CPTnet
28 March 2007
HEBRON UPDATE: 12-17 March 2007

On team during this period: Art Arbour, Janet Benvie, Ilse Muehlsteph,
Abigail Ozanne, Kathie Uhler, and Mary Wendeln.

Monday 12 March

Art Arbour and Janet Benvie went to an action held by The Palestinian
Popular Committee at the Duboyya street checkpoint calling for the opening
of Shuhada Street.

In the mid afternoon, Israeli settler children throwing stones across
Shuhada Street over the concrete barrier and fence outside the CPT apartment
prevented Arbour from entering the street. He also witnessed a bearded adult
male come between the blocks to throw stones at Palestinian children. From
the roof, Benvie and Ilse Muehlsteph observed settler children leaving the
area below the apartment and running up Shuhada Street, and then saw Israeli
soldiers coming into the street from the Old City. The soldiers detained a
14-year-old Palestinian boy and took him to the Beit Romano checkpoint,
where Israeli police took him away in a jeep.

A relative of the detained boy asked CPT if they would go with him to the
police station, so Arbour and Muehlsteph accompanied the older brother of
the detained boy to the Kiryat Arba police station. Police would not
communicate with them for some time while they waited at the gate. Finally a
soldier appeared and a short time later the boy was released. Four hours had
passed, but the detained boy reported that these soldiers had given him a
meal and treated him well. "Some soldiers are bad but these were good ones,"
he said.

Tuesday 13 March

Morning school patrol at Yatta Road was uneventful. The soldier opening the
door at the checkpoint searched the bags of many of the women teachers that
went through. He did not search most of the children. The headmistress of
the Al Fayha'a Girls' School asked Muehlsteph and Kathie Uhler to photograph
(suspected) settler vandalism to the school rear gate. The vandals had tried
to break the gate lock at the back wall leading into the schoolyard. They
did not cause any other damage. The headmistress showed the CPTers how, in
the past, vandals have cut the chainlink fencing above the wall and how she
has tried to have these holes fixed.

Abigail Ozanne and Uhler went on afternoon patrol. The CPTers circled around
by Yatta Road checkpoint and then walked up Shuhada Street. As they
approached Beit Hadassah settlement, they saw three settler children gather
stones. The children advanced, throwing stones almost as big as a fist. None
of the stones hit. Ozanne and Uhler retreated. The children only stopped
chasing them and throwing stones when the group came even with the military
base and in sight of a soldier.

Wednesday 14 March

As Muehlsteph and Mary Wendeln - newly arrived on team - walked to the CPT
apartment, they noticed soldiers with guns stalking the streets and peering
into open areas. The soldiers asked Muehlsteph and Wendeln if they lived in
the apartment. They also questioned two Palestinian boys as they removed
kerosene containers from the CPT apartment for refills.

Ozanne went out mid-afternoon to get supplies for supper. As she was
leaving, she saw a patrol leaving the Old City. When she returned, the squad
was at Beit Romano checkpoint. Two of the soldiers had mountable machine
guns, as opposed to the m-16 assault rifles they usually carry.

Because there were many soldiers in the market, the team surmised that new
soldiers were being trained. Benvie and Muehlsteph went to the Ibrahimi
Mosque checkpoint on patrol. The CPTers met a settler who asked them what
they were doing for Jewish human rights in Hebron. He told them that they
did not care about Jewish blood being spilt, only about Arab blood.

Thursday 15 March

Two reporters for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation interviewed Arbour
for a radio documentary as he guided them through the Hebron's Old City. The
two had arrived from Jerusalem five hours later than expected because sleet
and snow hampered the journey.

Friday 16 March

Benvie and Ozanne went with a translator in the afternoon to visit families
in Wadi al-Ghroos and discuss possible nonviolent actions to address the
problem. They asked the families what they saw as the worst problem and how
CPT could help. They also presented some ideas the team had brain stormed.
At the first home the CPTers visited, the father said he believes that the
Israelis will not give up Hebron and that they will try to connect Kiryat
Arba and Harsina.

The eldest daughter described how she went through the hills to school
because the soldiers block the road. She said that the soldiers harass the
women and girls. Sometimes they pull down their pants in front of the
females or show them sexual pictures. Sometimes the soldiers will not allow
the children to pass until they go to the store for the soldiers.

Benvie, Ozanne and the translator visited another family. They said they
believe the main problem is the closure of the road to ambulances and other
vehicles since 2001. It is hard for people to get to the hospital over rough
ground. It is also difficult to bring in shopping because of the road
closure. They talked about how there is no way to get the garbage out of the
valley and they live near to the garbage dump, which has caused much
disease.

At the home of a third family, the family talked about the lack of medical
services. The patriarch repeated the problem of medical services because the
road is closed. The family said the road is a serious problem. Once a child
in the family was very sick so the father had to carry him out of the valley
on foot. The father pointed out that the military has said they have never
had problems with the people in the valley.

Saturday 17 March

In the afternoon, Ozanne and Wendeln went to a Palestinian home and
discovered that a settler was praying in the yard. Ozanne called the
resident, who asked her to take pictures and told her he would call the
police to report the trespassing. Ozanne took several pictures while the
settler tried to hide her face. Once the settler realized Ozanne was no
longer taking pictures, the woman came out from behind a tree and threw a
stone at Ozanne and yelled at her, "I will kill you!"