Susya
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Susya سوسية Arabic סוּסְיָא Hebrew |
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|---|---|
| Village | |
 Susya
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| Coordinates: 31°23′30.67″N 35°6′44.45″E / 31.3918528°N 35.1123472°E | |
| Region | West Bank |
| District | Judea and Samaria Area |
| Government | |
| • Council | Har Hebron |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+2) |
| • Summer (DST) | IDT (UTC+3) |
Susya (Arabic: سوسية, Hebrew: סוּסְיָא) (Susiya, Susia) is an archaeological site in the southern Judaean Mountains of the West Bank that bears the archaeological remains both of a 5th–8th century CE synagogue and of a mosque that replaced it. The same name is applied to two separate communities existing in the present day: on the one hand it refers to Palestinian villagers, recently expelled from there, who are variously reported as living in caves for decades there during grazing time or said to belong to a unique southern Hebron cave-dwelling culture present in the area since the early 19th century, and, on the other, it also denotes a religious Israeli settlement under the jurisdiction of Har Hebron Regional Council established in 1983 about a mile away. In 1986, the site of Palestinian Susya was declared an archeological site by Israeli Defense Ministry's Civil Administration, (a body formally under the Ministry of Defence, but subordinate to the military) and the IDF expelled the Bedouin inhabitants, whom the UN says lived in houses at the time. The Palestinians then moved a few hundred meters southeast of the original village.
The population of the Palestinian community reportedly numbered 350 in 2012 and 250 residents the following year. constituted by 50 nuclear families (2015), up from 25 in 1986 and 13 in 2008. The Israeli settlement was established between May and September 1983 on 1,800 dunams of land. It was expanded in late 1999 by installing 10 caravans on 4 dunums of land belonging to the Shreiteh family. It had a population of 737 in 2006. The Israeli government, which has issued temporary injunctions against High Court decisions to demolish illegal Israeli outposts, made a petition to the High Court to permit the demolition of Palestinian Susya. The state expressed a willingness to allocate what it called Israeli government-owned lands near Yatta for an alternative residence, and to assist rebuilding, considering it ideal for the displaced villagers grazing. The official view of Israel is that no historic Palestinian village ever existed there, just a few families resided seasonally there, and this area was required for archaeological work. Jews however are in illegal structures on the same archaeological site. The attorney for the Palestinians replied that the army was stopping Palestinians building on their own privately owned land, while permitting settlers to seize their agricultural fields.
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