July 26, 2003

Hebron is close by, but is once again a multiple taxi ride. The first took us from Dheisheh Camp off to the village of Al-Khader where piles of dirt and large stones similar to those at Surda (near Ramallah) keep all but foot traffic out. From there, we caught the next taxi to Huwaywar, along the main settler road down to Hebron. Normally, the taxis would turn off, but piles of dirt and rubble taller than us blocked us once again. A jeep stood watch, seemingly to linger as the noticeable group of foreigners passed. We then caught another taxi to "the bridge" which runs over a settler bypass road. The bridge, too, is blocked by piles of dirt, these topped with barbed wire. We paused to see how many cars passed on the exquisitely-paved road beneath - two, maybe three.

The Israeli military has seized control of the top floor of this Palestinian family’s home.

Just inside the enclosed area stood the Coca-Cola distribution warehouse for the Hebron area - not much distributing happening these days - under the shadow of a magnificent villa on top of the hill. The top floor is covered in military netting, and a large Israeli flag flies atop it. One week after the owner finished the house, the army moved in. The man and his family stay inside, fearing what will happen if they leave. They must call the army when they come home so as not to be fired upon.

It was simply a small taste of what we were about to see as we entered the city of Hebron. Our guides were a local and a Spaniard volunteering with the International Palestinian Youth League, an organization which has had to redefine itself in this Intifada. Before, their major projects were youth exchanges and cultural camps, but few young adults will come now, and it is almost impossible to get Palestinian youth out, so these exchanges are all but defunct. Instead, they focus on local projects, youth centers, democracy and citizenship classes.

H1 is the portion of Hebron under nominal Palestinian Authority control.

Our first stop was the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee (HRC), where we learned about their attempts to conserve and renovate structures in the Old City, many aging between 500 and 1,000 years old. The committee's work has a strong political aspect, trying to restore the city and maintain its Palestinian residents in the face of settlement expansion. Like a chess game, the residential conflict is strategic and square by square: Palestinians move back into a historic home near a settlement; settlers take over residences linking two settlements. Recently HRC has been given a verbal order from the Israeli military to halt all renovation work in the Old City.

From the HRC offices, we walked down to the Old City of Hebron. Hebron is divided into two parts: H1 and H2. H2 is Israeli-controlled and includes the Old City and the radical settlements within. H1 is nominally Palestinian-controlled, though that is largely irrelevant these days. In any case, H2's boundary has been physically expanded well-into H1. Just to underscore that fact, an Israeli jeep stopped us to ask us what we were doing. Some of us stopped, others ignored and kept walking.

The Old City of Hebron, under Israeli army control, is almost always under curfew.

We tried three different entrances to the Old City - at the first two, we were turned back (the second one more through the insistence of the settlers than the young soldier standing by). At the third, no one was watching, so we slipped through - not far from the second checkpoint. We were soon in the middle of the abandoned Old City, under curfew and military closure. It's standard these days, particularly on Saturday.

Soon, we were met by members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams, an organization which has now been there eight years. They were originally invited by the mayor as part of a violence reduction program. We have stayed with them a couple of times, the last time being almost two years ago. Since then, the situation has gone from bad to worse. Their apartment is now in an officially closed part of the Old City. They are not allowed to enter H1 anymore under threat of arrest. They also are now been told they are subject to the same curfews as Palestinians (but not as the settlers), although they still manage to move about fairly successfully.

A sampling of Israeli settler graffiti in the Old City of Hebron.

More English language graffiti, courtesy of Hebron’s Israeli settlers.

Since we were there last, new barriers and barricades have been put up, and soldiers have welded shopkeepers' stores shut. Settlers break in and steal from them anyway. Graffiti is everywhere, some of it lovingly written by the settlers in English for the benefit of the Internationals who come. One of the most disturbing and puzzling is that which is right outside the CPTers apartment: "White Power. Kill N---ers." Other racial slurs abound in the hate graffiti as well. That one seems to be for the benefit of the two African-Americans currently serving with the CPTers.

Throughout this conflict, there are many points of disagreement: settlements, Jerusalem, refugees, etc. However, there are some things on which there is near universal acceptance. One of these is that the Hebron settlements must be removed in any kind of final status. Seven years into Oslo (now ten), the Palestinians could always point to the continued presence of these settlers as evidence of the Israelis’ bad negotiation faith.

We stopped by Hebron University for lunch. Opening in 1971, Hebron University is the first Palestinian University in the Occupied Territories; before that year, Palestinians were not permitted to build universities here. In January, the University was closed by Israeli military order for two weeks. That then became six months. The administration punted by offering classes at night in secondary schools throughout the city. After six months, the closure was extended for another six. The students had had enough, and a month ago busted through the welded gates and reopened the University. At any point, the military could come and reseal, but the students have spoken - it's time to have school at school. In the twenty-some years of the University's existence, it has been closed for a cumulative total of six years by military order - all in the name of "security."

We dashed off to meet with the Temporary International Presence in Hebron, set up in response to the 1994 massacre at the Ibrahimi Mosque, where Baruch Goldstein (a Hebron settler from the USA) entered the mosque during Friday prayers and emptied several rounds of ammunition into the congregation. Twenty nine people died, and many more were injured. The UN Security Council issued resolution 904, condemning the massacre and calling for a measure to protect Palestinian residents in Hebron. Hence the TIPH (Temporary International Presence in Hebron) was formed; not so temporary, TIPH is still in Hebron, administered and funded by six countries: Sweden, Italy, Turkey, Norway, Switzerland, and Denmark. On the ground and taking notes, TIPH issues daily, weekly, and three-month reports, which are sent to the Israeli government, the Palestinian Authority, and to the 6 sponsoring states. TIPH is forbidden, however, from sharing their reports with anyone else. However, our host did say that approximately 9,500 infractions of international law had been recorded since 1994. All in all, a visit to the dark heart of the Occupation.

Hebron is well-known for its glass works.

Once back at the bridge, we stopped at one of Hebron's many glass factories to do some shopping - Hebron is famous for its glass and ceramics, but we have never had the chance to visit any of the factories. Elizabeth did minimal damage, but promised to come back for more. It took only three taxis to get back, and only three checkpoints, though two were practically in sight of each other.