“Did your home ever become a conduit, a bridge, a shortcut for strangers? This is what has happened in my home,” says Hisham Idris. He and his family of four live in Hebron in the occupied West Bank and those that are passing through are Israeli settlers from the Kiryat Arba Settlement.Despite the serious sensitivity for Palestinians in the region who are the victims of frequent settler attacks while Israeli forces confiscate land for the Wall and settlement expansion, and both have literally attacked children on their way to school, the settlers seem unconcerned. None of these problems negatively affect them.
PNN sat down with the Idris family in their home to talk about what was happening. Hisham Idris leaves home at 7:00 am everyday, except Fridays, and does not return until sunset. He earns 200 shekels per week. His wife, Umm Mohammad, stays at home with eight year old Mohammad, six year old Musab, and the two and a half year old baby.
The home is simply furnished with a small television and sofa in the room located between the front and rear doors, leaving ample room for the nearly daily passage of settlers.
Umm Mohammad said, “I remember when it happened the first time. It was over a year ago. My kids were playing in the courtyard and I was doing chores, cooking and cleaning, and suddenly I heard voices inside the house in a strange dialect. I do not understand Hebrew but it was so loud I knew that was the language. When I looked around this room, where we're sitting right now, I could not believe my eyes. Groups of Israeli settlers carrying weapons and different sizes of rifles were entering the back door in tides and going out the front. I felt I had lost my mind. I could not scream or move. I didn't do anything at all.”
