Photography by Avner Baruch

1. Photography by Avner Baruch Text by Raanan Alexandrowicz & Ehud Krinis For further info: southhebron@gmail.com

2. Since the early years of the 19th century, a few families of farmers and shepherds have settled in the southern part of mount Hebron

3. Today, five families still live nearby Susia To the north of Susia, we can find 7 more Palestinian families who were evacuated in 1985 • Today, they still try to maintain their original way of living... • Some of them live in simple houses made of stones, thin sheets of metal or other available material they find • And some of them still live in caves...

4. The Cave Dwellers, live a simple life of tradition which has not changed much over the years

5. The Cave Dwellers live in the Yata area, mostly in the Tweni and Susia villages

8. Their unique way of life is under constant danger of vanishing due to never-ending pressure of evacuation by the Israeli government and nearby settlements

9. Twenty years ago the cave dwellers of Susia were evacuated from their original village on the pretext of archeological digs in the area Some of the evacuees went to live on their lands close to the Israeli settlement, which was founded a short time before Five years ago the Israeli army destroyed the caves of these families, and since then they continued to live there in impermanent and improvised housing During this time, because of constant harassment by the nearby Israeli settlers, the cooperation between volunteers from Israel and abroad, and between the Palestinians, has strengthened

10. One of the important results of this cooperation is arranging transport for the children of Susia to the nearby school in the village of Tweni

11. Not so long ago, the Israeli goberment did not permite the transport of children from Susia to the school in Tweni, ten minutes' drive, and the parents were forced to send their children to school in Yata (the main town of the region)

12. Because of the barriers and the long road, which is in a bad condition, the children had to stay in Yata all week, and return to their parents for only one day at the weekend

13. As a result of efforts made by Israeli organizations, the authorities allowed the inhabitants of Susia to send their children to school in Tweni via a road that only Israelies were allowed to use

14. This enabled the children to return home every day, and caused a significant improvement in their self confidence, and a clear rise in their learning achievements

15. Please spare a few moments of your time to review the remaining slides...

32. The Israelis and Palestinians have experienced much conflict and bloodshed for a variety of reasons As both sides try to find a solution to a situation that does not seem to improve, the people who are left behind always suffer, especially the children The ongoing discrimination of a unique culture and tradition is another example of a short-term policy enforced by the Israeli government History shows us today that such acts result in more violence, more poverty and deepens the problem (for example the discrimination and neglect of the Bedouins, the Israeli nomads) The choice is in our hands: we can succumb to the endless political manipulations or, try to focus on humanity and human rights and hope that our efforts will resolve this chaos The goal of the attached photos and text is to raise awareness amongst those who are biased by the media or lack sufficient information about the actual state of the Cave Dwellers of Hebron Avner Baruch

33. Native World Photography by Avner Baruch www.avnerbaruch.com avner@avnerbaruch.com Text by Raanan Alexanderovitz &Ehud Krinis ehudkr@shoval. org.il For further info: southhebron@gmail.com