Reference :
V-P-IL-E-03026
Date :
11/04/2017
Caption :
Hebron, Masafer Yatta, Beer El Edd. This farmer had to flee his village because of the conflict. He received an assistance from the ICRC when he was allowed to come back and live in his village that had been destroyed.
Confidentiality level :
public
Publication restrictions :
publication without restrictions
Description :
Steadfast but worried about the future, this 60 years old farmer, lives with his wife and children and looks after around 100 sheep. Beer el Edd was inhabited well before 1948. It was once a thriving farming and herding community, having links with many other herding communities scattered around the area as far away as Tal Arad.
Until 1950, they lived a simple and quiet life in caves, but then a number of villages were demolished and some of their residents killed, prompting many families to flee to Yatta, which was only sparsely inhabited.
Only in 2008 were the families allowed to return to Beer El Edd. The ICRC was one of the first organizations to provide help to the residents, enabling them to live with dignity until they could renovate and clean the caves. Once they were settled in, the ICRC provided residents with home garden kits to allow them to grow their own food.
“It wasn’t just the practical help that was important, the visits of the ICRC meant a lot for us in the past. And its presence still means protection for us,” says Ziyad.
His wife looks back fondly on the time back in the 1960s when she could socialize with the other 15 families who used to live in Beer El Edd. “They were all obliged to leave because of the daily harassments and challenges in the area, but I am happy to stay with my sheep and to breathe in the fresh air which we enjoyed in those good old days.”
Original material :
digital
Resolution :
4915x3278
Orientation :
landscape
Colour/B&W :
colour
