Reconstruction of community building in Al-Mufaqara
As night fell over the village of Al-Mufaqara (المفقرة) in the South Hebron Hills, on 8th October 2012, the local community and volunteers came together to reconstruct community buildings destroyed by the Israeli Occupation Forces. In Al-Mufaqaraworkers constructed a lift, ready for the cement that was on its way from Al Khalil (Hebron). Just two hours later (while piles of sand, stones and cement decreased) the freshly made cement sealed the roof of the mosque and school to-be. This all happened despite the occupation, and to hasten its end. Building is continuing and will persist in Al-Mufaqara.
Since the demolition of a number of buildings in Al-Mufaqara in the South Hebron Hills, including the community’s mosque, on 24th November 2011, reconstruction has been taking place. However, building restrictions in Area C of the occupied West Bank, under the military and administrative control of Israel, mean that without permission from the Israeli Civil Military Administration, concrete structures remain volatile and can be brought down if a demolition order is obtained.
Around midday on 8th October 2012, two dozen Israeli army, police and border police came to the village. They had seen the cement on the road and wanted to see if any building work was taking place. When they saw that the building didn’t have a roof they issued a ‘stop work’ order, threatening to demolish the school and mosque if this community did any more work to complete their building. But this community refuses to accept the right of the occupation forces to decide if they can build or not. Thus, building continued into the evening to complete the 85m² building – doubling the size of its predecessor – which will function both as mosque and school on completion. After sunset, between 6 and 6.45pm, a lift was set up to carry the cement to the roof, and between 8 and 10.30pm tonnes of cementwere use to complete the roof of the building.
Over the course of the morning on 9th October 2012, two settlers passed, stopped their cars and filmed the development.
Solidarity activists from Jordan Valley Solidarity, International Solidarity Movement, Operation Dove and the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee were present through the night on 8th October 2012 and documented the work, volunteers from EAPPI visited the following day, and Operation Dove will maintain a continuous presence.
