Usually, this is the time of year Saad el-Din looks forward to having his family around him. Saad el-Din is a Palestinian farmer near 60 years old from the village of Za'tara who owns a piece of land at the foot of Mount Herodian southeast of Bethlehem. To the villagers, Saad el-Din has always been known as the "Stone Termite." The nickname comes from a combination of his side trade - digging wells to collect rainwater and caves - and his ability to work so fast, despite his very short height and working with the most primitive tools. I thought people exaggerated until I myself hired him to dig a well for my home in Za'tara.

As did his father and grandfather and their fathers before them, Saad el-Din would work the land, preparing it for spring planting. Having his family around him softened the hard labor on the rocky soil. His sons joined in tilling and sowing his fields while his wife and daughters prepared food and tea or coffee. To the young family members, it was like a picnic. They picked the distinct flowers and herbs and observed the wildlife particular to this area. To Saad el-Din, the warmth created by the presence of his family eased the weariness that came from the hard work.

This past winter was different. In recent months Israeli settlers erected a new, illegal settlement at the edge of his land, setting up a bunch of white, square, character-less caravans, we Palestinians have come to call "ready-made mobile houses."

From day one, young men from this new settlement began harassing the nearby Palestinian villagers. A handful of settlers would show up on the Palestinian-owned land and start pushing and shoving the villagers; points guns at them and bring in their dogs in an attempt to intimidate the Palestinians to leave land which had been in their families for generations. The obvious aim was to grab more property, most certainly to expand their newly founded colony or create yet another new one.

Desperate to hold on to the little land they have left but determined to avoid a violent confrontation, villagers two weeks ago set up a tent to peacefully protest the settlers' activities. The tent has since been manned around the clock.

This peaceful protest seems to have been too much for the settlers. The harassment has increased markedly - especially in the past few days. Just the other day a group of settlers, armed with machine guns and pistols, descended upon an unarmed group of Palestinians in the tent and demanded they tear it down and leave the area. It was only when hundreds of other villagers, hearing of their neighbors' plight, suddenly showed up in a display of peaceful solidarity that the settlers left.

It is only the villagers' restraint that has prevented the situation from escalating into a bloody confrontation.

Everyday in the past two weeks Saad el-Din has come to tend his land - as he always has - but this time he's come alone. He hasn't brought his sons - now grown to adulthood - because he fears that he may not be able to control his them when they witness the actions of these settlers who behave like gangsters.

Today, Saad el-Din, followed the same pattern, coming to tend his land alone, when he was suddenly approached by a settler who, without provocation, threw him to the ground and started hitting him and kicking him with his heavy boots. He was rescued by an Israel soldier, who pushed the settler away.

Saad el-din is will survive. But he's in a lot of pain - both physical and emotional. As he limped home, bruised and broken hearted, he could only murmur to himself, "Thank God my sons were not there."

One wonders how much pain a human being can take before he strikes back.

Sincerely,

Salah Ta'mari