- Details
- Written by John M. Grosvenor John M. Grosvenor
- Published: 22 November 2002 22 November 2002
In the aftermath of the gun battle in Hebron where 12 members of Israeli security forces and 3 Palestinians were killed, it is likely that living conditions for the 130,000 Palestinians who reside in that city will worsen. Having returned from visiting the Christian Peacemaker Team in Hebron two weeks before this tragedy, it is hard for me to imagine how conditions for those Palestinians could get much worse. On the day I visited Rev. Bob Holmes, who heads the Christian Peacemakers in Hebron, I had to walk in as the Israeli Defense Forces had blocked all of the roads used by Palestinians leading into the city. In contrast, there were roads open for the exclusive use of Israeli settlers, one of which was built entirely with U.S. foreign aid.
I was not prepared for what I saw and learned in Hebron. Nearly all of the Palestinian shops were closed which has caused 80% unemployment. Israeli graffiti was spray painted on every shop door with Stars of David and Hebrew words that were translated for me which read "Death to Arabs," "Deport the Arabs" and other unrepeatable things. I learned from Rev. Holmes that 400 Jewish settlers confiscated the upstairs apartments in the center of Hebron. Those settlers have been protected by 2,000 Israeli army soldiers who were roaming the city on foot and in vehicles. Israeli snipers were positioned on the top of 42 buildings in the central part of the city. There has not been a building permit issued to a Palestinian in Hebron in the last 35 years. The week before I arrived in Hebron, the Israeli settler women had gone on a rampage and ransacked what few Arab shops had been open and destroyed merchandise while the soldiers watched and did nothing. The buildings in the portion of Hebron occupied by settlers are very close together and Palestinians have strung chain link fencing overhead to catch debris thrown down upon them by the settlers who live above. Unfortunately, the wire is not effective at catching feces and urine dumped on them which is a common occurrence. I saw many Palestinian men who were lined up in the hot sun against brick walls and in a park by machine gun toting soldiers. It looked like a Hollywood movie set except it was real. Real mean.
Hebron is not a nice place to live in if you happen to be a Palestinian and now it just got a whole lot worse. According to Rev. Holmes, the Israeli occupation IS the primary violence in Hebron. As long as Palestinian land is illegally occupied and they are denied basic human rights, there will be violent resistance to the violence of occupation.
John M. Grosvenor
(For reports and photos from the Christian Peacemaker Team in Hebron go to http://www.cpt.org. I traveled October 17-27, 2002 with Friends of Sabeel - North America, which is linked with Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in East Jerusalem.)