The Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem takes many forms. Perhaps the most infamous is the settlement program, which has been declared illegal by the UN Security Council and condemned by the vast majority of the world’s governments. Under the policy, Palestinian land is taken by force, often by removing residents from their homes, which are then demolished. Nowhere is the occupation more apparent than in the city of Hebron in the south of the West Bank.
Occupied land is typically used to build settlements – highly fortified gated communities, guarded by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF). Settlements have expanded enormously over the decades, with the number of settlers increasing from under 3,000 in 1948, to around 700,000 today.
Settlements have expanded enormously over the decades, with the number of settlers increasing from under 3,000 in 1948, to around 700,000 today.
Nowhere is the occupation of the West Bank more apparent than in Hebron, a city around 20 miles south of Jerusalem. While settlement expansion makes grim viewing across the whole of the West Bank, settlements are usually built either in rural areas or areas that have been rendered rural by the forceful expulsion of Palestinians. Indeed, many such settlements can be found near Hebron, the largest being Kiryat Arba, which is home to more than 7,000 settlers. Rural and semi-rural settlements have an eerie feel, an air of dystopian tranquility made possible by the suffering of those who live but yards behind the walls.
Yet in Hebron, home to around 215,000 people, even this artificial separation is lacking. Some 400 Israeli settlers have moved into the city itself, across seven different settlements. Settlers often live under military protection next-door to the Palestinian families they have evicted.
The Israeli military divides Hebron into two areas: H2, which is controlled by the IDF, and H1, which is controlled – at least in name – by the Palestinian Authority. Control over Hebron is sought after by both the Israeli state and the Palestinians.
Hebron is the fourth holiest city for Muslims after Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem. It is home to the Ibrahimi Mosque, the second holiest Islamic site in Palestine, and has been populated by Palestinian Arabs for centuries.
The Israeli regime covets Hebron over other Palestinian towns for partly religious and historical reasons. Hebron was the capital of Israel in the bible and is regarded by observant Jews as the second holiest city in Judaism, after Jerusalem. Its largest synagogue is home to the supposed tombs of Abraham, Sara, Jacob, and Adam. This means that Hebron is also a sacred place of pilgrimage for Christians. The city even boasts the hill upon which Abraham is claimed to have offered to sacrifice his son to show his love of God.
Surrounded by barbed wire, bulldozers, and armed soldiers, Hebron appears to be one of the least holy places imaginable to a secular onlooker.
Yet surrounded by barbed wire, bulldozers, and armed soldiers, Hebron appears to be one of the least holy places imaginable to a secular onlooker. Those wishing to enter the city’s main synagogue must first pass through a checkpoint, where an armed IDF guard barks at those passing through, demanding to know their religion in order to decide whether to let them inside. Whatever sacred value the place may have once had, it is gone now, driven out by war, injustice, and stupidity.
In some areas of Hebron, it is hard to walk more than a few hundred yards without having to pass through a military checkpoint. For the children of Hebron, passing armed IDF soldiers to get to school is a regular part of life.
Some of the settlements, such as Avraham Avinu, which is home to tens of settler families — directly overlook parts of the medina where Muslim Palestinians live. Settlers are known to throw trash and sewage over the heads of Palestinians passing down below. Those who live and work in the area have had to construct overhead nets to catch the heavier things thrown at them by settlers.
It is a reality that has to be seen to be believed, particularly given the near universal blackout of international media coverage.
The tour of central Hebron begins in the area formerly known as Al-Shuhada Street. When it was operational, Al-Shuhada Street was the cultural center of Palestinian life in Hebron, serving as the main market for locals.
Despite the fact that Muslim worshipers were the victims of the tragedy (29 were killed and a further 125 were injured), the event was used as a pretext for shutting down Palestinians’ main thoroughfare in the name of security.
Following the 1994 Cave of the Patriarchs Massacre, carried out in Hebron by Zionist extremist Baruch Goldstein, the Israeli government closed the area. Despite the fact that Muslim worshipers were the victims of the tragedy (29 were killed and a further 125 were injured), the event was used as a pretext for shutting down Palestinians’ main thoroughfare in the name of security. Some 1,500 shops were closed down.
Today, the area remains closed and is being demolished by bulldozers and JCB excavators around the clock.
Unable to pass through the area, Palestinians are forced to take a longer way around to get to work and school. This means climbing extremely steep hills and passing through checkpoints, such as checkpoint 2.09 near Al-Shuhada street, where they are stopped and frisked.
While individuals become adults at 18 under Israeli law, Palestinians are considered to be adults at 12, and often times schoolchildren are treated just as harshly as adults by the soldiers manning the checkpoints.
While individuals become adults at 18 under Israeli law, Palestinians are considered to be adults at 12, and often times schoolchildren are treated just as harshly as adults by the soldiers manning the checkpoints.
The situation at the Al-Arroub refugee camp is even worse. Named after a nearby spring, Al-Arroub is situated in a former town near Hebron and is controlled by the IDF. The camp is home to some 10,000 people, many of whom live in appalling conditions.
“As with other camps in the West Bank, Al-Arroub is characterized by high unemployment, overcrowding and poor living conditions,” according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA). “Many refugees continue to live in substandard shelters. The sewerage and storm-water network is in need of rehabilitation and contributes to flooding in some parts of the camp during the winter months.” The camp has just one medical center, which exacerbates its already destitute conditions.
“Many refugees continue to live in substandard shelters. The sewerage and storm-water network is in need of rehabilitation and contributes to flooding in some parts of the camp during the winter months.”
In and around Al-Arroub camp, there is regular, cyclical violence as protesters clash with the occupying forces. It is hard to know which is worse: the flashes of brutality and danger in the lives of the occupants of Al-Arroub, or the space in between these episodes, which consists of a mind-numbing futility that stands as a monument to the plight of the Palestinian people.
Our group was shown around the camp by a kindly eleven-year-old girl named Rooha, who just seemed happy to have something to do. Like Palestine itself, Rooha and the rest of her fellow refugees are trapped, with no obvious escape route, no clear next step toward freedom. Just waiting.
The situation in Hebron is a profanity.
The plight of the Palestinian people is un-befitting of anywhere on earth, let alone a supposed “holy land.” But the times may be changing, albeit agonizingly slowly for Rooha and the rest of those who live a prison-like existence in Hebron and throughout the West Bank.
In an increasingly interconnected world, more and more people are becoming aware of the plight of the Palestinian people and are standing in solidarity with them. There exists the real possibility that, at some point in the near future, the number of people who live in the states that prop up the Israeli occupation will reach a critical mass whereby it will be untenable for the governments of those states to support its inhumanity any longer. This may be the beginning of the end.
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