CPTnet
October 5, 2001
HEBRON: Abu Sneineh invaded by Israeli Forces

By Anita Fast

In the early hours of the morning, before the sun had risen above the
Hebron hills, a series of explosions split the sky. Helicopters
circled. Tanks rumbled down the streets. From the Palestinian
neighborhood of Abu Sneineh, the deep roar of walls
collapsing in on themselves echoed across the Old City where
the CPT apartment is located.

When morning arrived, and people started turning on their televisions and
radios, or saw the Israeli flags waving from places where there once had
been none, the events of the night before became clear. The Israeli
military had occupied Abu Sneineh, previously a PA-controlled Hebron
neighborhood, killing six Palestinians and wounding at least seventy
others. Hospitals were crowded with the wounded. A number of homes were
demolished, others were taken over by soldiers to provide lookout and
shooting posts for the Israeli army. At least twenty tanks did the job.

Christian Peacemaker Team members, Greg Rollins, LeAnne Clausen, and I
walked up into the Abu Sneineh neighborhood. We followed the ruts cut into
the road by the tanks several hours earlier, passing by squashed cars and
crumbled walls which had been destroyed as a tank made its way through
the narrow streets, to a boys' school with a new Israeli flag on its
roof. A tank sat in the schoolyard, and young boys gathered across the
empty lot throwing stones. Several women approached us and said that two
young men had been taken from their home this morning and were being held
in the school. They wanted to know what they should do. Could we
help? Could we talk with the soldiers and at least find out if the boys
were alive?

We approached the school and several soldiers stopped us outside the
doorway. They were polite, but refused to allow us to see those who they
kept inside. We inquired as to when the Palestinians would be
released. In a few hours, we were told. They assured us the Palestinians
were fine. "We aren't terrorists, they won't be tortured," said one
soldier. Our continued pleas to allow us to see the young men so that we
could assure their family that they were fine, fell on deaf ears. "This is
a closed military zone", we were told, and were sent away.

 After calling a few people who could contact the appropriate channels to
pressure the Hebron commander to let the young men go, we went on up the
hill towards another house now occupied by soldiers. It, too, had a tank
in the front yard. The family had been cleared out, and sat on the porch
of the neighbor's home. Another home, just behind the one occupied, lay in
rubble. "It blocked the view of the soldiers", said a passer-by. "They
want to be able to see clearly the whole area". The owner of the house sat
with his head in his hands.

When will the military leave Abu Sneineh? Will they? No one knew. No one
dared to speculate.

*Photos of the invasion will be posted at www.cpt.org