CPT has been in Hebron since 1995, witnessing to the need for peace in a violent and sometimes desperate situation.
Despite years of negotiations between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority, progress towards peace remains elusive. With the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa Intifada (uprising), violence in the streets of Hebron has increased. Amnesty International called the Israeli counterattacks with tanks and missiles "grossly excessive."
New challenges faced the Hebron team as they sought creative ways to address the violence on the streets and the economic siege of the Occupied Territories. Team members provided an alternative, first hand perspective for scores of foreign journalists who wanted to look beyond Israeli and American government analyses of the crisis.
In addition to repeated bombardment of their neighborhoods, Palestinian families in the Hebron District continue to suffer ongoing effects of military occupation. Israeli authorities persist in confiscating land to expand Jewish-only settlements, tightening access to water resources and threatening to demolish homes.
The Hebron team focuses on: