BETHLEHEM, West Bank — To the southwest of the town of al-Khader, 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the city of Bethlehem, lies Shoshahla village located at the foot of a mountain surrounded by five Israeli settlements: Sidi Bouaz, Eliezer, Efrat, Neve Daniel and Kfar Etzion. Only three people — a man, his wife and their daughter — live in Shoshahla and continue to cling to a land they inherited from their ancestors. This small family, which was forced to migrate decades ago under Israeli threats, chose to return to Shoshahla in the early 1990s and is refusing to leave again despite the primitive life they lead.
The village of Shoshahla faces continuous attacks from settlers who destroy homes, write racist slogans on walls, deprive inhabitants of the basic necessities of life and force them to use primitive means when traveling to neighboring cities and villages. Settlers are seeking to maintain a tight grip on the only remaining family and prompt them to leave their home and land. Several attacks have been launched on the village, the most recent of which was when an Israeli military force stormed the village on July 29, 2017, forcing residents to leave their homes at gunpoint.
Muhannad Salah, 37, is the only Palestinian left with his family in the village. He told Al-Monitor, “The village of Shoshahla was built in 1878 during the Ottoman rule over Palestine. It stretches over an area of 1,200 acres. Up until 1976, 30 Palestinian families lived in the village but they migrated to the nearby al-Khader village as a result of the Israeli wars that were raging at the time. These families feared that the residents of neighboring settlements would attack and kill them. Only 50 meters [164 feet] separate the village from the closest settlement.”
Salah said, “In 1992, I went back to the village after I had left a couple of years before, and I repaired my family's house despite the lack of water and electricity. My family and I live a very primitive life in a house made of rock and clay, and we use an old kerosene lamp for lighting. We get water from an old well that I repaired. I use wood for cooking and heating during the winter. I also rely on breeding sheep and birds, and I sell various agricultural crops to the Bethlehem market so I can cover a small part of my family’s needs."
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