Susya, Har Hebron

This article is about modern Israeli settlement in the West Bank. For the nearby archaeological site, see Susya. For the Palestinian encampment in the Hebron area, see Khirbet Susya.
Susya
סוּסְיָא Hebrew
Village
Susya

Location of Susya

Coordinates: 31°23′30.67″N 35°6′44.45″E / 31.3918528°N 35.1123472°E / 31.3918528; 35.1123472
Region West Bank
District Judea and Samaria Area
Government
  Council Har Hebron
Population (2015)
  Total 1,004[1]
Time zone IST (UTC+2)
  Summer (DST) IDT (UTC+3)

Susya (Hebrew: סוּסְיָא) is a religious communal Israeli settlement established in 1983 and located in Area C according to West Bank Areas in the Oslo II Accord. It was placed under the jurisdiction of Har Hebron Regional Council by Israeli authorities.

Susya is located near but not atop the ancient Jewish village and synagogue in the archaeological site of Susya. In 1985, the Susya Tourism and Education Center was established which offers tours and activities in the nearby archaeological site. The center has a hostel and a pool.[2][3]

In 2008, the largest and most advanced goat pen and dairy was inaugurated at Susya with an investment of 3.5 million ILS. It can contain 1500 goats and milk 48 of them at a time.[4]

The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.[5]

Israeli Palestinian conflict

On 23 March 1993, Musa Suliman Abu Sabha, a Palestinian was arrested outside Susiya by two guards, Moshe Deutsch and Yair Har-Sinai because they suspected he was planning an attack on Jews.[6] Taken for questioning, he stabbed in the shoulder or back one of the guards, Moshe Deutsch, while the two were in a car, and, wrestled to the ground, was bound hand and foot. Another settler from nearby Maal Hever, Yoram Shkolnik[7] shot him eight times, killing him.[6] According to the IDF he was found bearing a grenade, although the Baltimore Sun attributed assertions that, "the grenade had previously been removed from him" to unspecified "other sources.[8] Shkolnik was arrested and served seven and a half years in prison for murder.[9]

On 2 July 2001, the body of Yair Har-Sinai, a Jewish shepherd of 19 years from Susya who advocated pacifism was found shot in the head and chest by Muhammad Noor from nearby Khirbet Susya.[10][11]

One of three victims of the Fatah Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades' Gush Etzion attack on October 16, 2005, a fifteen-year-old boy named Oz Ben-Meir (from Ma'on) is buried in the Susya Jewish cemetery in the southeastern portion of the settlement across Road 317 from the main housing section of this settlement. A friend and he were on there way to visit Jerusalem when he was killed.[12][13] According to the media, thousands attended his funeral and burial.[14]

Susya main synagogue

References

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