Ma'on, Har Hebron

Etymology

The word 'Ma'on' in Hebrew means 'dwelling.' It refers to a biblical village said to stand on the borderlands of the desert, in the highlands of Judah, which is mentioned in Joshua (15:55), identified in modern times with Khirbet Ma'in, about 3km to the west. There is a ruins of an ancient synagogue at Khirbet Ma'in.

Geography

Ma'on is located in the southern Judean Hills at about 863 m above sea level.

History

The Arab village of Ma'in was a conical settlement on a hill, 1.25 kilometres south of Carmel, and 3 kilometres east of Susiya, with the ruins of a castle still visible, and cisterns, lying about 9 miles south south east of Hebron.

The Israeli outpost was first established in 1981 as a paramilitary Nahal outpost. It is located on one side of the main road between At-Tuwani and Tuba, east of At-Tuwani. The first civilian population, members of the Orthodox Zionist youth movement Bnei Akiva settled there in 1982.

Settlement expansion

In 2001, Jewish settlers established the outpost Havat Ma'on (also named Hill 833 or Tel Abu Jundiya) on the other side of the main road. In 2003, settlers took over Palestinian land near the road, which was abandoned due to ongoing settlers attacks; on 25 December, several new outposts were set up.

In 2005/2006, the settlers expanded a chicken farm south of Hill 833. In 2008, the location was fenced, impeding vehicular traffic on the road. In 2009, new caravans were placed near Ma'on, on a slope north of the road and laid the foundations for 12 buildings. In March 2010, the settlers built houses in the new outpost.

Settler violence

In the late 1990s, Palestinians using the road between Ma'on and Hill 833 increasingly came under attack from hostile settlers. Eventually, the Palestinians were forced to abandon their use of the road and nearby lands. In 2010, United Nations OCHA reported frequent attacks by settlers from the Ma'on outpost on schoolchildren who used the road.

In 2011, Christian Peacemaker Teams reported 5 attacks by settlers from the outpost Havat Ma'on on internationals and Palestinians within 30 days. On 13 July, three settler youth attacked Palestinian shepherds. On 18 July 3 masked settlers armed with clubs attacked two shepherds and members of the At-Tuwani peace team. In July 2012, Operazione Colomba reported an attack by masked settlers on a child and volunteers of "Operation Dove". In January 2014, settlers threatened shepherds. At the end, the army arrested a shepherd. The following days, Israeli soldiers chased shepherds in the same area. In November 2014, the Israeli army was still escorting schoolchildren from Tubas to school in At-Tuwani and home, with no plans to cancel the twice daily escort, because of the risk of settler attacks.

Agriculture

Ma'on and nearby settlement Carmel jointly operate a dairy with about four hundred cows. The average daily production per head is about 38 liters of milk.

According to The New York Times, the settlers of Ma'on "luxuriates in water piped in by the Israeli authorities" while the nearby Palestinian locality of Tuba "struggles to collect rainwater".

The village and its residents are working as a teachers, social workers, farmers, and has also a local winery. The residents of Havat Ma'on but also those from Ma'on itself are mostly working in agriculture, raising sheep, chickens and cows and working as a shepherd, as well as farming grapes, cherries, tomatoes, potatoes, almonds, wheat and olives.

Legal status

Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan in the 1967 Six-day War and has held the territory under military occupation since then. The international community considers Israeli settlements to be illegal under international law as violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention's prohibition on the transfer of an occupying powers' civilian population into occupied territory. Israel disputes that the Fourth Geneva Convention applies to the Palestinian territories as they had not been legally held by a sovereign prior to Israel taking control of them. This view has been rejected by the International Court of Justice and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Notable residents

Udi Davidi, Israeli singer, musician, lyricist and composer who lives on a farm in Ma'on raising sheep and composing music.