the middle of the night and the bulldozers started demolishing everything. They demolished 57 homes that night, they threw everything away: milk, flour, wheat, water, and all the food. They uprooted hundreds of trees. The worst thing was that they re-planted those uprooted trees somewhere else. They took our trees and gave them to the JNF. Where does this happen in the world? Where in the world does the state take the citizens’ trees and give them to someone else? That night they demolished the whole village, they destroyed everything, they imprisoned many people, and they humiliated and harassed the women and children. On 16 January 2011, the Israelis came back and collected the ruins and took them out of the village. Nothing was left in the village, nothing left to prove that people were living in this village. No homes, no trees, no animals and not even the ruins. The only thing left was the cemetery. Only 30 families stayed. All the other families left. The families with children had to leave, but where are they supposed to put those children? Where are they supposed to sleep? It was winter, and cold and rainy. On 17 January 2011, the Israelis came back to the town but this time it was to attack those people who remained in the village. They started beating up everyone, including children, women, and the elderly. They didn’t care about anyone. They demolished this town 109 times,138 and made us 901 times stronger. They demolish the homes and we rebuild them. This is our life. Israel implanted fear in many people. Everyone is scared. I know people and especially children who suffer psychologically because of everything we went through. Look at my friend, they broke his children’s hands. Even the women, I dare you to find a single woman who doesn’t have a scar on her body or who was never injured by rubber bullets or police sticks. I always feel threatened, look at me now! What am I doing? Sitting here with you? Okay, but they can still come right now and demolish everything we have. This is what they do. They come without us knowing, they demolish everything and then leave.” Nader Touri, 74-year old resident of al-Araqib. Interview: Al-Araqib, 23 February 2017 138 At the time of the interview. 48