CPTnet
27 September 2005
HEBRON: Israeli military compromises with CPT delegation attempting to visit
isolated Palestinian family
by Jerry Levin
About 4:00 Friday afternoon, 23 September 2005, Israeli soldiers and police
admitted that they cannot control violence-prone Israeli settlers living in
Tel Rumeida. That was the reason they gave for refusing to let a CPT
delegation walk past the settlement to visit the home of a Palestinian
family.
The visit was the focal point of a delegation-planned action. Its purpose
was to demonstrate to Israeli authorities and settlers a resolve to take the
direct route up the road to the front gate of the Hani Abu Heikel family's
home--situated between the settlement and an Israeli army barracks. However,
soldiers guarding the access road leading to the settlement declared the
area a closed military zone.
A squad leader firmly but patiently explained to CPTer Dianne Roe that he
could not allow the delegation to proceed because his men would not be able
to control the settlers. Politely persisting, Roe kept assuring the soldier
that the group's purpose was not to provoke the settlers but to visit
friends.
An Israeli policeman in a jeep that had followed the delegation from the
Dubboya Street checkpoint to the access road joined the dialogue. He also
explained to Roe that the aim of the army and police has been to protect the
internationals from the settlers whom, he also freely admitted, his men
would not be able to control.
At that point, Roe called Hani Abu Heikel to explain why the delegation had
not arrived. He replied without hesitation, "I will come down to you."
Walking past the settlement, he met the delegation as a more senior police
officer pulled up in another jeep. The officer reiterated to Hani Abu Heikel
and Roe that the army and police aim was not to prevent a meeting in the Abu
Heikel home but to eliminate the risk of a violent, settler-initiated
confrontation that they knew they would not be able to prevent or control.
Hani Abu Heikel then told CPT that the officer would not stop the group from
taking an alternate route away from the settlement which, the authorities
told him, they should not go near. He also explained to Roe that in recent
weeks the Israeli police have protected him from settler attacks, so he did
not want to jeopardize that protection.
The group approached the house along the prescribed route to the Abu Heikel
home without further incident.
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