Artwork for podcast The International Solidarity Movement Podcast
2: Surviving settler violence in Masafer Yatta
Episode 25th February 2023 • The International Solidarity Movement Podcast • The International Solidarity Movement
00:00:00 00:26:28

Share Episode

Shownotes

In episode two of our podcast we speak to Gassim Hamad Tahan from the village of Mufagara, in Masafer Yatta, in the South Hebron Hills.

Gassim told us how the experience he had growing up is different to those of his children and grandchildren, and about his dedication to steadfastly staying on the land, despite violent attacks by settlers, and a colonial army intent on evicting Palestinians from the area.

View episode transcript here

Links

If you would like an explanation of the terms used in this podcast, you can find a useful glossary on 140-154 of Shoal Collective's Ebook Interviews with Radical Palestinian Women.

Supported by Shoal Collective.

Transcripts

Introduction:

Hey, welcome to International Solidarity

Introduction:

Movement podcast [followed by Arabic translation]

Hazel:

Hello and welcome to the second episode of the

Hazel:

International Solidarity Movement podcast. My name's

Hazel:

Hazel and I'm happy to be joining you today. So this

Hazel:

interview is with Gassim Hamad Tahan, who is fellahin - which

Hazel:

is basically translatable to being a land worker, a peasant,

Hazel:

or a traditional farmer - in the village of Mufagara, in Masafer

Hazel:

Yatta, in the South Hebron Hills.

Hazel:

We spent some time in Mufaqara as part of ISM's work to be a

Hazel:

presence in case of demolitions or attack by the occupying

Hazel:

forces. We got to join in with some of the traditional work

Hazel:

Gassim and his family do day to day, which involves looking

Hazel:

after a herd of goats, donkeys, chickens, and other animals,

Hazel:

building, as well as being shown how to bake sweets by the

Hazel:

younger people in the family.

Hazel:

We recorded this episode sat in Gassim's family home. Some of

Hazel:

the children can be heard in the background at different points

Hazel:

whispering and bringing tea, and we also left Gassim's full

Hazel:

answers to our questions in Arabic in the podcast, so that

Hazel:

English and Arabic speakers can listen. The valleys and hills

Hazel:

of Massafer Yatta were ruled a closed military zone called

Hazel:

'Firing Zone 918' in the 1980s. This is an Israeli state ruling

Hazel:

that claimed the area was supposedly ‘uninhabited’, and

Hazel:

therefore can be used for the occupying force's military

Hazel:

practice, despite the fact Palestinians have been living

Hazel:

and working in the region for many, many generations with

Hazel:

traditional ways of life, like living in caves, shepherding,

Hazel:

and subsistence farming, sometimes semi-nomadically. The

Hazel:

occupying state has violently tried to force families out of

Hazel:

the area for decades. This has been done through legal rulings

Hazel:

in the courts, supporting settler violence and settlement

Hazel:

expansion, and by carrying out demolitions of Palestinian homes

Hazel:

and property. Now the residents of the firing zone are under a

Hazel:

renewed, imminent threat of eviction.

Hazel:

Gassim told us how the experience he had growing up is

Hazel:

different to those of his children and grandchildren, and

Hazel:

about his dedication to steadfastly staying on the land.

Hazel:

Today we're in the village Mufagara which is in Masafer

Hazel:

Yatta in the Firing Zone 918 and we're interviewing Gassim Hamad

Hazel:

Tahan about his experiences living under the occupation and

Hazel:

the resistance. So yeah, thank you very much for joining us.

Hazel:

I'm just gonna pass over and ask you to just introduce yourself

Hazel:

and your family and maybe the history of the village? And just

Hazel:

say a bit day to day like what it's like living here?

Gassim:

[translation of question then answer from Gassim in

Gassim:

Arabic]

Translation:

His name is Gassim Hamad Tahan from Mufagara

Translation:

village. What his daily life [is] here, it's really about

Translation:

fearing and like scary day, like in any moment he is feeling that

Translation:

he could be killed or arrested. So fears and his worries are

Translation:

everyday in his heart and about his small children his sons and

Translation:

about his house. So like from all of the sides that his life

Translation:

is like surrounded of fear and worries. Like before the

Translation:

eighties, before even the occupation came to the Massafer

Translation:

Yatta area, it was like a good life, a safe life, like really

Translation:

having a good life with like the family, there was no threats on

Translation:

them so like he says that all his life is surrounded by

Translation:

worries and fear from [being] expelled evicted, killed or

Translation:

arrested even.

Gassim:

And is it possible for you to say a bit more about what

Gassim:

it's like day to day? He’s felaheen, so he's like a farmer

Gassim:

who's living with the land. Is it possible to talk a bit about

Gassim:

that connection with the land and maybe how it has been in the

Gassim:

past and also how it is now. But what does the land like mean for

Gassim:

him?

Gassim:

[translation of question then answer from Gassim in Arabic]

Translation:

His life as a farmer born before the

Translation:

occupation arrived and the settlers and everything else

Translation:

that happened. They were having a very good life, like, going

Translation:

with their sheep everywhere no one can prevent them to reach

Translation:

their land. They plough the land, farm it and harvest it, so

Translation:

they were like really having a simple life, living in caves and

Translation:

some tents and some like – what was in the past, there was

Translation:

nothing like services that like came to them. So after the

Translation:

occupation arrived, the confiscating of the land,

Translation:

stopping the people to reach their land, and even the settler

Translation:

harassment on the farmers and also the shepherds - they were

Translation:

killing the sheep, they were like shepherding with the sheep

Translation:

when settlers came and killed some of the sheep, and you know

Translation:

threatening them. So they started like, it was really

Translation:

something that scared them and prevent them to go, because they

Translation:

will risk their life for that.

Translation:

So like he was asking like for all of the countries to stand

Translation:

with them, because they are simple farmers and they want to

Translation:

have their simple life. They want to live as the settler

Translation:

living in the illegal outpost that was established in the

Translation:

Palestinian land, that have all of the human services - they

Translation:

want to live like them. Not like if you want to go - if you want

Translation:

to build a simple tent to live in, like to go out from the

Translation:

cave, and to live in a simple house, or a tent, they will

Translation:

immediately demolish it and confiscated it. So he ask just

Translation:

for like a simple life, safe with no threats. I want to ask

Translation:

him also about what is his connection with the land.

Gassim:

[translation of question then answer from Gassim in

Gassim:

Arabic]

Translation:

So his land, like he used to think that cannot

Translation:

like lost it. So he just take it from his grandfather and his

Translation:

grandfather took it from his parents also. This like the land

Translation:

has come to him now, from his father, so now he's like, he has

Translation:

the connection between him and the land, that he cannot like

Translation:

leave it. And he can pay any price in order to not to like

Translation:

leave his land. And even if he would go back to live in the

Translation:

caves, and if there is any threats on him, he will just

Translation:

stay on his land because there is no other way to go.

Hazel:

So we also mentioned that this is a firing zone, and I was

Hazel:

wondering if you could explain a bit about what that means.

Hazel:

Because the people who are listening will be coming

Hazel:

internationally they won't necessarily know what are the

Hazel:

conditions, what legally does it mean, and what does it really

Hazel:

mean for the people living here? So if you can explain a bit

Hazel:

about that it would be amazing

Translation:

Since the ‘67, when the Israeli occupation first

Translation:

occupied the West Bank, and until it reached Masafer Yatta

Translation:

in the 80s, they announced Masafer Yatta as a closed

Translation:

military zone. And from this, like they used this excuse to,

Translation:

to steal more land and expand more settlements. And settlers

Translation:

are in, in order to – as one of the tools that the occupation

Translation:

uses to harass the Palestinians and make them feel, like, scared

Translation:

and fear to lose their lands.

Translation:

So since the you know, these like, policy that, you know,

Translation:

they've announced Masafer Yatta as a closed military zone, and

Translation:

there are people who's living in this area, and they [the Israeli

Translation:

occupation] didn't have the right even to announce [the

Translation:

military zone as uninhabited] because there are the people who

Translation:

are living here. And this is a threat on the people to be

Translation:

killed. Because this is a very dangerous thing on the people.

Translation:

So this like, what they announced as a closed military

Translation:

zone, is an excuse in order to evacuate the Palestinians from

Translation:

their lands, from their villages - from their own villages. He's

Translation:

like, even imagine that he's saying that, that the village is

Translation:

now in 2022. And until now, there is the fighting and the

Translation:

eviction, you know. This is like we want to imagine the future

Translation:

could be a good future, not a bad future. So he just wants to

Translation:

have days that are like those in the past, there is no

Translation:

occupation, no harassment, no threats, nothing.

Translation:

So he's like, just hoping for all of these violations to stop,

Translation:

and for the Israeli occupation forces to go out, and take the

Translation:

settlers and the settlements - to take them out. And this what

Translation:

he means, you know, I just – he mentioned something and I just

Translation:

mentioned from me just to give them the real idea.

Hazel:

So is it possible to say a bit more about like, if you

Hazel:

remember before the Firing Zone, what it was like growing up

Hazel:

here, and could you expand a bit more on what the conditions were

Hazel:

like how it felt in those times?

Gassim:

[translation of question then answer from Gassim in

Gassim:

Arabic

Translation:

So he was born in Mufagara village and his

Translation:

beautiful moment in his life was when he was a child because

Translation:

there was no fear. Nothing to care about. Life is like funny.

Translation:

You go to study in Yatta walking like one hour and back. And this

Translation:

shows how in the past everything was - you can go wherever you

Translation:

want. wherever you can go, and your parents will not be worried

Translation:

about you, because there is nothing or any threats on you.

Translation:

So, he said like, these are the best days that I have lived in.

Translation:

Now, today like, after he has grown up and all of these

Translation:

threats came and all of the occupation started to harass the

Translation:

Palestinians. Even you know, now that his children now they

Translation:

are studying in At-Tuwani village, and even though the

Translation:

distance between here and At-Tuwani is just one kilometer.

Translation:

And they send their children in the morning and you know, they

Translation:

feel the fears and worries about them. You know, they just count

Translation:

to ten to take them to the school and to come back, because

Translation:

there is no safety, there is settlers - they can attack them

Translation:

or they have threats. And with your children you cannot like

Translation:

put them anywhere. So like he said like there's a very big

Translation:

distance between the past and today.

Hazel:

Is it possible to just say like how many children live

Hazel:

in the village and you know what it's like for them growing up

Hazel:

here? We've met a lot of the kids and they're really amazing,

Hazel:

and very funny, and very friendly, they've really

Hazel:

welcomed us as guests very very well, and I really thank them

Hazel:

for that. I was wondering if you could talk a bit about and what

Hazel:

it might be like for them.

Gassim:

[translation of question then answer from Gassim in

Gassim:

Arabic

Translation:

So he said like these children [are] born under

Translation:

the risk and under the occupation. And even they said

Translation:

when we want to walk them to school sometimes, they send the

Translation:

police sometimes, because maybe the settler will meet them in

Translation:

the road and they will attack them. So they used to go with

Translation:

them to take them to school and back. So their like routine -

Translation:

these children like while they're playing up there, when

Translation:

they see an army or settler, he just run[s] to his father and he

Translation:

says ‘there’s army or settlers, maybe they will do [something

Translation:

to] us, they will attack us’. He says ‘no, just don’t worry’.

Translation:

So the last thing that I want to add to what is happening. And

Translation:

really, as you can say a massacre here, that very big

Translation:

huge number of settlers from the illegal outposts of Havat Ma’on

Translation:

and Avigail, they gathered and they attacked this village,

Translation:

brutally. And the army were with them, even they were like saving

Translation:

them, you know, and protecting them. They were having guns,

Translation:

they were throwing stones on the houses and there was one child

Translation:

that was injured on his head. He was sleeping and there was one

Translation:

big stone it was it was like [thrown on] his head. So he was

Translation:

hospitalised.

Translation:

And even then, there was no justice that day. The cars were

Translation:

burned , and the house were destroyed. And after that every

Translation:

child here was having a very, very big problems with his

Translation:

psychological things. So, he was even after that, when he wanted

Translation:

to go, when he saw settler or army, he would just ask his

Translation:

father ‘will they do the same thing with what they have done

Translation:

the last year?’, or something like that.

Translation:

So these like, also the families, they are just taking

Translation:

care of the children to like – to get this fear out of them and

Translation:

you know, to resist as they resist, during their lives. And

Translation:

you know, he just wants his children and the children in the

Translation:

community to have their rights as other children in the world.

Translation:

That they're having the safety. All of the rights of education

Translation:

to go to school safe, not to face the checkpoints, to not

Translation:

have the injustice, the attacks. So he just hopes to his children

Translation:

to have all their rights as other children in the world.

Hazel:

I'm really sorry to hear about the attack. It's

Hazel:

absolutely horrible, and especially a child being injured

Hazel:

is completely unforgivable and really disgusting. I was

Hazel:

wondering if there was anything else that you wanted to share

Hazel:

and also, if you wanted to say anything about - about or for -

Hazel:

international people coming here about why they should come? And

Hazel:

if there's any other message to give to the people who might be

Hazel:

listening?

Gassim:

[translation of question then answer from Gassim in

Gassim:

Arabic]

Gassim:

[translation of question then answer from Gassim in Arabic]

Translation:

So he's very grateful for the presence here

Translation:

and he is very thankful for all the efforts that they do that

Translation:

they came to be in solidarity with the people. And for example

Translation:

like including he is going to shepherding at least he feels

Translation:

some people that are standing with them, that there's still

Translation:

some people who really care about that case, the Palestinian

Translation:

case, about all the violations that happens against them. And

Translation:

even now like just to show how the international presence is

Translation:

important is, for example, it happened with them when one time

Translation:

is one settler he was going to attack them, but there was

Translation:

international people with them. And they said for them ‘come

Translation:

tomorrow without these people’ you know as he just want to

Translation:

attack them.

Gassim:

So we know that Khallet Al-Daba’ is facing eviction at

Gassim:

the moment imminently and we're just wondering. if they're

Gassim:

evicted does that mean that this village also will be next? Is it

Gassim:

that this will then be evicted as well?

Gassim:

[translation of question then answer from Gassim in Arabic]

Gassim:

[translation of question then answer from Gassim in Arabic]

Translation:

So he say, he hope not, to the [eviction of]

Translation:

Khallet al-Daba’ village, but he said if they will evict the

Translation:

people and demolish everything there they will - they will not

Translation:

just on[ly] this village, they will go around all the

Translation:

Palestinian villages in Masafer Yatta. So this will be a threat

Translation:

on all the people around, in the community, and he hope not to

Translation:

happen this thing, and to have a big solidarity from everywhere

Translation:

from outside Palestine or inside, to stop all of this

Translation:

eviction and ethnic cleansing that the Israeli occupation is

Translation:

doing.

Hazel:

Shukran, shukran. Hurriya Filistin!

Follow

Links

Chapters

Video

More from YouTube