CPTnet
21 May 2007
HEBRON UPDATE: 7-14 May 2007

During this period, the Hebron Team included Jan Benvie, Eileen Hanson,
Kathie Uhler, Kathleen Kern, John Lynes, Rich Meyer, Ilse Muehlsteph, Paul
Rehm, Carol Rose, Mary Wendeln and Mary Yoder.

Tuesday 8 May

A Palestinian teacher came to visit with a friend from Florida who was
staying with him. They made contact through an organization called Servas,
which links travelers with host families in different countries. Benvie and
Carol Rose spoke to them about CPT work in Hebron and At Tuwani; then Benvie
took them for a rooftop tour.

Two officials from the Polish Embassy visited the team for a tour of Hebron
and the large building recently occupied by Israeli settlers. While on
Shuhada Street, one commented on the vast expanse of closed Palestinian
shops, saying, "This is quite sad. I've never been anywhere so desolate."

Wednesday 9 May

At around 4:30 p.m., Rehm, Mary Wendeln and Mary Yoder returned from a
shopping trip and observed some Palestinian children playing beside the gate
just outside the CPT apartment. Rehm thought the children were crawling
under the fencing and going behind the gate, on to the Shuhada Street side.
Benvie went down to investigate and observed an Israeli soldier, on the
Shuhada Street side of the gate, pointing his gun at a young Palestinian boy
(aged about 10 years old) who was standing on the market side of the gate,
just beside the apartment door. Benvie tried to talk to the soldier,
emphasizing that the boy was very young. The soldier ignored her and
continued to point his gun at the boy and shout at him.

Benvie called the apartment and asked Lynes to come down with a camera.
Lynes took some photographs. The boy looked frightened and tried to back
his way down the street (towards the souq.) The soldier shouted at him and
he stopped. Rehm, Wendeln and Yoder came to observe and video. The boy
moved a little further down the street and the soldier shouted and cocked
his weapon. The boy returned to the gate, the soldier shouted something at
the boy and gestured for him to sit on the ground. The boy sat. Three
young settler girls came through the concrete blocks from Shuhada Street and
stood watching what was happening. Benvie tried to call TIPH (Temporary
International Presence in Hebron), but the call did not go through.

Another soldier came and spoke in Arabic to the boy. One of the boy's
friends (who had been with him earlier) came and stood beside him. The
CPTers attempted to explain to a second soldier that the boys had not broken
the lock on the gate; the team had found it broken and lying on the ground
one morning. The soldier told them he was talking to the boys and that the
situation was "none of your business." The CPTers replied that it was their
business, and continued to explain about the lock. The soldier ignored them
and continued to speak to the boys, who in turn continued to deny breaking
the lock. After a few minutes, the soldier allowed the boys to leave and
take a piece of scrap metal with them--the recovery of which may have been
their reason going through the gate.

Friday 11 May

Lynes met Israeli activists in At-Tuwani to help formulate a proposal for
supplying sustainable energy to villages in the South Hebron hills.

Benvie, Meyer, Rose and Yoder participated in an action with local
Palestinian farmers at Al Buweib, near the Israeli settlement of Pnei Hever.
The farmers were hoping to access their land near the settlement in order to
work in their olive groves. First Israeli settlers, then Israeli soldiers
and Border Police, and finally two men from the DCO (District Coordinating
Office of the Israeli Army) arrived. A settler on horseback, with a gun and
army-style vest, came up close to Benvie and said, "My horse does not like
women." Benvie moved away a short distance. Eventually the DCO ruled that
the Palestinian farmers could go to their land that day. The DCO insisted
that the settlers return to their homes and that the internationals leave
the area. They said that only Palestinians were allowed on the land and
that soldiers would ensure their safety. The CPTers waited at a distance
until the Palestinians returned from tending their olive trees. The CPTers
then returned to Hebron.

Saturday 12 May 2007

Benvie, Lynes, Wendeln, and Yoder went to morning school patrol. At the
Yatta Road check-point, Yoder and Wendeln met an official from the
Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), who showed the CPTers a
document from the Israeli High Court stating that children were exempt from
passing through metal detectors on their way to school. He presented this
document to the soldier and promised to share the document, written in
Hebrew, with CPT once it has been translated into Arabic and English.

Benvie and Lynes went up Haret Jaber ("Worshippers' Way"), where they sat
for a short time wishing Jewish passers-by "Shabbat Shalom." A few returned
the greeting.

Monday 14 May 2007 Israeli soldiers at the Yatta Road checkpoint forced
school children to pass through metal detectors. In many cases, the
soldiers also searched school bags. Lynes joined Ecumenical Accompaniers
for school patrol at Qurtuba School. When Israeli Police ordered him to
leave he stayed; the police left.

A map of the center of Hebron is at
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/fullMaps_Sa.nsf/0/5618737E38C0B3DE8525708C004BA5
84/$File/ocha_OTS_hebron_oPt010805.pdf?OpenElement
<http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/fullMaps_Sa.nsf/0/5618737E38C0B3DE8525708C004BA
584/$File/ocha_OTS_hebron_oPt010805.pdf?OpenElement>