What Is a Hilltop Settlement?

Moshe had been asking us for months to come and see what "hilltops" are really about. So when Ellen and David came from DC ready for everything we gathered Moshe and drove an hour north into Shomron. He assured us: No, they won't stone us; no we don't need a protected car. So driving our Nissan we took off to Yitzhar where Moshe's daughter Ayelet Hashachar and husband Akiva live with their three small children in packing crates converted into a liveable space. It was a hilltop overlooking the settlement for which it was a satellite. There were three or so other families in similarly makeshift homes. Akiva showed us his whole wheat grinding machine that will again grind wheat from his fields after the shmitta year ends and a new growth occurs.
Ayelet with a glowing smile was entrancing in her long cotton dress and head covering that she wore with the elegance of a fashion model. But fashion is far from the thoughts of these idealistic youth.
She explained that they came here because here they could have some land to farm. In the Galilee and the Negev they could not buy land. Not quite clear why but it was clear that they loved their scrubby piece of hilltop with its long view to Tel Aviv when the haze lifts. The children run about barefoot on the stony soil. Ayelet explained that they homeschool the two older children, the oldest was about 5. They decided they don't want to entrust their children to teachers who may not love them enough.
Fanatics? No. Maybe yes in their patience and willingness to live with very little and to believe they can build and grow. They reported that soldiers come from time to time and destroy what they build. Then they rebuild and it happens again.
Very hard not to love these gentle pioneers trying to harvest grain and grow kids on a piece of empty land connected to a settlement.
The questions remain, many not answerable where we were.
But it seems reasonable to say that until Palestinians realize that Jews must have their nation and live in peace in it, conversations about this disputed area and how it will be divided are premature. Meanwhile, Ayelet and Akiva are not obstacles to peace.