“I am proud to keep resisting”: fighting the occupation in Hebron

From right to left: Hazem Abu Rajab, 27; Saleh Abu Rajab, 11; Mohammed Montaser Abu Rajab, 17
For
those well versed in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it is no
secret that Israeli settlers have been encroaching upon Palestinian
lands for decades. Yet the case of the Hazem Abu Rajab family is
exceptional in that the settlers have gone as far as to forcibly
displace the family from their own home. On Thursday morning, 25th of
July, settlers, accompanied by the Israeli police, took over the top
two floors of the family’s house, forcing the family out of this
section of their home. The house is situated between area H1 and H2,
so that one part exists outside a military checkpoint and the other
inside, which for the family means it is unsafe to use one of the
entrances of their house.

The
dispute over the Abu Rajab’s house started on the 27th of November
2012, when settlers for the first time occupied two top floors of the
house, claiming they bought it. However, according to Hazem Abu
Rajab, the house is owned by many people, making it impossible to
sell without the approval of every single owner. The family took the
matter to court that ruled that the family had the right to keep
their home, so the settlers were thrown out until the final verdict
takes place.

Despite
the court’s decision, the settlers came back to occupy the house
once again. Over 50 settlers came to take over the house, arriving
before the return of the male inhabitants. The men returned just in
time to start
filming and attempting to push the unwanted visitors out the
door, but by then the settlers had already reclaimed most of the
house. The attempt to occupy the ground floor and first floor was
unsuccessful as the settlers faced steadfast resistance from the Abu
Rajab family. Eventually, the settlers were evacuated by the soldiers
from the two remaining floors in order to avoid injuries. According
to Hazem, with the current situation, 4 families consisting of 15
people altogether have to fit in these two floors. In the evening on
the 25th of July, the family contacted their lawyer, who sent a
complaint letter to the Israeli defense minister and to the chief of
police demanding the evacuation of settlers.

During
a visit to the Abu Rajab house, we had the opportunity to talk to
Hazem Abu Rajab, thanks to Badee Dwaik, an activist from Human Rights
Defenders group. Dwaik was visiting the family in order to donate a
camera to the eldest brother, Hazem Abu Rajab, as part of the group’s
documentation project “Capturing Occupation.” The group promotes
citizen journalism efforts among the people living in Hebron, to
assist them with documenting and publicizing their lives under the
occupation.

Hazem
is 27 years old, married with one child, and is the one that
represents his family in the court. Hazem was telling us about the
situation, ownership issues, and the general struggles of living in
the house partially occupied by Israeli settlers. Hebron’s Old City
is one of the most difficult places to live for Palestinians due to
the number of Israeli settlements and the oppression that these
entail. Therefore, many Palestinians move out of this area fearing
for their children’s safety. However, for Hazem it is impossible to
even imagine leaving as his family has been living there for 60
years. He says that they will keep on resisting this injustice and
that they are ready to die if necessary. When asked about the safety
of the children, he simply responds “God can take care of
everybody.”

As
an experiment, on Thursday the eldest brother of the family attempted
to use the entrance to his house on the Israeli side, and was warned
by the Israeli soldiers that this was unsafe for him. The home has
been around for about 600 years, since Ottoman times, and has been
owned by the family for generations. Now they are unable to utilize
over 60% of their home. “I am proud to keep resisting” says
Hazem, the eldest brother. They believe that one day their house will
be returned to them and are pushing the matter in court, but it is a
long and slow process. Yet for the family, this is the only way at
their disposal to legally get back their house, despite it being
illegally poached off them in the first place. For many Palestinian
families living in the region, events like this one are the
unfortunate reality of living under the occupation, and the only way
to counter such unfair measures are a long and hard battle under the
legal system.

While
speaking about the events in Jerusalem, Hazem further points out that
there is a connection between the situation in Jerusalem and the
occupation of their house in Hebron. He believes that it is not
coincidental that the occupation of their house is taking place now,
when all the national and global attention was fixed upon the Al Aqsa
crisis throughout the last two weeks, producing the perfect
opportunity for the settlers to take over the house. He also assumes
that it is possible that the house will stay occupied for a while,
before any action is taken by the Israeli court due to the Palestinian
victory in Jerusalem – what he describes as “a compromise” in
regard to Israeli- Palestinian power relations.