West Bank villagers fly kites near settlement in annual act of defiance

RAMALLAH: Residents of Burin, a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank, gathered on a hillside on July 10 for their annual kite festival, flying brightly coloured kites toward the Israeli settlement of Har Bracha in what organisers described as both a children’s event and a statement of attachment to their land.

Har Bracha, established in 1983, overlooks the village and is one of several settlements surrounding Burin. The village, home to a few thousand people, has lost part of its land after settler encroachment. The festival has been held every summer since 2009 on a hillside linked to that loss.

Ghassan Najjar, one of the organisers, said the event carried a broader message beyond recreation for children.

"We want to tell the settlers that this is our land, this is our sky. If we can’t reach those lands anymore, our kites can,"

Najjar told AFP. He added that the gathering also had a political dimension. He said children in the village deserved a proper life and space to play.

"Our children have the right to play and to have a real and a good life,"

he said.

Festival held amid security fears

For several hours, the hillside resembled a local fair, with a clown painting children’s faces, music playing and families sitting on picnic carpets. Kites in the colours of the Palestinian flag were visible in the sky, along with one in Egypt’s colours flown as a tribute to the Egyptian national football team.

But residents said the event took place under constant concern about possible settler violence. Villagers checked beforehand whether groups of Israeli settlers were nearby before assembling.

Fifteen-year-old Sanaa Bashar Najjar said fear remained a constant factor and recalled that residents had not come last year after settlers attacked the village.

"Sometimes we are scared… Last year we didn’t come because settlers had attacked the village,"

she said.

“We stay only half an hour or an hour, just to get a bit of fresh air. With the war and the economic hardship, we’re simply trying to breathe.”

Another resident, Dalia Zaban, said her parents’ house had been attacked, with windows broken and cars damaged.

"Today, we just hope they don’t come down here,"

she said.

Long-running concerns in Burin

In Burin, conversations often return to settler attacks and the continued spread of Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory. As early as 2008, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs had warned about attacks in the area, citing shootings targeting Burin residents and the uprooting of olive trees.

As the wind eased later in the day, the kites gradually came down, but villagers said they intended to return again next summer. Qusai Walid Eid, who attends the festival every year, said he does so to reinforce Burin residents’ bond with the land.

"our roots in this land"

he said.