The Facts about the Arab encampment near Susiya
http://regavim.org/susiya_facts/

For photos:
Aerial Photo Susiya area 1999
http://bit.ly/1Il5gkr

Aerial Photo Susiya Area 2013
http://bit.ly/1fuRMM9
Side by side on one slide
http://bit.ly/1Jmwooy

A historical village? Not really! The claim that this is an Arab village
which existed hundreds of years, or even decades, is completely false.
According to travelers in the 19th century, and from surveys of villages and
population conducted by the British mandatory powers in 1945, which mention
all of the villages in the area and even some of the inhabitants, there is
no hint of the existence of a village named Susiya, except as an ancient
archeological site. This rocky land on which this illegal encampment is
situated served the purpose of grazing land. In those days, only during the
grazing months, the caves in the area provided temporary protection for the
shepherds from the village of Yatta from robbers, wild animals, and
inclement weather. Aerial photographs testify that in this place, there
never was any settlement before the year 2000, except for 4 or 5 structures
which were built illegally during the late 1990’s.

Jewish history. In the archealogical excavations on the ancient site, there
was found an ancient Jewish settlement which dated from the 4th to the 9th
centuries of the Common Era. According to the scholars, this was a thriving
Jewish community, which existed hundreds of years after the destruction of
the Second Temple, and achieved the height of its development at the end of
the Byzantine period, and at the beginning of the old Arab period. On the
site, they discovered a large synagogue, ritual baths, homes, community
buildings, and other structures. Further, in 1986, 277 dunam in the area
were allocated to establish an archaeological site, and from then on, it was
forbidden for the shepherds to use the old caves. At first, during the
grazing seasons, the shepherds came and put up tents and —- for the period
of the grazing, but in the last decade, the Nawaja family has tried to take
permanent control over the area.

Not an expulsion—an eviction of squatters. Research in the population
registries of the Civil Administration indicates that the majority of the
families found in the illegal encampment owned homes in the village of
Yatta. The Najawa family, who lives in Yatta, seized control of lands which
do not at all belong to them. Thus, we are not speaking of driving people
off of their lands, but of evicted illegal squatters who have put up tens of
structures in violation of the law.

Illegal building – At present, there are about 64 structures in the
encampment, all of which were built illegally and without building permits
from the authorities of the Civil Administration. 85% of these structures
were put up between 2011 and 2013, by systematically ignoring the
administrative orders of the supervising authorities(?) which forbid
continuation of the building, and even contrary to the specific orders of
the High Court of the State of Israel, which has been involved in this case
since the year 2001. The Court has ruled that the claims of the squatters to
ownership of the land are invalid, and there is no basis to approve building
on that area.

Contempt of Court – In 2013, the High Court issued an interim order against
the illegal building, which explicitly found that the is forbidden to carry
out more illegal building in the encampment in addition to that which
already existed. Yet, after the issuance of that order, more than 33 illegal
structures were put up, which amount to more than half of the total number
of structures in the encampment. To anyone who respects the law, it is clear
that this is a scandal and in contempt of the rule of law.