In the village of Al Khader, 3 miles west of Bethlehem, Rizik Salah worries about how he is going to care for his family through the winter. Currently staying in a partially demolished home owned by his half-brother, Salah's home was destroyed in 2003 for being too close to a road imposed on Al Khader by Israeli settlers. When the IDF came to his home on demolition orders by the state of Israel, Salah was handcuffed. The military officer was overheard telling his soldiers not to put a bag over Rizik's head, making him watch as his home was demolished.
Salah saw the home fall to the ground; a home he had funded by selling all of his wife's jewelry. . What was once the place meant to house his family had become nothing more than unrecognizable rubble, a memory of what was supposed to be. This is not the only time Salah has watched his dreams for his family disappear into a cloud of dust; in 1997, his home was demolished for being built without a permit; though it is build on Palestinian land that Salah owns.
A construction worker by trade, Salah already faces limitations on travel. His employment is dictated by travel restrictions and permits. Though he speaks some Hebrew and has a clean record, he cannot get a permit that will allow him to travel into Israel to work. His inability to be issued these permits makes finding work extremely difficult. Plagued by an outstanding debt on his home that was demolished, Salah feels that the taking of his home was demoralizing and humiliating. His family of nine stay temporarily in a two room dwelling, his teenage daughters sleep in the kitchen. They, too, have been harassed, held without charge in administrative detention in Israeli military prisons, only to be released months later with no charges. This practice has become common place as a way to gain intelligence information, demands placed for personal information of friends and family, with documented cases of torture practices used. Currently over 700 children are jailed in Israeli military prison.
Al Khader is a village of 10,000 surrounded by history both important to Muslims and Christians and once was the home of St. George. Nearby sit Solomon's pools, referenced in the book of Ecclesiastes. Once an agricultural village of 5,436 acres, increased encroachment by Israeli settlers and settlement expansion has left the village with less than 500 acres. Farmers do the best with what they have, finding places for their herds to graze within the confined space.
In April of 2009, Holy Land Trust, a non-profit organization that is committed to non-violence and community building, agreed to help the Salah's rebuild their home. The summer of 2009 brought together volunteers from the United States and other parts of the world with the Salah's, working together in heavy heat to rebuild their home. Unfortunately, lack of finding prevented the home form being completed, though the foundation and basic structure were put into place.
Salah is concerned about the future of his family, with winter approaching and increased settler violence, the Salah family has been left vulnerable by the occupation. Salah has no political affiliation, nor has he been deemed a criminal. His only crime is that he is a Palestinian living in the West Bank.
For more information about the Rizik Salah family, visit holylandtrust.org
