From a Haringey resident in Hebron | Postcard from Hebron — a Haringey resident with the EAPPI |
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Page 1 of 2 Welcome to HebronBy Sultana Begum Hebron, or Al Khalil as it is know to its Palestinian inhabitants, is the largest city in the West Bank and is a city with a rich past. As a newcomer thirsting to find out more about the city’s history and people I come across much to whet my appetite. One of the first cities to develop in Palestine, Hebron is famous for many specialities including its export of grapes, production of leather, skins, shoes, carpets and ancient techniques of glass blowing and ceramic making. Hebron has therefore served as a commercial centre for neighbouring villages and a major transit point for trans-Arabian traders in days gone by. It is home to the second most holy site to Jews after the Wailing Wall and fourth most holy for Muslims — the Ibrahimi Mosque and the Cave of Machpelah believed to house the tombs of Abraham, his wife Sarah and their son Issac. What’s on — rough guide to sights and events in HebronHebron has few visitors these days, although there are a range of tours one can choose from including tours organised by Hebron’s settler community. Ex-Israeli soldier Yehuda Shaul from the organisation Breaking the Silence gives his own take on the city as a religious Jew who has served as a soldier in Hebron. Christian Peace Maker Teams , a Christian direct action group largely consisting of retired Christian women from the United States, can also show visitors the sights.Since one of my roles as an observer in Hebron for the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI ) is to give tours to visitors explaining the situation in Hebron I thought I would start by giving you my first tour of the some of the sights and events I have experienced during my short time here. I hope this will give you an insight in to the situation in Hebron and the everyday lives of Hebronites living under Israeli occupation. Day One — At-Tuwani villagers reclaim road to YattaOn my second day in Hebron I, along with my team of fellow (EAPPl ) observers, Niklas from Finland and Erika from Switzerland, were invited by The Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) in Hebron to accompany them on a demonstration organised by the villagers of At-Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills. At around 8.30 in the morning we met up with the CPT team led by Janet from Scotland, a couple of young Brits from Wales working with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), and an Englishman Daoud who is married to a Palestinian woman from Hebron. We travelled to the town of Yatta the nearest city to At-Tuwani. Once in Yatta we were driven by local residents to our destination, first on the concreted roads of Yatta and then through a winding, rough and bumpy makeshift Palestinian road to our destination — a road block consisting of earth mounds and concrete blocks preventing the villagers of At-Tuwani from gaining access to Yatta.Directly next to the roadblocks lies route 317, a perfectly tarmacked road surrounded by beautiful hills. In contrast to the road we had just passed Route 317 and the scenery could have appeared in a road movie and lay largely empty except for the odd dangerously fast moving vehicle zooming past. Route 316 is an 'Israeli only’ road reserved for the residents of the nearby settlements and its use is strictly barred to the area's Palestinian population. Between route 317 lies the access route to Yatta on one side and the village of At-Tuwani on the other. We crossed route 317 by foot and on to the hilly land of the South Hebron Hills. There, standing on large stones we were greeted by Eileen, a capable American CPT’er, who briefed us on the proceedings for the day. Whilst Eileen talked we noticed an army vehicle driving up and down the road. We had clearly attracted attention and the Israeli army, known as the Israeli Defence Force (IDF), had obviously caught wind that something was about to take place. Eileen gave us more background to the demonstration. It was organised by a popular committee of villagers in protest against the earthmound and concrete roadblocks erected by the army in recent weeks. It had become very difficult for Palestinian vehicles to travel between villages in the South Hebron Hills, and the city of Yatta, which serves as the urban centre for the South Hebron Hills. The roadblock affects people going to and from school and work, and people bringing firewood and animal feed to their villages. Elieen also stressed the strictly non-violent intentions of the demonstrations organisers. After a short interlude we were soon joined by the villagers; first women and children and then the men folk. Shortly after the army started arriving. First we were joined by one vehicle but during the course of the demonstration another four army vehicles were present on and off, with around 15-20 armed soldiers including around 4 soldiers positioned in the hills near the demonstration, with two one each side of the hill. As the villagers gathered we as observers took photographs and filmed the proceedings. Men both young and old began digging at the earth mound with picks trying to remove the sizeable earthmound creating difficulties for Palestinian vehicles getting to Yatta. On the other end women and children dug around the concrete blocks trying to loosen the earth around the blocks so that they could push the blocks out of the way. These actions continued for the next couple of hours and then suddenly there was a loud commotion as finally women and children triumphantly pushed with all their might and dislodged one of the concrete blocks and pushed it out of the way. It was quite some achievement as moving the concrete blocks with very few aids was no easy task. Meanwhile, at the other end with constant digging and sheer group effort the earth mound became smaller and smaller. Gradually the villagers also managed to move another concrete block out of the way making enough room for vehicles to pass. Soon villagers turned up with tractors, cars and trucks and even a donkey ready to make their way through the newly created passage. First one vehicle passed and then another and another. The Israeli army, although with a considerable presence, stood by bemused as villagers celebrated reopening their road. This was a good feeling. The villagers non-violent actions to re-open their road was a success — their road was re-opened at least for the moment. We all left At-Tuwani on a high. See photo’s of At-Tuwani demonstration Facts about At-TuwaniAt-Tuwani is a village in the South Hebron Hills. It has a population of between 150-200 people consisting of five extended families and 27 households. Villagers live in covered caves. The oldest houses in At-Tuwani are between 300-500 years old, some of the caves are said to be from the Roman times.The Israeli military frequently destroys and blocks the only Palestinian road that leads to At-Tuwani This blockage impedes movement into the areas larger population centers of Karmil and Yatta. The roadblock affects people going to and from school and work, and people bringing firewood and animal feed to their villages. Day Two — Shuhada Street and the Old City on ShabbatOur second day in Hebron happened to be a warm and sunny Saturday. This was much to our delight as our first experience of Hebron was full of snow and a freezing cold flat. Hebron is the highest point in the West Bank and subject to either very cold or very hot weather. Still basking in the glow of the outcome of the At-Tuwani demonstration from the previous day we decided to take a walk around our new neighbourhood to familiarise ourselves with our surroundings and place of work.First we walked from our house in the H1 area of Hebron to Checkpoint 56 (about a 20 minute walk). Checkpoint 56 was soon to become a regular feature in our lives, as we need to go through it almost everyday to get to the H2 area of Hebron (see facts about Hebron below for explanation of H1 and H2). We crossed through the checkpoint manned by three IDF soldiers — a strange experience in itself — and in to H2. We then walked up a very steep hill and tried to enter the Tel Rumeida area. Our previous colleagues had told us of the importance of showing our presence in the Tel Rumeida area where approximately 120 Palestinian families live among the Tel Rumeida settlement and have been subject to violent attacks and physical and verbal abuse by their settler neighbours. We were soon to discover the difficulty of freedom of movement in Hebron. We were stopped by four soldiers. One of the soldiers wanted to know what we were doing in the area. We explained that we lived in Hebron and were trying to visit the area and in particular the Azzeh family. The soldiers were unfamiliar with us and wanted to check details about our organisation and told us to wait while they did their checks. We decided to wait. During this time we observed the soldiers at work. As Palestinian residents of Tel Rumeida walked passed they were stopped, asked to open their bags and a metal detector machine run up and down the length of their bodies; some people were required to take off their belts and young men in particular asked to lift their shirts. We were rather surprised to see the soldiers searching the bags of young children and also using the metal detector on them. We asked one of the soldiers if this was appropriate and the soldier implied that it wasn’t but said he was searching the children for stones. We waited patiently for the OK from the soldiers and busied ourselves by playing football with some of the children, and had a brief conversation with one of the soldiers about where we were from. When I mentioned that I was from London for one moment he smiled and told us that his favourite football team was Arsenal. After a half-hour wait we were refused entry by the soldiers and decided to call it quits. We walked down the hill again and decided to walk up Shuhada Street and into the Old City to the market area and the tomb of the Patriarchs. Books on Palestine tell you that Shuhada Street used to be the main street of Hebron, full of shops, a gas and bus station, a vegetable and meat market — an area not only frequented by Hebronites but also a market shopping point for the wider Southern West Bank area. But the Shuhada Street that we walked up was an altogether eerily different experience. Firstly, doors of houses and businesses were welded shut and windows literally caged up. Everywhere we looked we could see Israeli flags and Star of David graffiti on the doors of shops and houses. There were no Palestinians on this street as we were told that Palestinians were not allowed to drive or walk along most of Shuhada Street. As we walked down Shuhada Street and towards the Old City area I felt a horrible disturbed feeling. The long stretch of road was largely empty and the streets almost deserted. I tried to articulate in my head how I could describe Shuhada Street to people at home and found it difficult to come up with a description. Then I remembered a term used by the Israeli human rights group B’tselem that described Shuhada Street and the Old City as a “ghost town”. This is the only description that pin points what the area resembles today. It is a rather creepy and shocking site and not for the faint hearted to observe. It is as if the Palestinian inhabitants of the city have ‘disappeared’ and a vibrant lifeline of a city taken away. In between closed shops we saw a number of settlements known as Beit Hadassah, Beit Romano and Avraham Avinu inhabited by Hebron’s settler community. As I left my thoughts behind we noticed groups of settlers walking in both directions. As I walked past a group of women one of the women brushed past me spitting on me as she walked by. Saturday is Shabbat (Jewish day of worship) and settlers walk to the city to the Cave of Machpelah or synagogue for prayers. Local shop owners have also told us that groups of settlers also walk around the Old City on Saturday afternoons escorted by soldiers intimidating with their presence the few Palestinian shops that remain open. We visited some of the shops in the Old city, had tea with one of the shop owners Nawal who sold embroidery and other beautiful needlework by a co-operative of women in the South Hebron Hills. We also met Jamal who sells wool carpets and keffiyehs (arabic scarves). Jamal spoke English with a slightly Mancunian accent as he had spent some time in Manchester. As we walked up the Old City and back in to the H1 area of Hebron everywhere we were greeted with the Arabic phrase Ahlan-wa-sahlan which was also repeated for us in English — you’re welcome. See photographs Facts about Hebron’s Old CityHebron today is divided in to H1 and H2 sectors after an agreement on the withdrawal of the Israeli army was reached in January 1997. Sector H1 (80%)is under the control of the Palestinian Authority and Sector H2 (20%) is under Israeli control. Sector H2 consists of parts of the Old City including the Tomb of the Patriarchs and Al-Ibrahimi Mosque.Around 40,000 Palestinians live in the H2 area and between 400-500 settlers live in four settlements Avraham Avinu, Beit Romano, Beit Haddasah and Tel Rumeida. In addition around 2000 soldiers have been deployed to protect the settlers. Palestinians are forbidden to walk on and drive in the main streets of the city centre. Since 2000 the army closed all the shops on Shuhada Street which was the main street of the commercial area. Day Three — A not so ordinary couple of school daysOne of the main tasks during my stay in Hebron is to accompany the children of Cordorba School in the mornings when school starts and in the afternoons when school finishes. Cordorba school is situated in the Tel Rumeida area directly opposite the Beit Hadassah and close to the Beit Romano settlements in the H2 area. The school currently has 119 pupils of both sexes (the only mixed school in Hebron). The children are between 6 and 14 years old. Most of the students are from the Tel Rumeida, Shuhada Street and Old City area. Both teachers and children in Cordorba School have in the past had frequent problems with violence and harassment by the settlers.These attacks were carried out mainly by women and children and some incidences have been captured on film which I have had the chance to watch. The army largely stood by when the attacks took place. In August 2007 the school was burnt by settlers and had to be renovated. It took three months to renovate the school and only ten days after renovations were completed the school was attacked again. Every morning at around 7am we go to Checkpoint 56 and wait for the school children to pass through. Some of us are also positioned at the bottom stairs leading to the school. The stairs leading to the school is also situated opposite a checkpoint. On Sunday morning Reem, the schools headmistress, informed us that there was going to be a general strike throughout the West Bank in protest against the blockade of Gaza and the recent killing by the IDF of civilians in Gaza. She said she wasn’t sure if schools would be open for the duration of the school day. After all the children had made it safely to school we went to chat with Reem, who is a lively character with a lot of strength, nouse and knowledge about the Hebron. Whilst in Reem's office she received a number of phone calls informing her that Checkpoint 56 had become the focal point of confrontations between schoolboys and the IDF. Boys had gathered around the checkpoint and were throwing stones at it. Reem told us that Checkpoint 56 was often the scene of stone throwing when tensions run high in Hebron since it is the checkpoint closest to the city centre. The Israeli army responded with tear gas and rubber bullets (which are in fact metal bullets coated in a thin layer of rubber) which can actually do serious damage if they strike someone. As we waited in Reem’s office for the clashes to subside Reem worked out a strategy to get the children safely home, as she was certain the checkpoint would remain closed. During this time classes went on as normal. Every now and again we heard very loud noises made by sound bombs and other shooting sounds. We waited for hours but the situation continued unabated and the checkpoint, the children’s main access to home, closed. Reem then planned an alternative route around the hills of Tel Rumeida, through people’s backyards and through the streets. She was very concerned about the safety of the children and contacted the International Red Cross (ICRC) and the Temporary International Presence (TIPH) to help escort the children home. Both ICRC and TIPH were unable to help as they had been instructed by their headquarters to remain in their offices due to the security situation. When Reem realised that the situation was going to continue indefinitely we set off around the hills of Tel Rumeida with the schoolchildren. The children were very brave but you could sense that some were nervous and others scared by the situation. As we manoeuvred our way through slopes, stony rubble and narrow passages through people’s backyards I felt a little worried about what we would find once we were on the streets. Finally, we managed to bypass Checkpoint 56 and made our way in to the main streets of the city centre. The scene which greeted us was daunting — the streets were alight with black smoke and the smell of burning tyres and stones and rubble scattered everywhere. There was also another strange unfamiliar smell lingering, which I was later to discover, was the smell of tear gas. Although most of the intense clashes seemed to be over, the Israeli army, including soldiers and vehicles, were positioned at the top end of the two main streets and further away at the other end of each street were gathered crowds of youths. Reem, the teachers and the three of us from EAPPI made our way speedily through the streets. As we left the scenes behind we soon came to a safe passage for the teachers and children to continue on to the Old City. As we left the children behind I realised that my heart was racing fast and I was actually a little anxious. Day Four — A not so ordinary couple of school daysThe next morning we awoke to the news that a boy between 12 and 14 was shot dead by the IDF in Beit Awoua, a village near Hebron. We read in the news that at least 45 others had been injured. There had been demonstrations all throughout the West Bank as feelings were running high over the rising death toll in Gaza. When we woke up we called Reem and she informed us that school would continue as normal. It felt strange to walk to school after the events of the day before but we headed out at our usual time and as we walked through the streets early in the morning we were greeted with the sight of stones and rubble everywhere and black residue left from the burning tyres. We found that the checkpoint was open to business as usual. The soldiers were on high alert and searching the school children’s bags.Later, as we sat in Reem’s office reflecting on the day before, Reem warned us that there might be trouble at the checkpoint again. Sure enough about half an hour later we were informed that the confrontations between the schoolchildren and soldiers had already kicked off. We stayed at the school until 12pm when the school normally closes for the day and then made our way through the same route that we had taken the day before. Once on the streets the scenes, although calmer than the day before, clearly reflected that further trouble had recently taken place. Israeli army vehicles were driving around the city centre area and small crowds of youths were also out on the streets. We returned home relieved that the day was over. Day Five — The aftermathExhausted after only our first few days in Hebron we woke up the next day hoping for some calm. Our wish was granted so we thought as we walked through the streets which had largely been cleared up. On our way to the checkpoint I felt much more positive than the previous two days. Once at the checkpoint we went through the checks like all Palestinians crossing from H1 area to H2 area. As we came out of the checkpoint to take up our positions to observe the schoolchildren leaving and entering I turned my head and saw two teenagers sitting in the corner blind folded and hands tied behind their backs. They had a small blue blanket thrown over their laps.We noticed a couple of local people speaking to the boys and saw that the soldiers did not try to stop them. We asked one of the soldiers how long they had been there for and he told us that they had been held like that the whole night. We then called as many people as possible to inform them about the situation — including Machsom Watch (an Israeli organisation which monitors checkpoints), TIPH and the ICRC. We were advised by the ICRC to get the names of the boys and their ID numbers. We spoke to the soldiers and said that we would like to speak to the boys; they did not have any objections so we approached the boys. The boys did not speak any English and we had difficulty explaining we needed their ID numbers. One of the soldiers even tried to help us get the boys ID numbers but they did not know their IDs. We stayed close by to the boys. Shortly after, an army vehicle turned up and took away one of the boys and about fifteen minutes later another vehicle appeared and took away the second boy. We walked to Cordorba School and were met by Niklas who had gone on ahead to the school to keep an eye on the schoolchildren. When we got to Reem’s office we presented her with the names that we had in case she knew the boys. A girl turned up shortly to tell Reem that one of the boys was her brother. Reem called the ICRC with the boy’s name. We were still unsure of the identity of the other boy and gave them the name that we had written but we were not sure it was correct. We stayed in the school until 12pm and walked with the schoolchildren up the street through the checkpoint. We then accompanied the detained boy's sister along with her brother and two cousins who were also at the school to her house to meet the family. The family lived in a house in the Old City. We were led up some steep steps to the roof to the detained boy's mother. The mother did not speak English and the father, who we were told spoke some English, was not around. We decided to wait a while for the father to return and as we were speaking to the children in our broken Arabic one of the children tugged at my arms and told me to look up. I turned my head and looked up and was astonished to see an armed soldier on the roof next door in very close proximity to the family’s roof. The mother offered us tea and we accepted. Palestinian hospitality is such that everywhere you go at least one cup of coffee or mint tea must be consumed. Suddenly we heard a noise. We rushed to look down the steep steps leading on to the roof and at the bottom of the steps six soldiers had walked in to the small space and one of the teenage boys from the family was being questioned. The soldiers pointed their guns at the boy while we watched and ordered the boy to turn his back to them and put his hands up against the walls. They searched the boy and told us to stay where we were. We asked the soldiers what was wrong and why they were here. The soldiers asked us if we knew who had opened the gate to the house next door and when we said that we didn’t know they accepted our explanation and left, letting the boy go. We decided to go to Nawaal’s shop as it was next door to the house and asked the mother if she would join us there so that Nawaal could translate. During our conversation we discovered that the house next door was occupied by soldiers and used as a watchtower by the IDF. We were told that the family faced ongoing intimidation by the Israeli army, who were putting pressure on them to vacate the house. We also found out that her son, who was 17, had been released by the army at about 11am and was at a meeting at the ICRC. We were very relieved to hear that the other boy had also been released. The mother shared her anxiety with us. She said that during the troubles that had taken place the day before she could not find one of her younger sons and had asked the 17 year old to go and look for him, and that’s when he had been picked up around 3pm the day before by the IDF. The boy had been taken away by the army to a base in the nearby settlement of Kiryat Arba and after questioning was released. We listened to the mother’s story and asked her to contact us if the family needed any further help. We left wondering if the boys had been released because there was a lot of attention on them and a number of international agencies were aware and concerned for their safety. Machsom Watch had told us that if the boys had not been identified they may have gone missing for weeks and that was not an uncommon thing to happen. As we walked back home through the Old City we bumped in to groups of soldiers in every nook and cranny of the narrow streets and alleyways. See photographs Some reflectionsPart of my job in living in the West Bank is to try to paint a picture for people at home about what ordinary life is like under occupation. The stories I have shared with you so far show that life in the Hebron area is far from ordinary. Every day we stand at the checkpoints and walk the city observing as Palestinians are stopped, searched, their bags checked and their freedom of movement and access restricted, whether on their way to work or to school, and their access to markets and public services and even to family and friends blocked. Some families remain virtual prisoners in their homes for fear of settler attacks and violence and their properties often graffitied and threatened with take over by settlers, and if not settlers the army. I find it ironic that I as foreigner have much more freedom of movement and rights than local Palestinians in their own land. Life in Hebron is unpredictable and for many families an uphill struggle. But despite the occupation people are trying to go on with their everyday lives in the most extraordinary of circumstances created by the occupation. |
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