On June 12th and 13th, over 70 people were invited to the Palestinian village of Khirbet Susiya in the South Hebron Hills in the West Bank to stand in solidarity with the residents. It was organized with the Palestinians of the village and the members of All That’s Left (ATL), an activist collective of mostly diasporic Jews with many different identities under that umbrella. ATL worked with the Israeli organization Ta’ayush who has a consistent presence in the area.
The group of mostly diaspora Jews that went to Susiya– some whom have made Aliyah and some visiting for school, internships or volunteering– helped repair the only connecting road in Bir el-Eid to the closest town Yatta, that has healthcare and schools. They helped plant the herb za’atar, a staple in Middle Eastern cooking, participated in workshops and helped seek a small amount of justice after an act of settler violence.
They thought a lot about what it means to be doing this work and being Jewish. A short Kabbalat Shabbat was held on a rock-face in the village at the invitation of the residents to celebrate culture. Singing songs in a circle, in the displaced village which now rests on their agriculutral land looking out onto the settlement of Susiya was a mix-of-emotions-experience to say the least.
Listen to the previous podcast about Susiya for the background. This episode is a follow-up on the experience of being in the unrecognized village surrounded by army outposts and settlements for two days and a night. The new podcast follows these photos from the scene:
Leave A Comment