The house of the Gharib family in the occupied West Bank is enclosed by an eight-meter-high metal fence. A gate guarded by Israeli security officers must be crossed in order for them to get there.
Because to Israel’s annexation in 1967, the family has been left alone in their one-story home on the outskirts of the Palestinian hamlet, which is surrounded by a Jewish settlement.
Saying, “I don’t know when this will stop,” Sa’adat Gharib sighed. ‘No one can understand the suffering my children are going through.’
Gharib, 40, who works for the Palestinian Authority in adjacent Ramallah, said, “During these years we’ve had a terrible existence.”
On property he claims to have owned as a youngster, the Jewish settlement of Givon Hahadasha was created.
The Israelis’ red-roofed houses and gardens can be seen from the Gharib residence. For the convenience of the new residents of the settlement, a children’s slide has been installed only a few feet away.
The international law and the world consider settlements to be illegal, which Israel opposes.
Many legal fights in Israeli courts have resulted in the Gharib family gaining ownership of a tiny portion of the property they claim.
To enter the home, Gharib recalled that the family had to display their IDs in front of security cameras, which had been in place since the yellow gate went up in 2008. “We took our case to the Court… Gharib claimed the court allowed to keep the gate open 24/7.
According to Gharib, who lives with his wife and four children, as well as his mother, “occasionally, disputes broke out between us and the settlers.”
During one event, Gharib’s kids couldn’t sleep for five hours because they were scared of the security troops stationed outside the home.
Despite the challenges, he persists in harvesting the olive trees of the family. He said that in order to do so, he would have to cooperate with Israeli authorities and go around the nearby Palestinian community of Bayt Duqu.
Gharib is steadfast in his resolve to remain on the farm he received from his grandfather: “This is our land. We’re not going to sell it to anybody, no matter how much money they offer us.”
