The unraveling of normal Palestinian life takes many forms in Hebron. Every Saturday at 4pm the Jewish Settlers host a tour of the Old City of Hebron. The settlers who live in illegal communities within Hebron as well as international Jewish visitors frequent this tour that is yet another disruption to Palestinian life.
Hebron is a Palestinian city, in the West Bank of Palestine. But as is the case with many sites of interest to Israel, half of Hebron is under Israeli Military control. The military has orders to protect Israelis in all situations- whether their settlement is legal or not. There are four illegal settlements in Hebron, all visible from the rooftop of our home in the Old City.
On Saturdays the Jewish settlers are allowed to tour the Old City with military escorts. On the tour pictured above, the soldiers targeted and made an example of one young man. The young man lives and works in the Old City, and on this day, was walking with the crowd of international observers that were following the tour, as he made his way back home. We see him daily make his way through the pathways of the Old City and like all of the people living here one walks with uncertainty, never knowing when you may be stopped and detained, up to three hours, without reason or cause.
During the tour, a solider called him forward into the crowd of settlers. There, they had him face the wall and endure a search for all the visitors to watch. He avoided eye contact and silently complied with the soldiers orders, as many Palestinian youth have learned to. Once they searched him, they sent him again to the back of the crowd, not allowing him to pass the tour, in order to reach his home. Once the end of the tour did reach his front door, his father welcomed him inside, but was outraged at the soldiers' behavior and treatment of his son and did not hesitate to tell the soldier so.
Shortly after these pictures were snapped, another CPTer had their camera confiscated and the memory erased. Small incidents of harassment that wear away at the fabric of Palestinian life are committed every day, and the IDF has instruction to keep their abuse of power undocumented and not traceable back to any individual.
![Posted by Picasa](http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif)
No comments:
Post a Comment