CPTnet
20 November 2005

HEBRON UPDATE: 1-7 November

Christian Peacemaker Team members serving in Hebron during this period were
Kristin Anderson, Maureen Jack, Diane Janzen, Mary Lawrence, Cathy McLean,
Anne Montgomery and Kathie Uhler.

Because of the Eid holiday at the end of the holy period of Ramadan, CPTers
conducted school patrols on 1 and 7 November 2005, only. On both days,
Israeli soldiers allowed children and teachers to pass around the outside of
the metal detectors at the Ibrahimiya checkpoint (at the Tomb or Mosque of
Abraham.) The Israeli military has set up new metal barriers to funnel
people into the detector cabin there.

The team made regular visits to Wadi Nasara (Worshippers' Way) to check that
the Israeli settler youth had not rebuilt the former outpost there. The site
was clear of settlers but a small green tarpaulin structure remained in
place.

Team members carried out several checkpoint patrols throughout each day from
morning to early evening at the Beit Romano checkpoint (beside the yeshiva),
the Ibrahimiya checkpoint near the schools, and three other checkpoints in
the area of the Ibrahimi Mosque. They also made less frequent visits to the
Dubboya checkpoint on the way up to Tel Rumeida (the most ancient section of
the Old City Hebron).

Wednesday 2 November

During a morning patrol Anderson, Jack and Janzen waited at Beit Romano
while Israeli soldiers detained three Palestinian men. When Jack asked a
soldier why the ID check was taking so long he replied; "There is 'long',
but there is no 'too long.'" Soldiers were also checking Palestinians' vans
up the road across from the checkpoint, making some of the men stand
spread-eagled so they could search them. The soldiers told the CPTers that
they had to move further away from the checkpoint. One said to Anderson,
"CPT is illegal.You can't be here; only TIPH (Temporary International
Presence in Hebron) can be here."

Ramadan ended in the evening. The electricity was off throughout most of
Hebron from 7:00 p.m. until the early hours of the morning.

Thursday 3 November

On the first day of the Eid holiday, Jack, Lawrence and Montgomery saw lots
of children playing on the ferris wheel near the Ibrahimiya checkpoint and
on a merry-go-round nearby. "It's nice to see the children having fun,"
said Jack to a soldier. "Yes, it's nice," he replied. The children were
wearing their new clothes. A number of boys appeared to have received toy
guns as presents.

At lunchtime Anderson and Janzen came upon a patrol of six soldiers
detaining nine Palestinian men (four of them young) beyond the Beit Romano
checkpoint in Bab iZaweyya (a local market area.) Anderson asked the
soldiers why they were up this far and a soldier replied, "Why not?"

At the Beit Romano checkpoint a truck with an x-ray machine for examining
bags was in place throughout the day. As she passed through in the late
afternoon, Lawrence saw soldiers detaining two men. The soldiers told her
that one of them had had a knife. Jack and Lawrence returned later and the
soldier on duty told them that he thought that the man with the knife had
been stupid. He thought that they would detain him for a while longer but
not arrest him. The CPTers checked again slightly later, by which time the
soldiers had released both men.

Friday 4 November

In mid-morning at Beit Romano Anderson and Janzen observed soldiers make a
little girl empty all the contents of her bag on the ground. At the
Ibrahimi Mosque turn-stile gates and at the Ibrahimiya school checkpoint,
Israeli border police were randomly looking into the bags of Palestinians
and making men lift their shirts.

A Palestinian friend visited the team apartment after noon prayers. He said
he was glad to see more people in the Old City, but that life was still
nothing like it used to be. He said that settlers had taken not only life,
but also the spirit of life, from the city.

Saturday 5 November In the late afternoon Anderson and Janzen followed a
patrol of six soldiers through the Old City towards the Ibrahimi Mosque. In
an alleyway, the soldiers saw a Palestinian boy with a toy gun. The
soldiers were angry about the gun and went into the boy's house. Anderson
and Janzen followed and Anderson took a photograph. The soldiers asked to
see her ID and proof that she could "be there and take photos." Anderson
explained that CPT has been in the Old City for ten years and that there is
no problem with CPTers taking pictures of soldiers.

When the soldiers insisted that Anderson delete the photo, claiming that
they had received radio orders for her to do so, she asked to see the
written orders. The soldiers said, "OK, but you have to come with us and it
will be a long time." Anderson and Janzen said, "Sure," and walked with the
soldiers out to the checkpoint at Gates 4 and 5. A military jeep was on the
road beside the checkpoint and one of the soldiers from the patrol went to
talk with a soldier in the jeep. After a couple of minutes, the patrolling
soldier came to Anderson and Janzen and told them that they were free to go.
The photographs remained intact.

Monday 7 November

During school patrol, Maureen Jack met a soldier who said that he had
volunteered for a while in a joint Jewish/Arab group before entering the
Israeli army. He said that he and his colleagues, who have been in Hebron a
few days, had a lecture yesterday about CPT, TIPH and other groups. He said
that sometimes even young children could carry knives, etc. Jack pointed
out that settlers carried automatic weapons and that they did not have to go
through metal detectors.

A friend from the Palestine Land Defense Committee visited the team toinform
them that the Israeli army had issued a new military order on Saturday 5
November, dated 4 November, # T - 183 - 05 to confiscate 292 dunams of land
for building part of a security wall at Eshkalot, an Israeli settlement near
the Green Line. Two Palestinian homes stand in the way of the wall's route.
Two days earlier, while members of the committee were surveying the land to
be confiscated, Israeli police arrested them. After they had explained why
they were there the police released them after about thirty minutes and gave
them one hour to finish their work. The Palestine Land Defense Committee
is appealing the order. If necessary, the organization will take the case
to the Israeli High Court.

The committee assumes that Israel will try to connect