Hebron / al-Khalil

About CPT Hebron/al-Khalil

CPT began a presence in Hebron/al-Khalil (map) in 1995, witnessing to the need for peace in a violent and sometimes desperate situation.

Despite years of negotiations between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority, progress towards peace remained elusive. With the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa Intifada (uprising), violence in the streets of Hebron only increased.

The team focuses on:

  • school accompaniment
  • documentation and human rights reporting
  • nonviolent trainings
  • regular visits to Palestinian families threatened by Israeli home demolition and land confiscation
  • joining with Palestinians and Israeli peace groups to develop action campaigns that expose the face of the Occupation


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Young man hospitalized after soldiers stab him

Soldiers detained a young Palestinian man as he was walking alone to his home in the Tel Rumeida neighborhood in Hebron on 25 December 2009 around 8:00 p.m.  According to a complaint filed with the Israeli Military Police, soldiers detained the man, took his ID and ordered him to stand face to a wall for a body search.  The soldier assigned to do the body search instead began to stab the top of the man's head with a military knife, causing the man to fall to his knees before the soldier pinned him to the ground with a knee.  Five other soldiers ran to the man and joined in kicking and punching the man before throwing his ID on the ground and running away. 

The man managed to call a neighbor who took him to a hospital where he received treatment for four knife wounds, 1 1/2 cm deep in his skull.  Civil Administration Police have investigated the incident.

Palestinian residents of Hebron, including CPT’s Advisory Committee, have noted increasing levels of soldier violence in this past month, including an attack on the family of a friend of CPT on 19 December (see here) and a beating at a checkpoint on 27 December (see "Hebron Soldiers beat Father and son at checkpoint")

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HEBRON UPDATE: 1-16 January 2010

2 January 2010

While Kern was monitoring the turnoff from Shuhada Street to Ibrahimi School, a tour group of South African Muslims walked by.  One man engaged her in conversation, and asked if she was hopeful that something might change here.  When she said that she did not harbor much hope, he said, "There is no hope for this place."  She asked him if in the 1980s he would have believed that Apartheid would end and Mandela would be President in the early 1990s, and he said, "Not in my wildest dreams."

Hani Abu Haikel, Schroeder, and Kern went out to al-Bweireh to do follow-up interviews after the demolitions (See 13 January CPTnet release, AL-KHALIIL/HEBRON: Israeli military demolitions further threaten al-Bweireh neighborhood.)  When Kern asked one of the residents whether the attention CPT has been trying to bring to the situation in al-Bweireh might have been the cause of the demolitions, he said the settlers and army will attack regardless of how much al-Bweireh's profile is elevated.
The three then visited members of the Sultan family, who reported that settlers had attacked neighborhood farmers on the previous day, and the settlers sent in the army to demolish the buildings.  Settlers are now coming down into the neighborhood and walking between homes, so the Sultans are afraid to invite guests to visit.

At a visit to another member of the Sultan family, who had been an active union leader, they learned about the tortuous process he went through to build a union headquarters on his land, for which he has a deed from the time of the Ottoman Empire.  He went to court nine times to get permission and spent thousands of dollars on a lawyer.  In response, the Israeli DCO (District Coordinating Office) cut water and electricity to Sultan's house to punish the family.  He now has to buy water.
While out walking, the team came upon a young man from one of the shops in the Old City who was blindfolded behind the gate at the Beit Romano settlement.  (See HEBRON: Israeli military targets Palestinian children for searches and detention.)
The team learned that Israel had refused entrance to leaders of the CPT January delegation and began discussing with the At-Tuwani team how they were going to replace the leaders.

CPTnet Stories

Events

Titlesort iconStart Time:End Time:
Palestine / Israel Delegation (Reformed Church/Christian Reformed Church)April 6, 2010April 19, 2010
Info-Reise Israel / PalästinaMay 18, 2010May 31, 2010
Palestine / Israel DelegationMay 18, 2010May 31, 2010
Info-Reise Israel / PalästinaJuly 20, 2010August 2, 2010
Palestine / Israel DelegationJuly 20, 2010August 2, 2010
Info-Reise Israel / PalästinaOctober 5, 2010October 18, 2010
Palestine / Israel DelegationOctober 5, 2010October 18, 2010
Info-Reise Israel / PalästinaNovember 16, 2010November 29, 2010
Palestine / Israel DelegationNovember 16, 2010November 29, 2010