Khirbet Susiya Archives - Israel Rising

A recent NGO Monitor article highlighted the amount of money and organizations dedicated to establishing the Arab narrative in Khirbet Susiya (Susya) as fact. The list is not a surprise. The usual suspects range from Rabbis for Human Rights to B’Tzelem.

Despite the clearly anti-Israel bent of these organizations the cause has become top priority for the American leftwing anti-Israel organization J Street, which has called its members to take action and pressure the US Administration to stop Israel from removing the illegal squatters. The backing of this initiative, which seeks to erase Jewish history in the area should be a wake up call for those who have bought into J Streets claim they are really pro Israel.

With the Israeli Supreme Court known for its anti-settlement rulings in the past, now ruling in favor of removing the squatters, one has to wonder what these organizations have to gain. There is one clear objective here and it is not to stop the demolition of the arab tent village next to Khirbet Susiya, rather the goal of the Europeans and the American administration is to call doubt into the connection between the people of Israel and Judea and Samaria.

By setting up camp next to or on known Jewish historical sites in Judea and Samaria as well as within the 1948 boundaries of Israel and then claim them as Arab, they hope to push back on Israel’s indigenous claims to the land of Israel. If the government fails to remove the internationally backed squatters from Khirbet Susiya, it will open the door to a wide scale attempt by the international community to disconnect the Jewish Nation from its historically indigenous land.

Khirbet Susiya, also known as Horvat Susiya is an ancient Jewish landmark is the Southern Hebron Hills uncovered by archeologists in 1969 after the area was liberated by Israel. In the years that followed, Khirbet Susiya has become a national landmark and proof that a solid Jewish existed throughout the Har Hebron Hills up until the Islamic invasion in the 8th Century. The Jews of the area either converted to Islam or fled.

Now, this ancient landmark known for its oldest freestanding synagogue is under threat by Arab squatters from Yatta backed up by the EU and the United States State Department. These squatters have amassed a following through the international community and have set up tents on the archeological site. The group from Yatta number around 350 people and claim Khirbet Susiya as their own. They claim the site of Khirbet Susiya is really theirs despite the overwhelming evidence for it being an ancient Jewish village.

“Surveys of villages and populations conducted by the British Mandatory powers in 1945, which mention all of the villages in the area and even some of the inhabitants, prove there is no hint of the existence of an Arab village named Susiya,” says Josh Hasten, spokesman for Regavim an NGO that fights illegal land use. “More recently aerial photos obtained by Regavim from 1999 show nothing resembling a village in that area. An identical photo from 2013 shows how squatters have infiltrated the locale.”

With the Supreme Court’s ultimatim to the goverment of Israel to destroy the encampment, the government has very little flexibility. In the coming days and the weeks the left is expected to harm the reputation of the region by continuing to build a false narritive with one goal in mind and that is to appropriate more land from Israel and erase established Jewish history.

Khirbet Susiya

ON THE FRONTLINES: The Internationality of Khirbet Susiya

ON THE FRONTLINES: Khirbet Susiya an Ancient Jewish Village is Under Threat