Hebron, occupied West Bank – Yusef al-Khatib, 65, never expected that the building that housed the tailoring shop he inherited from his father, and where he has spent most of his life, would be swallowed up by an illegal Israeli settlement in Hebron’s Old City. He continues to practice the trade that has been part of his family’s history for decades. But the settlers in newly erected prefabricated structures on the rooftops over his shop have created uncertainty about the future of his tailoring business.
Yusuf said his father began working at the business about 80 years ago, and when he was just five years old, he began helping in the shop. Nearly 60 years later, he is still working there. It enabled me to raise my children and provide them with an education,” he told Al Jazeera.
Hebron’s Old City has had a settler presence since 1978, but these illegal outposts have extended since then to cover a wider area. About 500 settlers live in the Old City, despite it being illegal under international law, with Palestinians living there fearing that they will eventually engulf the whole of Hebron. Over the years, Yusuf has witnessed major changes in the Old City, from the closure of markets and streets to Palestinians to the establishment of Israeli settlement outposts right in the heart of Hebron.
The Palestinian businesses located on Shalala Street, the main entrance to Hebron’s Old City, are adjacent to Shuhada Street, which has been closed to Palestinians since 1994, after an Israeli settler killed 29 Palestinians as they prayed at the city’s Ibrahimi Mosque. Settlers, present in hundreds, are continuing to find ways to expand into the Old City area and force Palestinian residents to leave. On October 29, settlers placed mobile structures on the rooftops of commercial buildings in the area, which are expected to accommodate 20 new settler units, which activists say will change the Palestinian character of the area.
This includes building housing on top of Yusuf’s tailoring shop. In the face of this pressure, his response is to keep his shop open, to maintain the legacy left behind by his father. He fears that one day, he will lose access to his shop and the only source of income he has to support his children in their education.
He inherited it from his father and has spent about 50 years working there, becoming intimate with every inch of the neighbourhood. He, too, has witnessed the changes to the Old City throughout his working life, watching the closure of markets and the raising of military gates at the entrances of neighbourhoods. He remembers when Israeli authorities began issuing restrictions that have stopped Palestinian customers and business owners from reaching stores.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
