Suleiman Hathaleen: How the 73-year-old mocked the conquest of Israel | Taken from the West Bank

Hebron, Occupied West Bank – Suleiman al-Hathaleen, 73, did not miss an opportunity to meet with Israeli forces at Masafer Yatta, Hebron, in the West Bank.

With a white handkerchief covering his long, gray hair and nothing more than a wooden stick in one hand, Suleiman often seemed desperately trying to stop Israeli bullets from demolishing Palestinian homes, or tractors from damaging Palestinian territory.

Although he could not read or write or use the internet, the late Suleiman, better known as “Sheikh” or “Hajj” Suleiman, was very close.

On January 17, about 15,000 Palestinians attended a funeral in their hometown of Umm al-Khair, a village north of Masafer Yatta, two weeks after that – allegedly hit by an Israeli car.

Suleiman’s 60-year-old brother, Ibrahim, said the death toll was too high for Masafer Yatta.

“The southern regions of Hebron have never seen this,” Ibrahim told Al Jazeera.

At the home of about 7,000 Palestinians, the Palestinian territories of Masafer Yatta are at the forefront of fighting for survival in the midst of Israeli efforts to seize them, including their refusal to connect them to hydroelectric and power plants.

“He [Suleiman] he will stand in front of the boys behind him, “recalled Ibrahim, describing him as a powerful figure and a mobilizer on the Palestinian road.

Suleiman was seriously injured on January 5 when an Israeli freight car hit him in Umm al-Khair during an attack on Israeli military jeeps in the village to seize unregistered Palestinian vehicles.

The vehicle “surrounded him and dragged his body for a few minutes without stopping”, According to words of the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).

The Israeli army fired into the air to disperse the protesting mob, and they quickly left the village, leaving their bodies bleeding on the ground. Due to the lack of ambulances in the village, he was taken by private car to the nearest hospital, about 15km (9 miles) away.

She died 12 days in the hospital in Hebron.

Muntaser, Suleiman’s 34-year-old son described his father as “at the forefront of protests against the project”. [Louy Alsaeed/Al Jazeera]

The couple, who believe the ramming was intentional, is currently on trial in Israeli courts against a driver and a police officer who did not provide assistance.

Two weeks later, Israeli police did not ask Israeli driver questions. Police say they are investigating the case with comments from the Prosecutor of State’s office, According to Israeli media.

UNOCHA said Suleiman “conducted peaceful demonstrations on the road” and “would have looked good to the driver and [Israeli] “officers,” he said, adding that “there is no indication that the Israeli military assisted him,” as soon as he left the area after this incident. “

‘Information Room’

Suleiman is survived by three brothers, seven sons and three daughters, and about 30 grandchildren.

His 34-year-old son, Muntaser, said he was a friend of his father, describing him as “at the forefront of protests against the profession”.

I was accused of collecting days and places of protest everywhere. I woke up very early in the morning, and I brought her everything, “he told Al Jazeera.

“Sometimes I would hide days of protest because of his health, age, but when he found out, he became very angry, so I had to quit,” he continued.

“The building has lost its solid foundation,” Muntaser said.

The area is home to about 1,000 people, most of whom were deported from Arad to the Naqab (Negev) in 1948. [Louy Alsaeed/Al Jazeera]

Umm al-Khair, a village of about 1,000 people, became Suleiman’s new home after he and his parents and younger brother were forcibly relocated by Zionist rebels from the town of Arad in the Naqab (Negev) desert during the Cold War 1948 to establish a war. the land of Israel.

In the 1980’s, Israeli forces began building a neighborhood near Carmel to demolish Umm al-Khair, sparking another civil war.

Like other Palestinian villages in Masafer Yatta, Umm al-Khair lacks basic services such as electricity, water, sanitation, education and hospitals, and people are barred from building permanent houses, forcing them to live in tin and tents.

In the meantime, the Carmel settlement is a lush greenery filled with playgrounds and parks, and a poultry farm that uses electricity.

Suleiman’s house is only 3 meters (10 meters) from where he lives. He has been harassed repeatedly by residents, who are being protected by the military and the police.

In the last few years, there have been more than 15 demolitions in Umm al-Khair.

The illegal Carmel site at Masafer Yatta was built on the shores of Umm al-Khair [Louy Alsaeed/Al Jazeera]

‘If we do not, who can deny?’

Fouad al-Amour, 38, met Suleiman for the first time in 2018 and accompanied him for nearly five years on his tour.

Together with residents of several villages, he set up a Defense and Stabilization Committee in Masafer Yatta to address Israeli policy of systematic relocation of Palestinian people.

Al-Amour said that, using the committee’s cameras, he “recorded the demolition of Palestinian houses”, highlighting “the actions and mistakes of the troops working for the Palestinian people, which hinders the occupants of the area”.

“He was our backbone in all the areas we took,” al-Amour told Al Jazeera, saying that Suleiman called him a day before he passed to prepare for an event in the village of Umm Zaytouna where Israeli forces had demolished a house.

“If we do not, who can deny it?” al-Amour remembered Suleiman as he often says.

Israeli authorities are making it difficult for Carmel to settle in nearby Palestinian territories such as Umm al-Khair. [Louy Alsaeed/Al Jazeera]

“Sheikh Suleiman not only took part in the Masafer Yatta events – he was present at all exhibitions inside and outside the city. [Hebron] ruler, from the south to the very north, “said al-Amour.

He also said that Suleiman “used to get up early in the morning for the day of the demonstrations and be the first to arrive. +

“In 2021 alone, Sheikh Suleiman was arrested more than 60 times and fined dozens of times,” al-Amour said.

“Israeli forces attacked Sheikh Suleiman at the beginning of the demonstrations or the destruction of Israel. They detained him, beat him, and took him to an unknown location until the work or demolition of the building was completed because they knew he was the main driver of the protests,” he said.

“Sheikh’s refusal to oppose the military was peaceful. He did not use a walking stick, nor did he use stones. ”

Ibrahim described his late brother Suleiman as “an obstacle that hinders them.” [Israel’s] Palestinian emigration policies “, which has now been removed from the site.

However, he said he proudly remembers that Suleiman and his comrades “clearly showed the world their atrocities against the Palestinian people”.