The Two Susi(e)yas

A couple days ago while staying in the At-Tuwani village with the on site CPT team we began to venture to Susiya village. Even the transportation was quite interesting. We crammed all 14 of us into one van not including the driver. We sat on the floor, in each other's laps, whatever way we could manage. I felt like we were being smuggled which made the experience even more enjoyable as we got to know our fellow delegates in a completly different and much more personal way. Most of got out to walk the rest of the way to the village because the van simply could not handle the weight as the terrain shifted to much more rocky conditions.
Our guide immediately pointed out the difference betweeen Susiya village and Suseya settlement. Susiya village was filled with scattered "homes" which most of us would later label as tents. I make this distiction because all of their homes had been demolished and the tents are constructed without permits and are therefore facing demolition orders. In the distance you can see the main neighborhood of the Suseya settlement consisting of well constructed permanent homes with green lawns, red roofs and, paved roads. The Susiya village is obviously in stark contrast. The homes are anything but permanent, with rocky roads and desert terrain filling in between. Water is constantly at settler disposal in the settlement, and extremely limited in the village. Many of the Susiya village inhabitants are even in possesion of land deeds dating back to the Ottoman Empire, but their land continues to shrink because they lie in dreaded Area C within the West Bank. The village is also completly surrounded by people that ultimately want their removal. A military base as well as the settlement synagogue lie behind them thus increasing their interaction with settlers and and decreasing land for their livestock and crops. The comparisons don't stop there. I don't believe that it is possible for there to be a living situation that is in greater contrast than these two Susi(e)yas because of the occupation as well as our American tax dollars.