In the afternoon of December 28, six soldiers ushered a group of activists and journalists away from the usually bustling Bani Dar neighborhood in Al Khalil. This show of force came to no surprise. For over two decades, Occupation Forces have entirely cleared neighborhoods in the Old City within Al Khalil under the false pretenses of guided tours for illegal Israeli settlers.
Within a half hour, a group of around fifty soldiers assembled to guard the group of three dozen settlers. For the next hour, Palestinians were restricted from walking near the incursion, and almost all the shops in the Old City were forced to close.
The weekly settler and military incursion is a major disruption for Palestinians in the historic city. It is a demonstration of intimidation and harassment, a theatrical show of force with the intention to further dispossess local Palestinians. For the duration of the tour, the souq (market), the main economic infrastructure for Palestinians, especially since the closure of Shuhada Street, essentially becomes a closed military zone for settlers.
The tour, mostly in Hebrew and some English, spouts lies of a history discounting Palestinian existence. A false history is proselytized to the group of settlers, denying the years of well documented peaceful coexistence between different groups in the city prior to 1948, as well as the constant violence enacted on Palistinian lives since.
It seemed like the whole Palestinian neighbourhood closed their doors and held their breath for the duration of the march. A crowd assembled as the armed soldiers opened the settlement gate, and shepherded the tour safely back inside. Before closing the gates again, the soldier made a joke—another mockery to add to the intimidation. Slowly, some shops opened back up. People started using their beloved roads. Many, however, will always walk carefully, living in fear of the occupation that wants to remove them.