Every day Hammad walks with his donkey to his land. A walk of nearly two kilometres through hilly terrain. Hammad lives in Beit Omar, north of Hebron. This town has about 17,000 inhabitants, and most of them (around 60%) are dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. But it is very difficult for the residents of Beit Omar to work and live. Beit Omar is surrounded by five settlements that are all founded on ideological grounds. Given the presence of these fundamentalistic settlers, Beit Omar is also surrounded by a military base, a watchtower and several checkpoints.
Because the farmers face restrictions in freedom of movement, it is difficult to reach their land. Hammad's land is located in Wadi Abu al-Rish, which is adjacent to the settlement of Beit Ein. The settlers created an opening in Hammad's fence through which they can easily enter his field to wreak destruction. In total 150 of his olive trees were burnt and uprooted. And last September seven of his vines were destroyed. Therefore it is very important for the farmers of Beit Omar to be on their land as much as possible. "I leave my land just to go to sleep, but otherwise I'm always here.", says Hammad.
