A few (long) days in Hebron

I just got home this evening after quite a long day. About 7pm, two of us were walking a friend home when we came upon soldiers holding a boy at a checkpoint just outside Hebron's Old City. He was standing inside a small concrete barrier, with two soldiers standing in front of him. It was getting to be a chilly night, and he was not dressed to be standing outside. The boy is 12 years old.

Often when soldiers detain men at checkpoints, it is with the pretense of “checking their ID”. Every adult Palestinian has to carry an official ID, where determines where and when they permitted to travel. Palestinians are required to carry this ID at all times. Simply not having one can be grounds for detention.

Israeli Border Police detain several men at one of the many checkpoints in Hebron’s Old City. 09 Jan 2008 CPT

The boy being held that we encountered, however, has no ID because it is not required until 16 years of age. Children under 16 years are not to be stopped or held at checkpoints.

When this boy was stopped he had been walking by himself to visit his grandmother just a few blocks away. When we happened upon him, he told us he had been there for an hour. In the time that we waited with him (another 45 minutes), we observed soldiers stopping and searching every person that passed, no matter their age or reason for needing to pass.

We did manage to get word to his mother who came down to the checkpoint. She spoke with the soldiers, and asked if he could be allowed to go. At first the soldiers stonewalled her as well, refusing to let him go or give a reason that he was being held. Finally, the commander waved his hand and the boy was allowed to leave. His mother and another family member walked with him to his grandmother's house.

In the afternoon, one young man - whom soldiers insisted was 16 years old - had just come from the soup kitchen at the mosque, was held for at least 30 minutes. Again, we came upon this incident somewhat by chance. I did not witness the entire encounter. What I did see was that when he left, he was carrying an empty jug. The soup for his family that he had received at the mosque was spilled all over the sidewalk.

An Israeli Border Policeman searches the English teacher from the local boys school, after he had already been held for nearly an hour. 10 Jan 2008 - CPT

All day today I observed soldiers holding Palestinians for long periods at checkpoints and on street corners throughout the Old City. Just after school let out, several teachers from the boys school were held for over an hour on their way home. (Teachers carry a special identification, and accordingly are not to be held coming or going from an educational institution.) Although none of these incidents were unique in the experience of living in an occupied city, today seemed a particularly difficult day for Palestinians trying to get around the city.

This is all just one side of the story. The other side of the story was out near one of the settlements in Hebron. Yesterday and today, a large group of settler youth have taken over a plot of Palestinian land, and have put up a tent and other make-shift structures on the land.

Israeli settler youth building stone structures on private Palestinian land adjacent to the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba. 09 Jan 2008 CPT

The settler youth have effectively closed the road that passes by - which was only open for Israeli vehicle traffic already, but was still used for Palestinian pedestrian traffic. Now, in this rainy season, any Palestinian needing to pass have to go down into the valley, through the muddy fields, or risk being stoned, spit at or otherwise assaulted by these rioting youth. Most of the day, the Palestinian families in this neighborhood locked themselves inside their homes to avoid such harassment and assault.

Numerous Israeli police and soldiers have been on hand throughout, but have done almost nothing to reign in this behavior. There are adult Israeli settlers also involved, but they seem to be directing the activity from a distance, coming by occasionally to bring food or other supplies. They have led the group in prayer, after which the group continues on abusing Palestinian passers-by.

Israeli settler youth invade private Palestinian land, and block road with rubble. Adult Israeli settlers (center) support this activity and speak with Israeli soldiers, who do nothing to prevent the youths’ destructive behavior. 10 Jan 2008 - CPT

Many international human rights observers, as well as several concerned Israelis, came out to document this most recent illegal takeover of private Palestinian land. The settler youth targeted anyone trying to film or photograph their activities. One teammate asked if maybe they were ashamed of what they were doing. The settlers also verbally assaulted not only the internationals, but also one of the Israeli activists that had come. She was extremely upset when the settlers called her a Nazi. She explained that she found that remark deeply offensive since a large number of her family had actually been killed by the Nazis. I continue to be impressed by courage and strength of character it must take for an Israeli to stand up for all peoples’ human rights, even across such a(n apparent) divide.

On the few occasions that the Israeli police and soldiers did try to intervene with the settlers, they were also subjected to the assault and abuse. One soldier was limping quite badly after a settler boy kicked him in the leg. In the past two days, as these settlers have rampaged, no one has been arrested or detained, even for the verbal or physical abuse they poured out on the Israeli military and police.

Since this particular plot of Palestinian land is directly adjacent to Kiryat Arba, a very large settlement near Hebron, it seems that these settlers are making an attempt to expand the existing settlement. In fact, on Wednesday, there was another similar action by settlers on Palestinian land on the other side of the settlement.

There is speculation that these actions were designed to send a message to the Israeli government, as they are hosting a visit from US President Bush, that the settlers here are committed to settlement expansion in this area, even if the politicians agree otherwise.