A few afternoons a week we monitor this road in the village of Bweire where school children walk home. The paralell road on the left, is a road to an illegal settlement outpost. Many Palestinian children have had been harassed and/or attacked along this road and often request CPT to walk with them until they are out of sight of the settlement outpost.
Life goes on with the backdrop of occupation. Apartheid has been normalized. I saw a 5 year old girl walking alone eating her breakfast of bread. Without hesitation or giving the soldier a glance she strolled through the check point on her way to school. This is life for her, and for many who are growing up in Hebron under occupation. There is rage, frustration with daily infringements on normal life in Palestine… where does it go?
Hebron is no longer in crisis mode, although the active enforcement of apartheid is very real and cause of human rights infringements. I heard a fellow team mate describe it like living with a neighbor you refuse to look at, acknowledge or respect. Everyone avoids eye contact unless they choose to hurl a stone or insult at their neighbor. Life adapts to the good and bad.
The school upstairs from the CPT office celebrated their Kindergarten graduation recently on Chicken Street, with a show of music, drama by the Dream Theater and ice cream. Crowds of women and youth gathered to celebrate the occasion and transformed our usually grim alley into a beautiful vibrant reminder of the everyday life that must be nourished, supported and celebrated in Hebron. Behind the stage, on which the students performed and received honor were the signs of apartheid; razor wire, fences and a wall separating the Palestinians from what was once a vital street for transportation and commerce.
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