CPTnet
September 22, 2001
HEBRON DISTRICT: Happy New Year, or Just Another Day?
By David Cockburn.

In the Samu'- Suseya area, some 15 miles south of Hebron, several families
will remember the Jewish new year for a long time. Rosh Hashanah, Tuesday
18th September, was not their new year, but their first day of an uncertain
future, after the night brought disaster.

The Israeli army had come in the early hours of the morning, and demolished
most of the cave dwellings in three hamlets leaving most of the families
homeless.

Seeing cave dwellings demolished or collapsed, with personal belongings
piled up on the earth brought it home to me. I was back. I'd left Hebron
in February 2000, having seen the demolition of homes and destruction of
land. Little has changed. Another personal tragedy, and the feeling that
we failed them. Another statistic in black, white - and colour .

Fieldworkers forB'Tselem (The Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights
in the Occupied Territories) were also there documenting the incident.
When CPTer Anne Montgomery communicated with one of the women, the tears
flowed. How do you comfort someone when they are looking at their
possessions scattered on the land? And what concerns might they have for
their sons, now displaced. Will they fight back? And if they do, what
might be the consequences?

One hamlet had 6 families with 65 people made homeless. The families have
sheep, goats, wheat, and grape and olive orchards. The hamlets were between
and close to two new Jewish settlements, Suseya and another smaller one,
and the pattern is familiar. Some homes are demolished, and the army then
threatens to return later to demolish the others. This time they were told
to expect it the next night, but it could happen any time.

For those with eyes to see or ears to hear, the link between the U.S.
continuing to arm and fund Israel while carrying out such acts, and the
U.S. being despised for its foreign policies is all too clear.

If this were done to me, how would I react? And what would it mean for me
to love my enemies in similar situations?

In Samu' who knows how the families were spending the night? Happy New
Year or Just Another Day? May God have mercy on us all.