Youth Against Settlements
4 May 2010
Approximately 80 Israeli, International and Palestinian demonstrators attended the demonstration which took place in the heart of the old city of Hebron next to a closed entrance to Shuhada street and the Beit Romano settlement.
The demonstrators carried banners and Palestinian flags and chanted slogans in Arabic, English and Hebrew condemning the closure of the Shuhada street and calling for the end of the practices of the occupation and the settlers against the Palestinian residents of Hebron.
A large number of Israeli soldiers and police were positioned on the roof tops of the buildings surrounding the demonstration. A large number of settlers, from the Beit Romano settlement, also watched the demonstration take place. The demonstration ended with a tour through the Old City during which settlers tried to spray dirty water on the demonstrators.
Hisham Sharabati, media spokesman for Youth against Settlements, said that “This weekly demonstration is part of a series of events organized Youth against Settlements to demand the reopening of Shuhada Street which has been closed to Palestinians since 1994 but remains open for use by settlers and the Israeli Military and Police”.
According to Hisham Sharabati the closure of Shuhada street, which is located in the heart of the city, has severed the city in two, paralyzing trade and destroying the commercial centre. More than 500 shops and businesses have been forced to close by military order. The continual repression enforced by the occupation has led to the mass abandonment of more than an additional 1000 shops, businesses and homes in the city centre.