Last Sunday afternoon I spent a few hours walking in Hebron's Old City with my colleagues who are based there. The stories of the market streets of Hebron have often been told: settlers living above Palestinians, constant presence of the Israeli army, checkpoints and roadblocks, and daily signs of violence. When you walk there, you are in a war zone! A little bit of historical background:
"Since the 16th century there was a Jewish community in Hebron, living side by side with the Palestinians. In August 1929, during the British mandate period, 67 of the city’s Jewish population were massacred. The British police evacuated the surviving Jewish population. After the war of 1948, Hebron came under Jordanian rule which lasted until the war of 1967 when Hebron was occupied by the Israeli army" (http://www.tiph.org/).
More than anywhere else, the visitor understands what occupation means and discovers its multi-layered reality. In this system, the army and the settlers both participate in the same power structure, a specificity of the situation in Israel/Palestine. And it is difficult to fathom the humilation imposed on the Palestinians on top of the regular controls and arrests: "over the years, settlers in the city have routinely abused the city's Palestinian residents, sometimes using extreme violence. Throughout the second intifada, settlers have committed physical assaults, including beatings, at times with clubs, stone throwing, and hurling of refuse, sand, water, chlorine, and empty bottles. Settlers have destroyed shops and doors, committed thefts, and chopped down fruit trees. Settlers have also been involved in gunfire, attempts to run people over, poisoning of a water well, breaking into homes, spilling of hot liquid on the face of a Palestinian, and the killing of a young Palestinian girl" (http://www.btselem.org/). When you walk in the streets of Hebron, detritus of all kinds rest above your head, in suspension, making visible the cage in which you are trapped. There seems then to be no solution to the problem; just a very poor attempt at managing it.
Chère Muriel , je suis avec attention vos messages ; Vous nous rendez présente la situation actuelle, pas du tout réjouissante.
ReplyDeleteQue faire et dire ,ici, sinon prier . Je vous dirai qui cela peut intéresser, puis je simplement communiquer votre blog ?
Je pense à vous Jeannette
Merci chere Jeannette de ces mots et de votre soutien a distance. N'hesitez pas a communiquer l'adresse de mon blog a ceux et celles que cela interesse. J'espere que vous allez bien.
ReplyDeleteHi Muriel! My ignorance is exposed again: I didn't know this about Hebron. Do I understand correctly, that those metal grids separate settlers (above) from Palestinians (below)? Does it cover the whole town or city?
ReplyDeleteHow painstakingly injustice and violence must be constructed and upheld. Does that apply?
Peace be with you.
Marietjie
Hi Marietjie! Nice to read your lines. The answer to your question is yes. However, this does not happen everywhere in Hebron, it concerns only a particular area in the center of the old city, mostly the market streets. The effect on the economy has been devastating however. Also, one of the tasks for the EAs is to accompany Palestinian kids on their way to school because they have to walk by settlers who harass them. Hebron is the only place where settlers and Palestinians are sharing the same space, hence the set-up with these grids...
ReplyDeleteHope you're well!
If this is the vision of cohabitation there appears to be little hope left for reconciliation in this region. History is full of stories of theft, it seems. And no matter how long ago it happened, people never forget. "This was MY land..." What is this land to the people who want it back and will kill for it? What are the many things it must symbolize? What will it restore for them afer all these generations? And how can land do that, after all?
ReplyDelete