In our increasingly globalised world the struggle to maintain traditional cultures is becoming ever more difficult. The Palestinian shepherds of Qawawis, however, face a more immediate threat to their centuries old way of life.

This tiny complex of caves, located in the harsh and rugged terrain of the southern Hebron Hills of the West Bank is isolated from mainstream Palestinian...
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In our increasingly globalised world the struggle to maintain traditional cultures is becoming ever more difficult. The Palestinian shepherds of Qawawis, however, face a more immediate threat to their centuries old way of life.

This tiny complex of caves, located in the harsh and rugged terrain of the southern Hebron Hills of the West Bank is isolated from mainstream Palestinian society and flanked on either side by Israeli settlements.

In 2001, Khaled, one of the four patriarchs of the village, was allegedly shot in the stomach by an Israeli settler from the nearby caravan outpost of Mitzspe Yair. Unable to find suitable medical facilities in the West Bank, and denied treatment within Israel, he eventually spent thirty-three days in a hospital in Baghdad.

Although settler assaults on the village aren't as frequent or as violent anymore, the shepherds still live in fear, keeping a constant watch and often sleeping outside the caves at night to protect their sheep.

None of the villagers actually know how long they have lived in the caves. Jabreen, one of the other four patriarchs, when questioned could only answer: "Before my grandfathers grandfather grandfather". It is estimated, however, that the caves have been occupied for at least five hundred years.

Although mostly consisting of caves, the village contains a single basic concrete house and a makeshift tent. The house, built in the 1970's was originally used to store wood for fire, but after the settlements were built a family began living within it for protection.

Life here is still hard, however: most of the families live in caves, and all live without electricity, running water, and often the most basic of necessities. Effectively cut off from the Palestinian Authority, they live as their ancestors did centuries before them.

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