After a week of watching trucks bringing dirt into the soldier camp (Hebron's old bus station) that the roof of their apartment building overlooks, the team observes a building being put up in the camp as well as new construction beginning on the yeshiva (Jewish school) adjacent to the soldier camp. Construction on the yeshiva was explicitly forbidden under the terms of the Oslo agreement.
11/8/96
Marc Ellis, author of _Toward a Jewish Theology of Liberation_, _Beyond
Innocence and Redemption_, and_Ending Auschwitz_, stops by for a whirlwind
tour of the CPT apartment. He then leaves for his speaking engagement at
Bethlehem University. Anne Montgomery, Pete Byer and Wendy Lehman had left
Hebron to hear him speak in Bethlehem approximately an hour earlier.
11/28/96
For Thanksgiving dinner, the team eats corn on the cob, bread, hummous,
deviled eggs, avocados, tomatoes, olives, pickled turnips and baklava.
While on night patrol, CPTers Ben Kenagy, Anne Montgomery and Elayne McClanen come across Israeli soldiers separating settler and Palestinian youth in a side alley where Palestinian boys regularly play soccer in the evening. According to the young people with whom CPTers speak, a group of teenage Israeli settler girls and younger children came through the back entrance of the Avraham Avinu settlement into the alley and began throwing rocks and bottles at the young men playing soccer. One 20-year-old Palestinian man hit by a rock was taken to the police station and held. Anne Montgomery and Ben Kenagy speak with his family, who became worried when the boy was not released.
11/29/96
After worship in the morning, members of the team stop by the house of the
family of the young man who was detained. They tell the CPTers that he had
been released without charges at 11:30 pm. The team asks a daughter of the
house whether the police had believed him when he told them that he had been
attacked by settler girls and she replies, "Of course. There were many
people who saw what happened."
In the evening, Pete Byer and Kathleen Kern return to the location and find another soccer game being played. Pete joins in the fray. Twice while he is playing, a squad of Israeli soldiers walks through the middle of the game, once with weapons cocked in battle formation. Upon returning from the game, Byer and Kern talk with soldiers at the checkpoint near their apartment and find out the now-completed building in the soldier camp is a dining hall for the soldiers.
11/30/96
After celebrating team member Anne Montgomery's 70th birthday with Ervin and
Susan Voth of the Arab Evangelical School in Hebron, CPTers return to their
apartment and are startled to hear and see fireworks. Pete Byer and Kathleen
Kern walk down to the Avraham Avinu settlement to investigate and find a
gathering of Israeli children and young people. When it appears the group is
moving in the direction of the Il Ibrahimi mosque/Cave of the Patriarchs,
Byer and Kern walk ahead and arrive to find that the teashop across from the
mosque has been arbitrarily closed by the military and its proprieter irate.
They learn that earlier there had been a clash between Palestinian and
Israeli young people in the area. According to a representative of TIPH
(Temporary International Presence in Hebron), he had witnessed Rabbi Moshe
Levinger's son kick a 15-year-old Palestinian girl and, with soldiers
present, challenge the Palestinians to fight him. Approximately six
Palestinians were arrested.
"Dead Buried and Living in Hebron" offers is a halo of images to begin to bring a measure of meaning to the issues swirling around the region. It introduces the viewer to the city at the center of much of the pain and controversy over the current peace process. The video explores some of the nature of the conflict, and presents the Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) effort to "make for the things that make for peace." The video was produced by Cole Hull, a CPT Reservist and former member of the CPT Team in Hebron.The video is available from Christian Peacemaker Teams:
Rental: $5.00
Purchase: $15.00 individuals: $20.00 congregations and groups
Send request to:
P. O. Box 6508 Chicago IL 60680
tel. 312-455-1199 FAX 312-666-2677
e-mail cpt@igc.org.
A HISTORY OF HEBRON
Hebron is one of the oldest continuously occupied cities in the world. Lying about 20 miles south of Jerusalem in the Judean hills, its high elevation (3,050 feet above sea level) gives it a temperate climate ideal for growing grapes.
The name, "Hebron" (or Chevron-pronounced with a hard "ch") is derived from the Hebrew word "chaver," or "friend." In Arabic, Hebron is called "Al Khalil," which also means "friend." Both Arabic and Hebrew are shortened forms of the phrase, "Friend of God," meaning Abraham.
Because Abraham, Sarah, Rebekah, Isaac, Jacob and Leah are reportedly buried there, both Muslims and Jews consider it a holy place. Herod the Great built a wall around the Cave of Machpelah, the tomb of the Patriarchs, portions of which are still visible. A church was built on top of Herod's structure during the Byzantine period. The building was later converted to a Mosque during the Arab conquest in 638, re-converted by the Crusaders into a church in 1100, and reconverted into a mosque under the Mamluk Turks in 1260.
In the 1500's, Jews fleeing from the Inquisitions in Europe founded the Jewish Quarter in Hebron. (Incidentally, Muslims fleeing from Spain for the same reason also settled in Hebron around this time. One can see the Spanish influence lingering in certain place names, such as Al Andalus mall and Cordoba school.) In the early twentieth century, the Jewish community swelled when hundreds of Hasidim from Poland came to study there.
From all reports, it appears that the Jewish community lived in peace with their Arab neighbors. To illustrate the cordial relationship, a Palestinian acquaintance of the Christian Peacemaker Team told them that in early part of this century both Muslim and Jewish women covered their faces when they went out. Once, however, a Jewish woman named Miriam walked outside without her face covered. The Arab men went to talk to the Jewish men and all agreed this was inappropriate and Miriam never went out uncovered again. "We thought of them as Arabs," the man who told us this story said. He was in his mid thirties, but referred to the incident as if it had happened in his life time.
The 1929 massacre in the Jewish quarter continues to live as a recent memory in the minds of both Jews and Arabs in Hebron. At least 67 men, women and children were hacked to death by an Arab mob. Almost 400 residents of the Jewish quarter, however, were saved by their Arab neighbors. The massacre followed several years of the British pursuing a "divide and conquer" policy in Palestine. Every effort between moderate Zionist immigrants and moderate Palestinian Arabs to join forces and plan a bi-national state free of colonial control was stymied. Hence, the extremist elements among both Palestinian Arabs and Zionists gained greater power.
The particular tragedy of the Hebron massacre lies in the fact that the Jewish community there was largely anti-zionist, believing that the kingdom of Israel would be re-established when the Messiah came. The agnostic European zionists coming into the country, they believed, were trying to force the Messiah's hand. To the British, the Jewish and Arab communities in Hebron were a living contradiction to their dictum that Jews and Arabs could not get along and therefore needed a Great White Father to run Palestine.
CPT talked to an old man in Hebron who was 13 at the time of the Hebron massacre. He had served as a "shabbos goy" to a family living in the community (i.e. he came into the house to turn the lights on and off on during the Sabbath.) On the morning of the massacre, he watched British soldiers among the Arab mob open the gates and tell the mob to "get the Jews."
Hebronites claim that the mob was entirely composed of riff-raff from the outside. There is no way to prove this assertion, of course, but it is true that Arab families in Hebron whose grandparents and great grandparents sheltered Jews from the mob consider these actions a point of honor for their family. None of the Palestinians in Hebron to whom CPT talked speak about the 1929 massacre in terms other than of horror and grief.
In 1931, 31 Jewish families returned to Hebron and re-established the community. In 1936 the British evacuated them, saying they feared another massacre.
In April of 1968, Rabbi Moshe Levinger and a band of armed cronies, posing as Swiss tourists, took over the only hotel in Hebron and stated that they did not intend to leave. To appease them, the army gave them an abandoned military camp on the outskirts of Hebron. This site became the settlement of Kiryat Arba.
In 1979, Miriam Levinger, his wife, moved into Beit Hadassah, built as a medical clinic by the Jewish community in 1893, along with several other women and children. The Israeli military immediately moved in to protect them. More Israelis began to occupy the buildings near the central marketplace. In response to the growing settlements, initially regarded as illegal, but now protected by the authorities, a group of Fatah guerillas attacked on May 2, 1980, killing six yeshiva students with machine gun fire and grenades in front of Beit Hadassah.
The military authorities responded by permitting two more settlements to be established in the city center and by installing checkpoints in the center of the city, bringing Hebron's commercial district under its control. Relations between the settlers and Palestinians continued to deteriorate, culminating in the February 1994 massacre in the Il Ibrahimi mosque. Official reports stated that Dr. Baruch Goldstein began spraying Muslim men and boys on the last Friday in Ramadan as they prayed. Twenty-nine die in the mosque. The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) shot as many more in the demonstrations that followed.
The army put all Palestinians in Hebron under curfew for two months, but allowed the settlers to roam the streets freely. By the time our Christian Peacemaker Team arrived there a year later, Palestinians expressed as much bitterness about the collective punishment as they did about the massacre. A large monument to Baruch Goldstein, "the martyr," lies near the entrance of Kiryat Arba in Meir Kahane park. (Goldstein was beaten to death with a fire extinguisher by two men in the mosque. The IDF shot them.) Right wing Israelis come there to pray.
CPT has had a continuous presence in Hebron since June of 1995, a period that has seen the signing of Oslo II, the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, the first Palestinian elections run by Palestinians, several bus bombings, the election of Binyamin Netanyahu, and the Palestinian uprisings after the opening of the tunnel in Jerusalem.
Most mornings of the last 18 months the group has gathered for worship in the park across from the tomb of Abraham-who was not only a friend of God, but had a knack for getting along with a lot of people as well.
Action alerts have gone out in the past about the administrative detention (arrest without trial or charge) of social worker Riyadh Za'Aqiq, 27, who was taken in the night by soldiers, last June 17, 1996. Riyadh's work is assisting youth who have been in prison, to aid in their re-integration into society.
We, the Hebron CPTers, knew that Riyadh' six-month term could be extended by the military authorities, but we were shocked this morning, as we talked with Riyadh's co-worker, Nasser, when Riyadh's wife, Faisa, walked in and announced that her husband's detention has been renewed for another 3 months (detainees have been held between three to seven years without beingcharged or tried ).
Faisa shared her news, said goodbye, and left the room. We were told that Riyadh has never seen their 6-month-old son who was born the day after soldiers blindfolded him and took him away 6 months ago. They have two other pre-school children who share their two-room house with Riyadh's 11-year-old sister in the village of Beit Omar near Hebron.
Faisa and the children, like most West Bank residents ARE NOT PERMITTED TO ENTER ISRAEL AND THUS CANNOT VISIT RIYADH AT MEGIDDO PRISON.
FAXES DEMANDING Riyadh Za'Aqiq'S IMMEDIATE RELEASE SHOULD BE SENT TO
Oren Sharon, Military Commander of the Central Division: Fax (+972)-3-6976306 Yitzhak Mordachai, the Israwli Defense Minister, Fax (+972)-3-6916940 Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israel Prime Minister, Fax: (+972)-2-6512631
A branch of the family was visiting from Jordan and had brought the video of a cousin's wedding. The Muhtasibs wanted to share it with us. We had been in the small (about 10x12-foot room) before to drink tea. Upon entering the room, the first thing that visitors usually see are pictures of five children and a woman hanging on the wall--the family of another Muhtasib brother--all six of whom were killed in the bombing of Baghdad during the Gulf War.
Tonight, however, the first thing that struck us upon entering the room was the enormous number of people that such a small room could hold. Anne and I were, of course, given seats on the couch, and after parting to let us in, the children scrambled to regain places on the floor. More children filtered in and soon most of the bigger ones were holding smaller ones on their lap. Because they kept shifting places, it was hard to get an accurate head count. I gave up at 36.
As I watched the video of a nervous young bridegroom being hoisted on the shoulders of his uncles, and the men and women dancing and singing as they prepared to bear him off to meet his bride, I realized that the waiting for re-deployment in Hebron is only a small part of the story here. Children who were not born when the CPT project began in June, 1995, are now walking. Students to whom we talked about non-violence have graduated, and young people, with considerable help from their families, continue to marry, have children and hope for the future. Somehow, the pictures of the dead children, the wedding party, and the squirming, fidgety kids on the floor all belonged together in that room. Life goes on.
Local Kach activist and Tel Rumeida resident Baruch Marzel is freed from his house arrest by the Israeli authorities. Marzel has been responsible for organizing attacks on the Palestinian residents of Tel Rumeida in the past. In the summer of 1995, more than twenty witnesses claim to have seen him shoot 16-year-old Ibrahim Idreis, who was visiting from Amman, Jordan. The military then finished Idreis off approximately five minutes later, according to Idreis's uncle who was visiting from Seattle.
12/5/96
Anne Montgomery, Ben Kenagy and Pete Byer stop in at the office of Defence for Children International (a Zurich-based organization that advocates for children.) While they are there they learn that the 6-month administrative detention of social worker Riyadh Za'aqiq has been renewed. (See Urgent Action Release.) The one remaining social worker in the agency tells the group that a four-year-old Palestinian girl who lives across from the Tel Rumeida settlement was picked up by an Israeli woman and dashed to the ground this week. He also tells the team that thirty percent of all injuries to children occurring in the West Bank happen in Hebron.
12/6/96
Ben Kenagy and Kathleen Kern walk to the Il Ibrahimi mosque during night
patrol and find a large group of Israeli settlers scuffling with Israeli
police officers in front of the police station. Another group of mostly young settler women are shrieking at border police who open and close the gate into the mosque area. Kern calls the rest of the team at the Abu Haikels and asks them to come down. Palestinians who live across from the mosque tell the group that one Israeli settler had thrown another to the ground because he had participated in a meeting with PLO President Yassar Arafat. In subsequent conversations with journalists and TIPH (Temporary International Presence in Hebron) observers, they learn that one of the men arrested was Hebron settler spokesperson Noam Arnon. The actual reason for his arrest, according to a TIPH representative, was that he tore down a Waqf (Islamic Trust) sign in the Muslim side of the mosque.
12/7/96
While CPTers are having their morning worship in the park across from the
mosque, a man who sells woolly hats approaches them and asks them to write
something about his situation. His house lies near the route that settlers
and soldiers take on Friday nights when walking from Kiryat Arba to the
mosque. According to this man, the noise that the settlers and soldiers make
on Friday evenings make it impossible for his children to sleep. He tells
the team that he has talked to the police and to the military governor to no
effect. He asks the team to talk to Bill Clinton. If he is able to do
something about the noise, he says, he will send Clinton three hats.
An Israeli group from the town of Tivon in the Galilee visits Hebron with their children. Some of them belong to the Re-evaluation Co-counseling movement founded by Harvey Jenkins in Seattle. Members of the group tell CPTers that they came down to demonstrate that there are Israelis who do not walk around with guns and that peace must be made by ordinary people. They cause a great deal of consternation to Israeli soldiers when the group of about thirty adults enters the market with their children. In spite of the rain, the mood of the group seems happy and relaxed.
12/8/96
TIPH observers and a journalist report to Ben Kenagy that this morning at
about 10 am, two settlers dressed as Arabs attempted to enter the Muslim side
of the Il Ibrahimi Mosque. They were discovered and taken to the police
station. The same journalist reports that last night, two men, claiming to
be members of the Shin Bet (Israeli intelligence), demanded to be let into
the Muslim side of the mosque. The guard unlocked the door and permitted
them entry. Once inside, they beat the guard and left him for dead. The
guard is now in the hospital.
HEBRON, WEST BANK -- On Monday, December 9, students opened the main campus of Hebron University by walking into their classrooms and beginning work. The university campus was closed nine months ago by the army following a wave of suicide bombings in Israel, even though no student or teacher had been accused of participating in the bus bombings or other acts of terrorism.
Since then, students have been meeting in alternative locations, but without library, labs, computers or other tools necessary for their education. The closure of the university has resulted in a loss of approximately U.S. $150,000 for the school.
When CPT arrived around 10:30 am, some 200 students were in the university. CPTers Kathy Kern, Peter Byer and Anne Montgomery, remained inside while Wendy Lehman and Ben Kenagy observed from the street.
The student leaders told the team they intended to stay there overnight and welcomed any support CPT could give. One explained that they were adults who did not throw stones and that they intended the demonstration to be completely nonviolent, a spirit CPTers have observed in other Hebron University student demonstrations. During the hours of waiting inside the school grounds, other students gathered to talk with team members about Palestine and their desire to learn, frustrated for no reason -- a frustration expressed by the slogans written on a blackboard: "We just want to study;" "Hebron University is not a center of terrorism;" "We did not kill Rabin."
During the day there were several negotiating meetings: the students among themselves, with representatives of the PA (Palestinian Authority), and with their own administration. On the outside, these same representatives met with military officials. Late in the afternoon, the students were promised that the Polytechnic College near the Hebron Municipal buildings would open immediately and the Hebron University campus within a week. However, since the Israeli military special forces had gathered outside, they refused to leave until safe passage was guaranteed. After receiving this verbal guarantee they walked out peacefully, ready to return on Monday and continue the occupation of the school if the promises were not fulfilled.
URGENT ACTION
By their determination and nonviolent spirit, the students have opened more than their university, but also an opportunity for the military to respond in kind. They need any support the international community can give them.
Please fax or e-mail the following numbers/addresses encouraging the Israeli government to cease the punitive closure of Hebron University instituted in March, 1996, after suicide bombings in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Ashkelon. You may wish to note that none of the faculty, staff or students of Hebron University were implicated in the bombings. You may also wish to note that Bar Ilan University, where Yigal Amir was enrolled at the time he assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was not closed after the murder.
Fax numbers/e-mail in Israel:
Israel's President Ezer Weizman
011-972 2 660-445
Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu
011-972 2 664-838
e-mail: likud1@likud.org.il
Addresses in Canada and the US:
Embassy Of Israel - Ottawa
50 O'Connor St. #1005
Ottawa ONT K1P 6L2
tel. 613 567-6450
FAX 613-237-8865
e-mail an390@freenet.carleton.ca
Consulate-General Toronto hasbara@lucid.idirect.com
Israel UN Mission -- IsraelUN@aol.com
Embassy of Israel Washington
3414 International Dr. NW
Washington DC 20008
tel. 202 364-5500
FAX 202 363-4156
e-mail DCIsrael@ix.netcom.com
Consulate-General of Israel, Atlanta -
cgisrael@netcom.com
Consulate-General of Israel, Chicago -
homepage@israel.org
Consulate-General of Israel, Houston -
isramail@insync.net
Consulate-General of Israel, Los Angeles -
israinfo@primenet.com
Consulate-General of Israel, Miami -
ISRAELMI@gate.net
Consulate-General of Israel, New York - [
nycon@interport.net
Consulate-General of Israel, Philadelphia -
net1@israphl.org
Consulate-General of Israel, San Franciso - ]
ISRAELI@HOLONET.NET
You are not supposed to steal, but they do steal. Your trust. Your votes. Your will. We are seeking for the truth. That is what we are protesting against. We are not able to turn our eyes the other way. Can you? Dare you? Can a state that we have no trust in have a future? You are not supposed to steal.
Every kind of help is welcome. We really need printing, paper, food, drink, just about everything. Give us a call, come bring stuff, or suggestions.
Students' Protest '96
Christian Peacemaker Team members learned today and last night that the Israeli military has denied they made a commitment to reopen Hebron University within the week, according to local radio. It is now even more important to fax or e-mail Israeli officials encouraging them to end the closure of Hebron University. Following is background information and fax/e-mail numbers which were sent out yesterday.
HEBRON, WEST BANK -- Today, during a peaceful delegation in Hebron led by Mayor Mustafa Natsche, settlers cursed and threw eggs at tour members. After settlers entered the Palestinian district of Babazawiah, several Palestinians threw stones at them and the IDF (Israel Defense Forces). Soldiers responded by kicking and shoving several and arresting at least one.
Christian Peacemaker Team members accompanied the mayor's delegation up the contested Shuhada Street. When they neared the Israeli settlement of Beit Hadassah, settler youth began yelling at Natsche, "Goldstein, yes!" Settler Baruch Goldstein shot to death 29 Palestinian worshippers in 1994 before being killed himself. He is revered by many Hebron settlers as a hero.
The delegation ignored the settlers and continued up the street, while Israeli soldiers provided a buffer between the two groups. An adult settler man came out from Beit Hadassah and began screaming, "Natsche Nazi! Natsche Nazi!" He continued in this way for nearly ten minutes. About a dozen eggs were thrown from Beit Hadassah at the delegation. Tour members covered their heads with their jackets and continued up the street, ignoring the taunts.
When the delegation entered the Babazawiah district, the settlers continued after them. The soldiers tried to move the settlers back as the mayor and the majority of the delegation left the area. Finally, soldiers separated other Palestinians in Babazawiah from the settlers while both sides yelled at each other.
Several Palestinians threw stones and bottles at the Israeli occupation forces who responded by running into Babazawiah in combat gear. A CPTer witnessed a soldier arguing with a Palestinian and attempted to intervene. The soldier yelled at the Palestinian to go home, and when he remained arguing, the soldier kicked him in the back with his combat boot at least twice, and slapped him on the face several times. This same soldier was rough with other Palestinians, shoving one in the throat. Other soldiers tried to calm him down.
As he continued to go after Palestinians, pushing them, CPTer Anne Montgomery, 70 also tried to intervene, but the soldier pushed her in the face and she fell back against a wall.
During the scuffle, the settlers moved back to their settlements, and eventually Palestinians were dispersed.
Montgomery said, "I was impressed that, in spite of the deliberate provocation, egg-throwing and insults coming from the settlers, the Palestinian delegation maintained dignity and control."
CPTer Pete Byer added, "It's unfortunate that a Palestinian third party participated in stone-throwing at the end."
HEBRON, WEST BANK -- Students carrying signs saying, "Our university is a place of peace and learning," "No one is so deaf as the one who refuses to hear," and others, nonviolently protested the military closure of Hebron University today at 8 am for the fifth time in a week.
One week ago today, hundreds of students occupied the university which was closed on March 5 following a wave of suicide bombings in Israel. The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) ordered the closure in spite of the fact that no one at the university was accused of being connected to the bombings. The students left the university the same day after negotiations between Israeli military and Palestinian Authority leaders resulted in a verbal agreement by the IDF to reopen the school within the week. The Israeli occupation authorities later denied any such deal was made.
Today, marking the one week period, hundreds of students stood outside of the university for several hours, some holding signs. One soldier kept yelling at them to "move back!" or "go home!" He yelled more than once that the military would use violence to disperse them. But as the soldiers pushed through the students, it was as though they cut through water -- other students would simply fill back in.
At one point when some of the soldiers became more confrontational, the first few rows of students sat down to diffuse the tension. Several students and professors were talking calmly with them.
One professor told the angry soldier, "Look, we just want to teach our classes, not make a problem."
"Move!" yelled the soldier.
CPTer Kathleen Kern asked, "Would you treat students at Hebrew University [in Jerusalem] like this?"
The soldier's face reddened and he dropped his head a bit.
"I thought Israelis believe in democracy," she added.
The soldier answered, "This is not the issue." After this he wouldn't make eye contact with Kern.
Students expressed frustration to the CPTers about the closure of their university and indignation at the injustice. More than one said, ^ÓNone of us has done anything wrong, yet they closed the university. Bar Ilan University, where [the assassin of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin] Yigal Amir attended was not punished.
Yet the students were also optimistic. One said, "We'll continue to come every day. We^̉ll see who gets tired first, us or the military."
The students left of their own accord around 10:30 am and marched through the city with their signs. Some of them shouted, "A billion and a billion more until we have victory."
NOTE: Some Israeli and international coverage of these events has been inaccurate or at the least misleading. Israel Line, quoting Israel's Ma'ariv newspaper, said during last Monday's protest students "barged" into the university. Israel Line, on December 12, also reported that one student they talked to said they hoped the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) would "arrive quickly to evacuate them, causing a conflict to develop." CPTers talked with dozens of students, professors, adminstrators, etc. at the university and every one of them hoped a conflict would not develop. In the past, the IDF has broken up at least one peaceful demonstration at Hebron University by slamming students' heads into the ground and using other forms of violence; students certainly do not want this to happen again. The students just want to study, they said, and if the IDF would not show up, they would simply resume classes.
Ma'ariv and AP (Associated Press) reports also refer repeatedly to the Hebron University as the "Islamic College." According to the administration of the school, it is called "Hebron University." Hebron University has an Islamic department, like many schools have religion departments, but it is a liberal arts college. The largest department is business administration.
As their morning worship draws to a close, CPTers see dozens of Israeli children converging on the police station in front of the mosque. They begin chanting loudly while the police try in vain to remove them from the station. The team learns later that the children had gathered to protest the arrest of Hebron settler leader Noam Arnon on the Sabbath.
12/10/96
A friend of CPT's stops by after attending a lecture given by one of the
Hebron settlers in the settlement of Beit Hadassah. She reports that all of
the Hebron settlers are learning first aid in anticipation of violence that
might occur should the Israeli military withdraw from Hebron.
Hundreds of Israelis converge on Hebron to celebrate Chanukah. The Israeli military forces the vendors of the vegetable market adjacent to the settlement of Avraham Avinu to close down to prevent confrontations. The gathering is largely calm, although AP (Associated Press) journalist Nasser Sheyoukhi is hit on the chest and knocked down by an Israeli border police officer at one point. He is made to wait four hours at the police station before he can register a complaint.
Dozens of people run to the spot where Sheyoukhi was attacked (and arrive after the incident is over). As other people see them run, they join in, as do increasing numbers of police officers, ambulances, military jeeps, and police jeeps. Few know what they are running after.
CPTer Pete Byer overhears the following conversation between four Jewish men:
"Who are those two people with TIPH on their shirts?"
"They're The International Presence in Hebron, from Norway. When a Jew hits an Arab they report it but when an Arab hits a Jew, nothing."
"What can you expect from a country that collaborated with the Nazis?"
"Yeah, Norway - and Canada too, I've always said they're anti-semitic, and Australia too."
During night patrol, CPTers and Anne Montgomery visit a family who take them over to their neighbors who live near the settlement of Avraham Avinu. The previous night settlers had fired their guns at the window in a bedroom where a young couple and their seven-month-old son lay sleeping. Montgomery and Kern count five bullet holes in the window and note where the bullets lodged in the wall and ceiling around the bed. The family called the Israeli police, but the police said they could do nothing since the family only saw the backs of the settlers who had fired the shots.
Upon returning from night patrol the soldiers at the checkpoint near the CPT apartment ask for matches to light their Chanukah candles. They are disturbed to hear about the shooting. When Kern notes that she had noticed that their Nahal brigade seems to harass Palestinians less than other brigades previously deployed in Hebron, the soldiers tell her that " Nahal has the human advantage." " There is no reason why we cannot treat people fairly," one of the soldiers tells Kern. They tell her they are upset by what they see the settlers doing, but that they have no choice but to protect them.
12/11/96
B'tselem, the premier Israeli human rights organization, opens an office in
Hebron. After attending its opening party, CPTers go to Hebron's
Polytechnic Institute. Students at Hebron University had been told on
12/9/96 that the Israelis would allow the Polytechnic to be opened
immediately and the University campus a week later. When team members talk
with an administrator at the Polytechnic, he tells them flatly, "They lied."
12/13
After a night of heavy winter rainfall Anne Montgomery sees from the roof of
CPT's apartment building a perfect rainbow arcing over Hebron and notes that
it is a sign of hope.
(For the past four months a four member CPT Team including Lena Siegers, Hamilton Ont; Pierre Shantz, Elmira, Ont; Joanne Kauffman, Boulder CO, and Joshua Yoder, Chicago IL has travel to twelve remote areas of Haiti. Their purpose was to support peasants in places where violence is present and outsiders from government, church, or development groups rarely visit.)
We were exhausted. All morning we'd listened to Haitian peasants' tragic stories of hiding, murder, beatings, thefts, and rapes during military rule, and then we'd hiked several hours. Soon we'd be talking with even more people. Where would we find the strength?
Hiking down muddy, rocky paths, we arrived at the white-washed house. No one was there but our host's mother; we'd missed our meeting. Dejected, we slouched in our host's living room and waited for people again to arrive.
In time people trickled in, sitting two to a chair, on a sack of beans, filling the corners of the room. We bantered quietly to raise our spirits. Our guide, suddenly inspired, rose to his feet and began singing with a slightly off-key but strong voice:
"People, people -- we are tired of misery,
If you see me working with my neighbor, it's strength I'm seeking!"
People began clapping the next song. Often singing before each meeting, we too had begun to learn the Creole words:
"People, let's assemble;
Put our heads together to change our country.
The conch shell is sounding and liberation calls me.
I'm tired of working to give rich people food.
I work but I never harvest.
I plant but they may do what they want.
We will die or be liberated."
Our guide danced around the room, directing, pulling people's spirits together. A drum appeared. The group sang songs from their Catholic Bible study groups.
And with the vibrant songs our fatigue lifted into new energy -- and we found the strength to listen to yet more stories. . . .
HEBRON, WEST BANK -- This morning, two members of the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) appeared at Hebron University to show solidarity with the students and professors who have maintained a daily vigil outside the University campus since December 9. CPTers Pete Byer, Kathleen Kern, Wendy Lehman and Anne Montgomery participated in today's vigil as they have for the last ten days.
In March of 1995, after a wave of suicide bombings within Israel, the Israeli military closed the University, despite the fact that none of the students, staff or professors were connected with these bombings.
Soldiers had been pushing the students back while Tareb el-Sani, a Knesset member from the Arab Democratic Party spoke to them, but eventually gave up and allowed the students to cluster around him as he spoke. Prior to the arrival of the two Knesset members, one of the Hebron University professors taught a course in Applied Statistics in the street.
Later, approximately 200 students marched down toward the center of town as they had on Tuesday, December 17. When they came to the Municipal offices, they began chanting in Arabic, "Hebron University needs the support of the Municipality. Where is our support?"
Hebron Mayor Mustafa Natshe then appeared, smiling, and marched down the street with the students to the Wayne State University building where he addressed them and encouraged them to continue their nonviolent struggle. (Wayne State is a Detroit-area University that works cooperatively with Hebron University.)
On Tuesday, Dec. 17, soldiers forced the students down the hill away from the campus. At one point the students sat down and refused to move farther and there were some scuffles. One student was seized by the soldiers, but released after the faculty intervened. Eventually, a chalkboard appeared and professors began to teach Accounting and Applied Statistics on the sidewalk at the bottom of the hill.
A photo of Hebron University women students and CPTer Anne Montgomery appeared on page A7 of the December 17 issue of the New York Times.
ISRAEL RADIO REPORTED THIS EVENING THAT THE STUDENTS AND PROFESSORS AGREED TO SUSPEND DEMONSTRATIONS DURING NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE IDF
Dec. 20
Professors from Bradley college in Peoria and the University of Wisconsin
visit the team in Hebron to plan for a student visit. While they are with
the team, several Palestinian journalists are attacked by Israeli settlers
outside of Beit Hadassah and have their cameras broken while soldiers look
on. Later the team hears that a molotov cocktail had been thrown at Beit
Hadassah settlement, although the journalists report that they saw no
evidence of one before they were attacked.
In the evening, as CPTers Pete Byer and Kathleen Kern set out for night patrol, they are stopped by soldiers and asked not to walk down Shuhada Street for the next half hour. Byer and Kern walk through the market instead and see approximately five Israeli police and military jeeps around a checkpoint. They proceed to the Abraham Mosque. Upon their return, they are again stopped by soldiers, along with groups of Palestinians and Israeli settlers. The soldiers explain that there is a suspicious object in the road--possibly a bomb. They proceed to "detonate" it by shooting into it with a robotic device.
Conversations overheard while waiting:
A middle-aged man with an automatic weapon strapped across his chest talking to a female companion said, "Everyone's got a gun here. It's guns galore!"
A young Israeli man, speaking to one of the soldiers asked, "So, how many dead Arabs are there now?" The soldier smiled, looked at his feet, and shook his head. "None?" the young man asked, "What a pity."
Dec. 21
There were many Jewish and/or Israeli visitors from out of town, with a
higher proportion of young men than is usual. An Islamic Waqf (Trust)
building near Avraham Avinu settlement is broken into and vandalized inside
and out. Kathleen Kern accompanies several journalists to the site and
observes a large group of Israeli children under the age of eight handling
sticks like automatic rifles and pretending to shoot the Palestinians that go
in and out of the building. They shout remarks in Hebrew about Islam and
accompany these remarks with obscene gestures. As a military policeman tries
to contain the group, a little Israeli boy tugs at his leg and tries to pull
him off the step. An older Israeli settler man shouts at the children in
Hebrew. It appears as though he is trying to tell them to stop behaving in
this manner. A settler woman shrieks at a border police officer, demanding
that he prevent the journalists from taking pictures on the Sabbath.
Kathleen Kern and Pete Byer, who had been observing a large group of these men praying and dancing outside Kach activist Noam Fedderman's house, walk back through the market and find CPTer Anne Montgomery in the middle of a ruckus. The three of them then spent the next 45 minutes trying to find a way to be useful in the melee. The soldiers were very rough, even to the point of pushing young school girls. According to bystanders, the sister of one of them had been arrested. After the schoolgirls are treated in this manner, Palestinian men become upset and push back at the soldiers. Dozens of settler adults and children sit and stand near police barriers laughing at the scene. They cheer when the soldiers drag a middle-aged man out of the crowd and detain him.
CPTer Bob Naiman attempts to travel to Hebron from Jordan and is detained at the bridge by the Israeli inspectors. He is told to return the next day, since the Ministry of the Interior is closed.
Dec. 22
After Anne Montgomery returns from church, she learns from a journalist that
a settler from Beit Hadassah had dropped a stepladder on an elderly man in
the market, knocking him unconscious. Palestinians and soldiers had argued
over who would take him to the hospital, with the Palestinians eventually
taking charge. However, the soldiers detained over one hundred young
Palestinian men afterwards while Anne Montgomery monitored.
Bob Naiman calls the team to report that his passport had been stamped, "No entry to Israel" at the Allenby Bridge. He is therefore unable to join the team for two weeks, as he had planned. Naiman had been a part of the Hebron team from late February to the end of July.
Dec. 24 and 25
CPTers Pete Byer, Anne Montgomery and Wendy Lehman attend Christmas
celebrations in Bethlehem. Byer and Lehman attend the Evangelical Christmas
Lutheran Church service which Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat's
wife Suha and baby daughter also attend. Montgomery attends the midnight
mass held at the Nativity Church, attended by Arafat. The CPTers see a
number of their friends from Hebron participating in the celebrations.
Israel Radio announces tonight that in the morning, prior to the return of the CPTers from Bethlehem, 17 Israeli settlers were arrested when they attempted to enter empty Palestinian houses in Hebron. Fifteen were released later the same day, with two still in custody. Also according to Israel Radio, three molotov cocktails were thrown at settlers today; there were no injuries reported.
Kathleen Kern, still recovering from jet lag after her return from CPT Team work in Hebron brought greetings from Hebron University students who are currently carrying out a series of initiatives to reopen their University. "Everyone knows the situation in Hebron is grim but we highlight the people who are operating on outrageous hope, "she said.
Amy Babcock a communications major from Bluffton College shared from her recent study tour course to the Middle East. "What will make my life meaningful?" she asked. She said she was finding meaning in taking risks for peace.
On December 9, the students and faculty of the University began non-violent demonstrations protesting the closure of their institute which continued every school day until December 18. Leaders then decided to suspend the protests as negotiations were under way with Israeli officials. This morning at 8:00 am the gates were opened and classes resumed as normal.
CPTers Anne Montgomery, Wendy Lehman and Pete Byer were at the University this morning. "This is a very important victory for us," one professor said, "we are very happy. Hopefully this can be an example to the rest of the Palestinian people."
A student with a very big smile on his face said, "This is a result of our peace." Another student said, "Not our peace, but our determination. Well, both. I wish this could have happened nine months ago!"
Anne Montgomery said, "It's important for people to understand how steadfast the students were in their commitment to non-violence in all the demonstrations. They were very strong, men and women alike."
In March of 1995, after a wave of suicide bombings within Israel, the Israeli military closed Hebron University, despite the fact that none of the students, staff or professors were connected with these bombings.
Kern, who has just finished her three year term as a full time CPCer, has been active on all of CPTs major projects. She noted that her return from Hebron to her home town of Rochester, New York elicited a much different response than did her return from Haiti the previous year.
"I found that there were attempts to discredit me when I told of human rights abuses by the Israelis," she said. When Christians try to dialog with Jews, the subject of Israeli-Palestinian conflicts is often taboo.
"Can Christians and Jews talk about Israel and Palestine?" she asked again. "I don't know if we can. I only know we must." A new CPT initiative introduced Saturday, "A Pledge by Christians to our Jewish Neighbors," will be distributed among our churches and communities as an instrument to simultaneously confront anti-semitism and Israeli human rights abuses against Palestinians.
Afternoon workshop sessions rounded out Saturday's daytime schedule. Topics included overviews of CPT work in Haiti, Bosnia and Chiapas, War Tax Resistance, Witness to the Religious Right and a tour of the Columbia Heights neighborhood, site of a CPT urban peacemaking project from 1994-1996.
Congress attendees gathered in the evening for a concert by folk singer-songwriter Mike Stern. Mike led the gathering on a journey of peacemaking with songs that were sometimes humorous, sometimes poignant and visionary.
A couple of months ago, Christian Peacemaker Teams wrote about a visit by the descendents of Jews who lived in Hebron prior to 1929. The group met with Palestinian leaders in Hebron, including the mayor. As a follow-up to this meeting, CPT Hebron forwards this message from descendents of the original Jewish community of Hebron in which they call for the evacuation of the Hebron settlers.
SEEK PEACE OF HEBRON
We, the descendents of the families of Hebron's ancient Jewish community, sons, grandsons and great-grandsons of the Jews who lived in the city for hundreds of years - want peace.
PEACE FOR THE CITY, PEACE FOR ISRAEL
Now, when the city of our fathers and forefathers is in the eye of a storm, threatening to explode the political process and to destroy the prospects of peace, we feel an obligation to say what is in our hearts.
Settlers living in Hebron's heart do not have the right to speak in the name of the old Jewish community, and their pretensions to be following the path of our fathers is a deceit and deceiving. They are alien to the culture and way of life of the Hebron Jews, who in the course of generations created a heritage of peace between peoples and understanding between faiths.
The settlers who have taken possession of Jewish property in the heart of Hebron and made it theirs, have done thievish work. No one granted them the right that is not theirs, to be the heirs of our fathers, no matter if we speak of private property or community property. And they intend to add sins to their crimes and to possess other lands and structures.
HEBRON WILL DECIDE FOR GOOD OR EVIL
Therefore the government must evacuate the handful of settlers from the city at once, before they succeed in exploding the peace process and destroying the prospects of peace.
Amnon Bierman Moshe Gelmor (Hassun family) Rachel Grundland (Zarfati family) Ahuva Donivsky (Zarfati family) Ronen Doron ( Slonim family) Yael Doron (Slonim family) Etty Horn (Franco family) Chaim Hanegbi (Bajaio family) Chaim Hazan (Avishar family) Michal Hassun (Hassun family) Ovadya Hassun (Hassun family) Rami Hassun (Hassun family) Tamar Hassun (Hassun family) Orit Hassun-Walder (Hassun family) Ofra yerushalmi-Seidof (Zarfati family) Yair Kidan (Schneirson family) Dafne Mendelowitz (Zarfati family) Asher Meshorer (Mani family) Yaakov Meshorer (Mani family) Orah Slonim (Slonim family) Meir Slonim (Slonim family) Batya Perla (Kleiers family) Yonah Rochlin (Mani, Hassun) Eliezer Shani (Slonim family) Sima Schneider (Slonim family) Orit Hassun-Walder (Hassun family) Ofra Yerushalmi-Seidof (Zarfati family) Yair Kidan (Schneirson family) Dafne Mendelowitz (Zarfati family) Asher Meshorer (Mani family) Yaakov Meshorer (Mani family) Ora Slonim (Slonim family) Meir Slonim (Slonim family) Batya Perla (Kliers family)For aid and support. POB 29828. Tel Aviv 61297
Dan Miodownik
***
On November 18, 1996, an Israeli military court in Jaffa sentenced four Israeli undercover unit officers to one hour in jail and fined them one agora(about 1/3 of a cent) for assassinating the wrong Palestinian in 1993. This incident reflects the contempt for Palestinian life present in most sectors of Israeli society.
Israeli policy supports the torture and murder of Palestinians, the confiscation of their land, the demolition oftheir houses, the closure of their schools, the restriction of their water supply and their imprisonment without charges while the international community either remains silent or protests to no effect.
The worldwide church has been part of this ineffectual response to Israel's egregious human rights abuses. As heirs to a tradition that sanctioned the dehumanization and persecution of Jews for centuries and paved the way for the Nazi holocaust, we are loathe to cause any more suffering to the Jewish community. We know that criticism by Christians of Israel has been interpreted by some as criticism of Judaism. We also know that contempt for Jews still exists in our societies and that Jewish fears of renewed persecution are not without basis, given the atrocities already committed in this century.
Therefore, we the undersigned, make the following pledge:
We will not let comments which reflect a contempt for Jews or Judaism to pass unchallenged. We will not laugh at jokes that ridicule Jews. We will monitor the political arena and the media for examples of anti-Jewish rhetoric. Should we see racist demagogues arising in our countries as they did in Europe after WWI we will oppose these demagogues with all the political power at our disposal.
We will challenge attempts to deny the Holocaust happened or to down-play its seriousness. We will commit ourselves to fighting the political, spiritual and economic forces that can lead to genocide.
We will educate ourselves and our children about the profound and beautiful contributions Judaism and Jewish people have made to our spiritual and intellectual lives and toward the well-being of our societies.
Should evil circumstances in our societies lead to a renewed persecution of our Jewish neighbors, near or far, it is our intention to risk ostracism, arrest, and if necessary, our lives, to protect Jews and to confound their oppressors.
However, because of our concern for human rights, inspired by the Jewish prophets and a Jewish carpenter from Nazareth, we can no longer pay the price exacted by some people for meaningful Jewish-Christian dialogue--that of silence regarding Israel's human rights abuses. We believe that silence makes us complicit in the injustices at work in Israel and Palestine.
We realize our intention to confront Israeli abuses of power may mean that we cannot have harmonious relationships with some of our Jewish friends. We will mourn the loss of these relationships. We will also pray for the eventual restoration of these relationships as we pray for a just peace between Israelis and Palestinians. And until such time as the restoration of these relationships occurs, we will celebrate those Palestinians and Israelis, Jews, Christians and Muslims who have worked diligently and self-sacrificially for justice in the Holy Land.
Over two hundred Christian peacemakers offered empty grocery sacks, toy guns, used syringes, and pieces of condemned buildings at the Pentagon December 30 as symbols of the harvest of military spending in North America. The public prayer and witness concluded Peacemaker Congress III, four days of sharing, worshipping and learning by Mennonite, Brethren, Quaker and other Christian peacemakers.
The peacemakers circled the building, stopping on each side to sing, pray and bring forward their symbols. "We have come to the Pentagon from across America to lament the harvest of violence which our nation is reaping in the form of unemployment, hunger, poverty, homelessness, depression, crime and despair," said a statement read aloud at the vigil. At the final stop, the participants sang "someone's crying, Lord, kum bah yah" as members of the Atlantic Life Community poured their blood on the Pentagon's imposing facade in witness to the shed blood of victims of war. Following that symbolic act of resistance, in which three were arrested, the gathered peacemakers chanted, "you can't wash the blood away."
"We are not called to be passive -- love confronts the oppressor," said plenary speaker Art Gish (Athens, OH) on the third day of the Congress. "I have a vision for a church that keeps 'getting in the way.'" Gish related stories from his work with CPT in Hebron, West Bank to the Congress theme "Joining the Nonviolent Struggle -- Getting in the Way." Congress attendees shared their own visions for CPT in a rich, creative discussion session that followed. Calls for CPT to continue its work in urban North America and to embody a lifestyle of simplicity and personal connections formed focal points. CPT director Gene Stoltzfus commented, "It was a room full of energy. These open discussions are at our center."
Peacemaker Congress III closed with a dynamic worship service led by the youth who invited reflections on the witness at the Pentagon. Congress participant Eve MacMaster (Elizabethtown, PA) said, "Pray for the people of the Pentagon. They are our neighbors. I could feel the broken heart of Christ." The peacemakers departed with renewed courage to keep "IN THE WAY" in 1997, a year that begins with the training currently underway in Chicago of a new harvest of 16 Christian Peacemaker Corps members.
Peacemaker Congress III was sponsored by Christian Peacemaker Teams and New Call to Peacemaking. For a complete list of cosponsors of the Congress, write to Christian Peacemaker Teams.