A handful of ramshackle tents dot a tiny limestone hill off Highway 317 in the West Bank. As I hike up, the first thing that catches my eye is a water cistern, above which a tattered Palestinian flag flutters. It is a chilly January afternoon, my hands freeze as I get out of the bus. That does not deter the children here, some of whom are chasing hens and geese, others play football and the village elders are sitting together outside one of the tents – I presume discussing their doomed fate.

Welcome to Susiya.

I first heard of Susiya in July of 2015 when a bunch of activists were planning a demonstration in support of the village whose request for an injunction to stop the demolition of the village was rejected by the Israeli High Court. The case is pending and in the meantime Susiya grabbed the attention of the world; this could be why Susiya still stands. To learn about the village, I finally paid a visit to Susiya as part of an educational tour organised by Breaking the Silence.

Susiya’s story begins in 1986. Her residents, mostly cave dwellers, are expelled from their homes after the land on which they were living was declared an archaeological site. “Back then my father said we would go back home in a few days,” recollects Nasser, a resident of Susiya. That was just the first time the village of Susiya was demolished and her residents where transported in IDF trucks to the highway, left to find a new dwelling place. The villagers moved into caves and built tents on their private farmland near the original village of Susiya and began living there.

Historically, cave dwellers have inhabited the South Hebron Hills from before the country of Israel was carved out. They even have papers to prove that they own the land they live on; these papers date back to the Ottoman Era. Yet, they can build no homes here.

Because: The South Hebron Hills fall under Area C, completely under the control of the Israeli Army. If a villager here wants to pitch a tent on a hill here, she needs the approval of the Civil Administration. It is no surprise that these approvals are hard to by.

After the expulsion of the Susiya villagers, that same piece of land became an illegal outpost of the Settlement of Susiya. The remains of a synagogue was excavated and a part of the site is now part of the settlement.

It is 1991. Once again IDF soldiers troop down to the village of Susiya and uproot the residents of the village for the second time. Again they are dropped off on the side of a highway with their minimal worldly possessions. The IDF expelled the villagers because their tents and other temporary structures did not have the necessary permits from the Civil Administration. “We will return, my father said once again,” narrates Nasser. This time, the villagers moved father away from the original village of Susiya, established few temporary structures and called it home.

Ten years later, Susiya once again comes under the ruthless attack of bulldozers. Why? This time it is ‘payback’. Some Palestinians (not from Susiya) have killed a settler. This time the residents petitioned the Israeli High Court and the HC ordered that they be allowed to return to their homes and that no further structures be demolished.

This should wrap up the story of Susiya. And they lived happily ever after and all that. But I would not be writing about that in 2016, would I?

Since then, IDF soldiers with commands from their officers have continued to tear down tents here in Susiya. According to Breaking the Silence, when questioned, the officer in charge just said that it was by mistake. Oops! Most recently, in 2012, several tents, some water cisterns and sheepfolds were torn down.

Now, I stand among tents on one of the hills that is part of the village of Susiya. One of the reasons that the villagers of Susiya are given for their expulsion is: this is agricultural land, it is illegal to live on these lands. As I look to other hills a little farther away, I find multiple clusters of permanent structures, which I make out are big duplex houses with sloping red roofs – Israeli settlements. Curious.

It gets curiouser and curiouser. Part 2 here.