'Our land, our sky': In Burin, kites soar against the settlements

A flurry of kites rises above Burin, a Palestinian village in the occupied northern West Bank, as children race across a hill with their eyes fixed on the sky.

In the background, the homes of the Israeli settlement of Har Bracha, established in 1983, stretch along the ridge. Like all Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, Har Bracha is considered illegal under international law.

’’We want to tell the settlers that this is our land, this is our sky, and if we can’t reach our land, our kites can,’’ said Ghassan Najjar, one of the festival’s organizers. Although the event is primarily for children, it also carries a ‘’political message,’’ he said.

Residents launched the festival in 2009 to protest the gradual loss of access to farmland on the hill as Har Bracha expanded.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned as early as 2008 about settler attacks in the area, including shootings targeting Burin residents and the uprooting of olive trees. More than 15 years later, residents at the festival said settler violence and the continued expansion of Israeli settlements remain a constant concern. Since the start of the war in Gaza, the United Nations has recorded a sharp increase in settler violence, while several Israeli ministers have continued to call for the annexation of all or parts of the West Bank.

’’Our children have the right to play. They have the right to a real life,’’ Najjar said, standing on the hillside dotted with prickly pear cacti.

‘A change of scenery’

For a day, however, the hillside became a place of celebration. A clown painted children’s faces as music filled the air and kites in the colors of the Palestinian flag soared overhead. Another kite, bearing the colors of Egypt, flew in tribute to Egypt’s national soccer team after it expressed solidarity with Palestinians during the recent World Cup.

Even so, organizers said the event depended on the security situation. Before gathering, residents checked that no groups of Israeli settlers were nearby.

’’Sometimes we’re scared,’’ said 15-year-old Sanaa Bashar Najjar. ‘’Last year, we didn’t come because there was a settler attack and an incursion into our village.’’

’’We only stay for half an hour or an hour,’’ she said. ‘’With everything that’s happening, the war and all that, we come here to take our minds off things.’’

She said the festival helps residents ‘’release the tension’’ amid a severe economic crisis and added that she appreciates the event is free.

Qoussai Walid Eid, another Burin resident, said he attends every year to strengthen ‘’our roots on this land.’’

Dalia Zaban, a resident in her 30s, said settlers had ‘’ransacked’’ her parents’ home.

’’We hope they won’t come and that we won’t see them here,’’ she said.

As the wind died down and the kites drifted back to the ground, residents said they hoped to return again next year.