will to implement a court order. Every time I step outside the house I now live in, I look toward Zanuta. It is right there in front of me. There is hardly a week that goes by without me dreaming about Zanuta.

We lived in Zanuta, as did our fathers and grandfathers. Then suddenly, in 2020, a settler appears and starts telling us: “This land is mine.”

We were born in this area, so all our experiences, both good and bad, took place there. Our memories are there. Our livelihood, our sheep, our land, our crops, our farming. The exhaustion of herding the sheep, taking them across long distances, being out in the rain. Everything is in Zanuta. We lived there despite the harsh conditions. Even the hardship of living there and the things that used to annoy me, I now long for.

Before we were displaced, there were no services, no proper roads and no electricity in Zanuta. We only had electricity from solar panels provided by a local NGO. It was a very basic way of life. Yet despite all that, we were living on our land, in our homes. There may have been barracks and tents, but we were living a simple, beautiful and dignified life with peace of mind on our own land, in our own village.

The Israeli military does nothing

We tried to stay, but in the end, everyone reaches a breaking point. People fear for their lives, their children, their livelihoods, and their flocks. That is only natural.

Israeli settlers came to Zanuta in 2020. They were taking over grazing lands, harassing people, seizing wells and water sources, intimidating residents, even attacking livestock. In 2021, they established an illegal outpost just 1km away known as Meitarim Farm. These abuses existed before 7 October 2023, but since then, the state-backed settler violence has intensified dramatically and the campaign has become much more aggressive across the West Bank, especially in Area C, including Zanuta and Masafer Yatta.

We, the residents of Zanuta, did not remain silent. We pursued legal action and obtained rulings from the Israeli High Court of Justice ordering the military and police to facilitate our return and to protect us against settler violence. The Israeli army has failed to implement the decision of the court, though.

We tried to return, but to no avail.

The major obstacle preventing people from returning is the herding outpost of Meitarim: most of the attacks against us come from that outpost and instead of preventing those attacks, the Israeli military does nothing.

A heavy burden

Zanuta never leaves our minds, not day or night. It is our land and our home. We have not attacked anyone. We are ordinary people who live from our herds, our livelihoods, our homes, and our simple way of life. We did not voluntarily leave our land as some believe. The pain of displacement and forced expulsion is a heavy burden. It feels as if, after everything, we are being punished for something that was never our fault.

Our children were happy. They used to play and roam freely with the sheep in the open land and fields of Zanuta. They had a school and a kindergarten. But now they live in a different environment in Al-Dhahiriya. It may have bigger houses and more services, but it is different than where they came from and has affected them psychologically. Not to mention that witnessing settlers carrying weapons and driving through the area deeply affected and frightened them. They still have nightmares.

My 73-year-old mother, like many other older women from Zanuta, chokes with tears when she recalls the village.

Our families, who once lived decently in Zanuta, are left without employment opportunities and with no space to keep their livestock. Now people must rent land, buy metal fencing, and cover additional costs. Families have had to sell sheep to buy food, both for their animals and for themselves.

Today, it feels as though no one is listening to us anymore. Since we were displaced, very few people have reached out to help us. My cousin, a husband and a father of six, used to work and support his family, and he also owned sheep. Since the displacement, he has fallen into severe depression and is taking medication. He has stopped working entirely. He barely speaks. One of his sons works as a driver, but there is very little business. The family struggles to get by.

Help ensure the implementation of the court’s decisions

Our request is simple. There are court rulings that already exist in the case of Zanuta. We ask the world to pressure Israel to respect and implement the decisions of its own courts. That is our primary demand; to go home – and to ensure accountability for all the injustice we have gone through.

Communities in Area C, which makes up around 60 per cent of the West Bank, deserve sustained international attention and protection.

We ask people of conscience, people of goodwill around the world to stand with us, international media to come and report on our situation and diplomatic delegations to visit the area and maintain a presence on the ground. Increased attention and pressure on the Israeli government can help ensure the implementation of the court’s decisions.

I can picture myself walking through the village. I remember where the houses were, where we took the sheep, our lands, how we grazed them, where we drove the tractor, where the wells were. Every detail stays with me. It only leaves me when I sleep, and when I sleep, I dream about it.

In a recent report, Amnesty International demonstrated that the ethnic cleansing campaign is not the product of “rogue” settlers but an integral part of an organized state policy.

Take action to demand that the Israeli authorities immediately ensure the safe return of Zanuta’s residents to their lands

*Sign our *petition to stop Israel’s ethnic cleansing in the West Bank

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