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From the Cave of Love to the Tent of Resilience… 65-year-old Samihah al-Dababseh refuses to let her memory die with the walls of her home.
In Khillet al-Dab‘a, she stands on the rubble of her house for the fifth time this year—not to cry, but to prepare again. Touching a stone from her old hearth, she says:
“I was born here… this land isn’t soil, it’s my soul. If I leave, my soul leaves my body.”
From the Cave to a Home… and Back Again
Her life mirrors Masafer Yatta itself: childhood in caves, a home above ground built with hope, then back under rubble in old age. A cycle of moving forward, only to be pushed back.
She recalls:
“We built our lives with our own hands—helping with the harvest, herding sheep, making cheese and ghee.”
Built with Love… Destroyed with Hate
Their first home above ground was a bold choice, but it led to repeated demolitions. On May 5, soldiers came suddenly:
“They destroyed everything… even the cave we dug with our sweat, where we lived for a year and a half.”
In September, bulldozers returned to erase every trace of life: tents, water tanks, and shelter.
“The Land Is Like Honor”
Despite everything, Samihah declares:
“If one olive tree remains in Khillet al-Dab‘a, I and my children and grandchildren will remain under it. The land is like honor… you don’t give it up.”
Behind her stands seven children and seventeen grandchildren—her strength, her reason to endure.
Even after the latest demolition, Samihah begins from scratch, refusing to leave or surrender.
