Tag: Hebron

By Linus

These last few days around the illegal settlement of Tel Rumeida have been filled with constant interruptions and harassment in the lives of the Palestinians as annexation walls are constructed, soldiers continue putting up roadblocks and establishing checkpoints, and settlers continue to make life unbearable for Palestinians in this section of Hebron.

The Tel Rumeida settlement is home to around 30-50 settlers in Hebron. It’s home to one of the most violent and extremist factions of the settler movement. The area is also inhabited by more than a hundred Palestinian families, whose daily lives are a constant tale of harassment and abuse. The paved roads are frequently off limit to Palestinians who often are forbidden from walking in the street by the soldiers.

A long walk
Palestinian are forbidden from driving on many nearby roads. Those living in or around Tel Rumeida who are not Israeli must park their cars outside the checkpoints and carry any furniture, food or other supplies up and down the steep roads.

Three checkpoints are situated along the paved road of the small neighborhood. When entering Tel Rumeida, Palestinians must present the soldiers with ID and often becomes targets for casual delays and humiliation.

No ambulances (for Palestinians) allowed
Only ambulances for settlers are allowed inside Tel Rumeida. Yesterday, an elderly Palestinian had to walk with the help of two neighbors down the hill in order to reach her doctor.

New Wall blocks woman from leaving her home
Further intrusions in the lives of the Palestinians were made yesterday when a wall along the paved road of Tel Rumeida Street was constructed. Settlement leaders and the military said it was to prevent drivers from being shot at.

A Palestinian community leader in Tel Rumeida said that no gunfire has occurred along the entire street and that there has not been a single report of settler injuries.

As the wall was being built, an elderly woman living nearby found it had obstructed her from being able to get to and from her home. After the Palestinian community leader in Tel Rumeida had discussed the problem with a soldier, it was decided that the builders should leave an entrance to the house. That decision was revoked five minutes later, but recalled again when women and children blocked the entrance. Right now there is an entrance with a width of 1.5 meters and all in all around 45-50 concrete barriers with a width of 1 meter and with a height of more than 2 meters were raised.

Settler kids, stones and fire
A small field with trees and grape vines was set on fire today. It was located in the yard of a Palestinian family. The son of a neighbor to this family identified the perpetrator as being one of the settler kids. The family managed to put out the fire with a garden hose and the fire brigade arrived when there was almost no fire left. Even if the fire would have been bigger, the fire brigade wouldn’t have been able to help to their full potential, since they are not allowed to come fully equipped to this area. A woman from Christian Peacemaker Team reported that this was the third fire in ten days.

A group of settler kids, one of them identified as the same kid who set the field on fire, started to throw stones a couple of hours later at some Palestinians working on the roof of a house being renovated. The reason for renovating the house is that the house was damaged by some settlers earlier this year. ISM and TIPH (Temporary International Presence in Hebron) arrived to the scene and had to take cover as the settler kids continued to throw rocks and glass bottles and also started to spray water at the house from their balcony. The police were called, but never arrived. When the stone throwing ended, a group of foreign activists and citizens approached the police with photos and were asked to make a CD of them for officers to have a look at.

And finally…
And as I write this, the checkpoint at the base of the hill is being strengthened with more soldiers and the military controlled area around it is being expanded.

by Nils and Lo
August, 2005

HEBRON — Since the Oslo agreement, the city of Hebron has been divided into areas ruled by the Palestinian Authority and areas ruled by Israel. Today, there are about 500 Israeli Jews living inside Hebron, with a Palestinian population of close to 200,000. Two to three thousand Israeli soldiers serve as ‘protection’ for these illegal Israeli settlements. This ‘protection’ is, in fact, a system of oppression of the Palestinians, imposing major difficulties on their daily lives.

The old town of Hebron, for example, is home to just a few settler families and is therefore surrounded by checkpoints. Many Palestinian shops are closed, and there are nets hanging over their streets, because of all the garbage, bottles and rocks that the settlers on the rooftops keep throwing at the Palestinians below.

Lots of streets and entire neighborhoods are closed off with iron gates put up by the military. Most Palestinians were forced to move out of the old town during the long and systematic curfews following the outbreak of the second Intifada.

Abrahams’ mosque has been divided into a Jewish and Palestinian part since Baruch Goldstein massacred 29 Palestinian worshipers in the mosque in 1994.

ISM has now set up a presence in the Tal Ramada district. Between 30 and 50 settlers live in this area, along with many hundreds of Palestinians, surrounded by roadblocks and checkpoints, which has forced almost all Palestinian shops and stores to close. The Palestinians in Tal Ramada face daily harassment from both the settlers and some of the soldiers.

Palestinian children are afraid to go out in the streets to play. It is not unusual to see the settlers, even kids, attack them, and the soldiers will do nothing to protect them. The police, who claim to
serve as protection for the Palestinians, are always very delayed and are perceived by most as useless protection.

Many Palestinians now fear that more settlers and soldiers will come as a result of the disengagement in Gaza. Already, two families from Gaza have moved in. There is also a fear that an even more aggressive Zionism will emerge among both settlers and soldiers after the disengagement.

International presence in Hebron might help to de-escalate the situation and is already needed in order for many Palestinian children to be able to go to their school and to play in the streets.

Mirja, Lo, and Nils.

Israel’s Next Step: Destroying Financial and Economic Structures
Report from Idna just outside Hebron

Idna is a village with 21,000 citiziens. Since 1948, Israel has stolen more than half of Idna’s land for illegal settlements.

The most recent loss has cut Idna off from 3,000 dunams (667 acres) of their own land, because of the illegal annexation wall. The vast majority of this stolen land had once been used for growing olive trees and vegetables. That land also fed the farmer’s sheep and goats. Since the wall’s completion, the local economy has been ruined. About 20,000 olive trees had been located on the other side of the wall, many which the Israeli army burned while building the wall.

During the first Intifada, many homes in Idna were destroyed by the Israeli military, and they haven’t stopped that destruction, with two farms destroyed just three months ago — including the homes situated on the farms.

One of the families, formerly prosperous shepherds with 500 to 600 sheep, now lives in tents provided by The Red Crescent. The same day that this family’s farm was demolished, the military also destroyed a local shop and trading post. Vilagers say that the military has started to focus on destroying the financial and economic structures of Idna.

Most of the houses that have been demolished during the last years have been outside the city. The army either claims that the people don’t have a license and permission to live there, or insists that they are too near the wall. When the farmers try to receive permissions to be on their own land, they have been repeatedly denied.

In most cases, the military comes in the morning without any announcement, and demolishes the houses. Now, there are about 10 houses outside Idna that the army has threatened to demolish for over a year. But, since they can come in at any time, no one really can really prepare for what might happen.

Also, electricity has been destroyed for some of the farmers, and more than 20 wells and springs have been ruined. Idna has a problem with water resources, because an Israeli company delivers the water, and they never get enough. Outside the town is an illegal settlement with 1000 people; those settlers receive more water from the company than Idna does city for its 21 000 people.

Idna villagers have suffered a lot because of the wall. Before it was built, many worked inside Israel. Now unemployment is about 65%, and farmers can’t make a living, since they have lost most of their land and their houses are being demolished.

So the situation here is very uncertain, and, like the rest of Palestine, Israel is making life as difficult as possible for the Palestinian people, trying to make them leave their own land.