Susya () is a

religious Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...

communal

Israeli settlement Israeli settlements, also called Israeli colonies, are the civilian communities built by Israel throughout the Israeli-occupied territories. They are populated by Israeli citizens, almost exclusively of Israeli Jews, Jewish identity or ethni ...

Area C Area C (; ) is the fully Israeli-controlled territory in the West Bank, defined as the whole area outside the Palestinian enclaves (Areas A and B). Area C constitutes about 61 percent of the West Bank territory, containing most Israeli settle ...

of the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

. Located near but not atop the ancient Jewish village and synagogue in the archaeological site of Susya, it falls under the jurisdiction of

Har Hevron Regional Council The Har Hevron Regional Council (, ''Mo'atza Azorit Har Hevron'') is an Israeli regional council in the southern Judean Hills area of Mount Hebron, in the southern West Bank, administering Israeli settlements. The headquarters are located in the ...

. In , it had a population of . The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.

History

was established in the area of Susya between May and September 1983, on 1,800

dunam A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; ; ; ), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area analogous in role (but not equal) to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amo ...

s of land. It was expanded in late 1999 by installing 10 caravans on 4 dunams of land belonging to a Palestinian family, the Shreiteh. It had a population of 737 in 2006.

Unispal The United Nations Information System on the Question of Palestine (UNISPAL) is an online collection of texts of current and historical United Nations decisions and publications concerning the question of Palestine, the Israeli–Palestinian confli ...

"Israeli Settlements in Gaza and the West Bank (Including Jerusalem) Their Nature and Purpose, Part II"
, United Nations, New York 1984.
In 1985, the Susya Tourism and Education Center was established which offers tours and activities in the nearby archaeological site. The center has a hostel and a pool. In 2008, a large advanced goat pen and dairy, incorporated as Halav Ha'aretz, Susya Dairy Ltd., was inaugurated on Susya's lands with an investment of 3.5 million ILS. It produced goat yoghurt for the Israeli market from a herd of 1500 goats, 48 of which can be milked simultaneously. Many former

Afrikaner Afrikaners () are a Southern African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers who first arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: Brain to Casting''. Encyclopæd ...

Christians, after converting to Judaism, have settled in Susya, which has become a notable stronghold for their group.

Israeli-Palestinian conflict

On 23 March 1993, Musa Suliman Abu Sabha, a Palestinian was arrested outside Susiya by two guards, Moshe Deutsch and Yair Har-Sinai, because they suspected he was planning an attack on Jews.

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

'Jewish settler kills bound Palestinian,'

The Spokesman-Review ''The Spokesman-Review'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Spokane, Washington, the city's sole remaining daily publication. It has the third-highest readership among daily newspapers in the state, with most of its readership base in ...

, 24 March 1993 p.A11, refers that Army radio had identified him to be a Jawad Jamil Khalil Husiya, 19, of Yatta. Taken for questioning, he stabbed in the shoulder or back one of the guards, Moshe Deutsch, while the two were in a car, and, wrestled to the ground, was bound hand and foot. Another settler from nearby Maal Hever, Yoram Shkolnik shot him eight times, killing him. According to the IDF he was found bearing a grenade, although the

Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news. Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publish ...

attributed assertions that, "the grenade had previously been removed from him" to unspecified "other sources. Shkolnik was arrested and served seven and a half years in prison for murder. On 2 July 2001, the body of Yair Har-Sinai, a Jewish shepherd of 19 years from Susya who advocated pacifism was found shot in the head and chest by Muhammad Noor from nearby

Khirbet Susya Khirbet Susya (, ) is a Palestinian village in the West Bank. Palestinian villagers reported as living in caves and nearby tents are considered as belonging to a unique southern Hebron cave-dwelling culture present in the area since the early 1 ...

. One of three victims of the Fatah Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades'

Gush Etzion Gush Etzion (, ' Etzion Bloc) is a cluster of Israeli settlements located in the Judaean Mountains, directly south of Jerusalem and Bethlehem in the West Bank. The core group includes four Jewish agricultural villages that were founded in 1943� ...

attack on October 16, 2005, a fifteen-year-old boy named Oz Ben-Meir (from Ma'on) is buried in the Susya Jewish cemetery in the southeastern portion of the settlement across Road 317 from the main housing section of this settlement. A friend and he were on their way to visit

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

when he was killed. According to the media, thousands attended his funeral and burial.Thousands Attend Funeral of Oz Ben Meir, News Briefs 10/17/2005, Tishrei 14, 5766 Reported 12:19 p.m.
/ref> Susya ap 003

References

{{Authority control Populated places established in 1983 Religious Israeli settlements 1983 establishments in the Israeli Civil Administration area Community settlements Israeli settlements in the West Bank