In the morning hours of 28 February 2021, two shepherds from the community were herding their flock about 400 meters northwest of the community’s homes. At around 9:00 A.M., a security guard from the settlement of Kfar Adumim arrived in his car and drove alongside the flock, frightening and scattering it. The guard got out of his car with a dog and began throwing stones at the shepherds and the flock. The shepherds were forced to gather the flock and return it to the community.
The settlement of Kfar Adumim was established about a kilometer from the community of Khan al-Ahmar.
In a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher ‘Amer ‘Aruri on 13 March 2021, Muhammad Abu Dahuk (16), a shepherd from the community, recounted his harassment by Kfar Adumim’s security guard:
Every day at 8:00 A.M., My friend and I take our sheep to pastureland near our Bedouin community. A month and a half ago, the security guard of the nearby Kfar Adumim settlement started harassing us and preventing us from reaching the pasture on the pretext that the valley separating the settlement and our community is the settlement’s territory.
The settler usually comes in his car and drives around the flock, scaring and scattering the sheep. Sometimes he even gets out of his car and throws stones at us. The guard is armed, of course, and that scares me a lot because it could develop into a situation where he’ll open fire, God forbid.
My friend and I run away as soon as we see him coming and then return after he leaves. But he comes back every time and drives the sheep and us away on our way back to the community. One time, he chased us until the sheep entered the pen. A lot of times he also drives his car into our community, even when we’re inside our homes. I don’t know why.
In a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher ‘Amer ‘Aruri on 13 March 2021, Qassem Jahalin (15), another shepherd from the community, related:
I’m scared to go out to graze the flock. I really feel my life’s in danger, mainly because this settler is armed. But I don’t have anywhere else to go to because the areas that are more than 400 meters away from the community have been defined as firing zones. If I go there, the Nature and Parks Authority workers might come and drive us away. It happened to my father and other people from the community in the past. That’s why the current pasture, which is 400 meters from our community, is the only place left, especially since we can bring water from the community in case the sheep are thirsty.