HEBRON: ISRAELI POLICE DETAIN ELEVEN CPTERS FOR SELLING TOMATOES
November 26th, 1999
in:
CPTnet
November 26, 1999
HEBRON: ISRAELI POLICE DETAIN ELEVEN CPTERS FOR SELLING
TOMATOES
Israeli police forcibly removed 11 members of the Christian
Peacemaker Teams and CPT-RAB delegation as they attempted to
sell tomatoes in the Hasbahe Market the morning of November 26,
1999. A Palestinian vendor moved his apple cart into the area to
join the action briefly before the police moved in.
The wholesale vegetable market was closed by the Israeli
government in 1994 as a security precaution after settler Baruch
Goldstein slaughtered 29 men and boys praying in Hebron's il
Ibrahimi Mosque. The 1995 Oslo II Accords and the 1997 Hebron
Protocol signed by the Israeli government and Palestinian Authority
stipulated that the market was to be re-opened. Most recently, the
Sharm-el Sheikh agreement states, "the wholesale market-
Hasbahe will be opened not later than November 1, 1999." Despite
these agreements, the military has maintained the closure on the
market continuously for the last five years.
The police allowed Pierre Shantz, Kathleen Kern and Judith
Bustany to hawk tomatoes at two shekels a kilo for
approximately seven minutes before they were shoved into a
police van. Prior to those detentions, Bourke Kennedy,
Reinhard Kober and Ben Kenagy, whose signs and tomatoes
had already been confiscated, were forced into the van.
Karen Blatt and Jane Adas, who was serving as a press
spokesperson, were then removed. Natasha Krahn, Donna
Hicks, and Keri Holmes moved away after the police ordered
them to, but were then retrieved by the police and put in a
van as well, along with two Germans and a French woman
who were observing the action.
The entire group was held behind the fence at the Hebron
police station for about an hour and a half, while the police
recorded their passport information. The detainees sang
"Freedom is Coming," "How Can I Keep from Singing?" and
other songs for several appreciative policemen. They were
released without charges and instructed to return directly
home without entering the market. A police vehicle followed
the group home to the door of their apartment.
Members of the team in Hebron are Reinhard Kober
(Hamburg, Germany), Natasha Krahn and Pierre Shantz
(Kitchener-Waterloo, ON) Joanne Kaufman (Freeman, SD),
Ben Kenagy (Albany, OR), Bourke Kennedy (Skaneateles,
NY) and Jane Adas (Highland Park, NJ.)
Members of the CPT-RAB delegation are Karen Blatt (Elgin,
IL), Keri Holmes (Kouts, IN), Donna Hicks (Durham, NC),
Judith Bustany (Los Angeles, CA), Carleta Baker (Newburg,
OR), Rick Carter (Newton, KS), and Kathleen Kern (Webster,
NY.)
November 26, 1999
HEBRON: ISRAELI POLICE DETAIN ELEVEN CPTERS FOR SELLING
TOMATOES
Israeli police forcibly removed 11 members of the Christian
Peacemaker Teams and CPT-RAB delegation as they attempted to
sell tomatoes in the Hasbahe Market the morning of November 26,
1999. A Palestinian vendor moved his apple cart into the area to
join the action briefly before the police moved in.
The wholesale vegetable market was closed by the Israeli
government in 1994 as a security precaution after settler Baruch
Goldstein slaughtered 29 men and boys praying in Hebron's il
Ibrahimi Mosque. The 1995 Oslo II Accords and the 1997 Hebron
Protocol signed by the Israeli government and Palestinian Authority
stipulated that the market was to be re-opened. Most recently, the
Sharm-el Sheikh agreement states, "the wholesale market-
Hasbahe will be opened not later than November 1, 1999." Despite
these agreements, the military has maintained the closure on the
market continuously for the last five years.
The police allowed Pierre Shantz, Kathleen Kern and Judith
Bustany to hawk tomatoes at two shekels a kilo for
approximately seven minutes before they were shoved into a
police van. Prior to those detentions, Bourke Kennedy,
Reinhard Kober and Ben Kenagy, whose signs and tomatoes
had already been confiscated, were forced into the van.
Karen Blatt and Jane Adas, who was serving as a press
spokesperson, were then removed. Natasha Krahn, Donna
Hicks, and Keri Holmes moved away after the police ordered
them to, but were then retrieved by the police and put in a
van as well, along with two Germans and a French woman
who were observing the action.
The entire group was held behind the fence at the Hebron
police station for about an hour and a half, while the police
recorded their passport information. The detainees sang
"Freedom is Coming," "How Can I Keep from Singing?" and
other songs for several appreciative policemen. They were
released without charges and instructed to return directly
home without entering the market. A police vehicle followed
the group home to the door of their apartment.
Members of the team in Hebron are Reinhard Kober
(Hamburg, Germany), Natasha Krahn and Pierre Shantz
(Kitchener-Waterloo, ON) Joanne Kaufman (Freeman, SD),
Ben Kenagy (Albany, OR), Bourke Kennedy (Skaneateles,
NY) and Jane Adas (Highland Park, NJ.)
Members of the CPT-RAB delegation are Karen Blatt (Elgin,
IL), Keri Holmes (Kouts, IN), Donna Hicks (Durham, NC),
Judith Bustany (Los Angeles, CA), Carleta Baker (Newburg,
OR), Rick Carter (Newton, KS), and Kathleen Kern (Webster,
NY.)