Palestinian woman frustrated with confinement

Hana Abu Haikal has hardly any visitors to her home; not because she doesn't enjoy playing host, but because her house is in a rather problematic location.

Abu Haikal, a 53 year old hairdresser from the West Bank, lives in a house at the centre of the Jewish settlement of Tel Rumeida, which is in the middle of the old,predominantly Palestinian, city of Hebron. The windows of her house are grilled and a high fence surrounds her small garden.

Surrounded by Jewish houses, the main route to access Abu Haikal's home is through an olive grove belonging to the settlement. Guests require permission to enter the house before making their way through the Israeli-guarded olive grove, making spur-of-the-moment visits impossible. It also means Abu Haikel has to go miles out of her way whenever she leaves her home.

"This is not merely debilitating, it is hampering our daily life. I am just 250 metres from the centre of Hebron and I need to walk 10 kilometers to reach it, traipsing through farmland. I think you know the consequences...the Israelis patrol past my garden gate. To get to the centre of Hebron from my house, I need to pass through four checkpoints."

Abu Haikal says she is sometimes searched up to four times as she makes her way home, and her car which she parks over 3 kms away from her house has been torched by settlers five times.

Living in the presence of soldiers and settlers, who came to her area in 1984, is unbearable, she says. Residents are subjected to harassment and disturbance, she added.

"We exist here in this house in a state of conflict. We have no social life. Other people may think about where to go and what to buy on any given day. But all we have to think about is confinement at home."

In 1997, Hebron was segmented into areas of Palestinian and Israeli control in accordance with the Hebron Agreement. The agreement designated the city into two zones; one under the control of the Palestinian Authority (H1) and the other, H2, remained until Israeli control.

To date, approximately 500,000 Jewish settlers live on land across the Occupied Palestinian Territories. According to Israel, in the event of any peace deal, settlements in Hebron would be maintained.

Speaker:

Hana Abu Haikal - Resident of Hebron

By Noora Faraj
Al Arabiya with Agencies

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• hebron west bank
• west bank palestine
• jewish settlements
• hebron agreement 1997
• settlements west bank
• settler violence israel
• settler violence palestine
• palestinian authority
• noora faraj
• nadia idriss mayen
• alarabiya english

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