Stone-throwing, tear gas, sound bombs, soldiers everywhere and young boys arrested. New experiences for me, but nothing unusual in Hebron. Yesterday I joined the Hebron EAPPI team for a three day visit and I found myself witnessing a situation of open conflict. Some young boys were throwing stones at soldiers. None of the stones actually fell anywhere near their targets and the soldiers remained calm and unmoved. To me there was a very sad aspect to it all. It all seemed like a game. The boys were just enjoying themselves in the customary manner. They didn’t really appreciate that they were risking serious consequences – possible imprisonment for themselves or escalation into serious violence, and even death, on the street.
Later, there was an “Open Shuhada Street” demonstration (see below) when protesters attempted to enter Shuhada Street. Soldiers barred the way and the protesters stood there for an extended period. Sadly, despite the non-violent nature of the protest, the soldiers fired tear gas bombs (rub an onion under your eyes – it works!) and arrested one man. All day, under the watchful eye of TV and many other cameras, soldiers had not arrested any young boys. But later, when most people had departed, we were just in time to witness the arrest of three boys who looked about 13 or 14. The soldiers refused to speak to us, but I imagine the boys had been throwing stones. The mother of one of the boys is Leila, a good friend of the team here. She has not seen her son since his arrest and she will not be allowed to see him for some time. Apparently a lawyer is acting for him, but even with a request for bail, he is likely to be held for several days, and maybe weeks.
Today, after prayers at the mosque, there was a rather more serious disturbance, with older boys throwing stones. The army responded with tear gas, sound bombs and sudden dashes into the crowd. At least one man was arrested. We watched and photographed, and on one occasion we darted behind a door for cover. We were not in any danger, but our brief is to stay on the outside of any disturbances. After an hour or so, when the rain began to fall, people faded away.
Why does this happen in Hebron in particular?
This is a lovely city with huge problems. Historically it was shared by Palestinians and Jews, and relations were generally good. Sadly, this began to change and in 1929 there was an awful massacre, in which the whole Jewish community was murdered. It was not until 1967, when Israel occupied the West Bank, including Hebron, that Jews began to return here. Settlers began to move into the centre of the city, protected by the Israeli army. Sadly their attitude was aggressive. They believed that Hebron is first and foremost a Jewish town with its roots in Biblical times and that the Palestinians have no right to be here, although they have lived here for centuries. Since 1967 the settlers have terrorised the neighbouring Palestinians and have driven many out of their homes. In addition, the Israeli army has closed Shuhada Street, the main shopping area, in order to provide “protection” for the settlers who live nearby. 1865 businesses have been closed. Now Hebron is home to 200,000 Palestinians, 500 Israeli settlers and 2000 soldiers whose main function is to protect the settlers.
There are daily provocations by settlers. Ancient vine trees have been cut down. Children are physically attacked on their way to school. Palestinian movement is restricted by about 100 checkpoints. Some settlers living on the first floor just throw their rubbish out of the windows and Palestinian people have had to fix up some netting to catch it. (See attached photo.) Other examples of harrassment could be multiplied.
One huge source of contention is the Tomb of the Patriarchs, the traditional burial place of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their wives. This is marked by a huge building which is called the Al-Ibrahami mosque by moslems and is the site of the 1994 Goldstein massacre of 39 moslems. Since 1994, only half the building has been used as a mosque while the other half is a synagogue. On Feb 21, Israeli Prime minister Netanyahu declared that the building was to become a Jewish heritage site. This caused understandable anger on the part of Palestinians, who feared they were going to lose the use of this most holy of sites. Fortunately, under pressure from America, Netanyahu has since stated that there had been a “misunderstanding” and that both communities will continue to have access to the building. But this was too late to prevent the disturbances which I have witnessed this week.
What are my overall impressions? Firstly there is the sadness I mentioned above – kids are playing at violence. Secondly, what a tragedy that the Jewish settlers are unable to view Hebron as a place to be shared rather than as a prize to be won. Perhaps in view of the history, this is an impossible dream. Local Palestinians say that their forefathers lived happily with the Jews but that the current Jewish settlers do not want to live together with Palestinians, they want to oust them from the city altogether. Thirdly (as I have said before) one huge impression is that the whole situation is crazy. For the sake of 500 aggressive, intolerant people, 200,000 people live in a constant state of tension, with violence just around the corner. 2000 soldiers protect 500 settlers, at huge expense and at the risk of conflict and death. (A Palestinian man was shot dead here a week ago.) Sad, tragic and crazy. This is Hebron under occupation.
Peter Balaam
26 Feb 2010
PS The full story of Hebron can be found at http://www.acri.org.il/pdf/ghosttown.pdf
I work for Quaker Peace and Social Witness as an Ecumenical Accompanier serving on the World Council of Churches’ Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI). The views contained in this email are personal and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer (QPSW) or the WCC. If you would like to publish the information contained here (including posting it on a website) or distribute it further, please first contact the QPSW Programme Manager for Israel/OPT (teresap@quaker.org.uk) for permission. Thank you.