Hebron intro

Hebron is a city located in the West Bank, deep past the green line. It has a tragic history, one that is continuing.

Hebron appears first in the Bible, it was one of the first Jewish cities. It is also home to tens of thousands of Palestinians. In the 1500s, Jews fleeing the Spanish inquisition came to Hebron and began reforming their community. They shared it with the Muslim community. By most accounts life was for the most part peaceful and people coexisted.

As Zionism began spreading the 19th and 20th century, clashes between Palestinians and Jews often erupted. In 1929, an Arab mob murdered 67 Jewish inhabitants of Hebron. According to the Hebron's Palestinian residents, many hid Jews from the mobs andd claimed that they were not from the city. According to some Jewish historians, it was an attempt by Hebron's Arab residents to destroy the Jews. The British government, which was in charge at the time, instead of helping Hebron's Jews transferred them out to areas in Israel.

In 1967 Hebron was invaded and occupied by the Israeli army who took over the West Bank. The next year, some Jewish religious groups began moving in, claiming the city belongs to Jews not Arabs. The Israeli army gave them weapons. More settlers came in during the 1970s and began moving into neighbourhoods in the city centre. Some extremists among the Palestinians attacked the settlers several times, killing people in their attacks.

The army made the city centre an area where the settlers would get preferential treatment over the Palestinians. In 1994, Baruch Goldstein, a settler extremist, gunned down 29 worshippers in a Palestinian mosque. He used weapons that were supplied to him by the Israeli army. In response to the shooting, the Israeli army imposed a 5 month long curfew on the city's Palestinian residents. The settlers were unaffected.

In 1995 Israel gave 80% of Hebron to the Palestinian Authority and took the other 20%. According to international law, Hebron belongs to Palestine since it is in the West Bank.

In the city centre, there is a road that is available only for the settlers. It is called Shuhada Street and only they can travel on it.

Palestinian homes close to the street have their doors welded shut. People living in them must go up on the roof and then come down in order to get in and out of the building.

Israeli settlers are free to and often do yell at, spit at, and physically abuse Palestinians. They often damage property. This happens for the most part in full view of the Israeli army.

In areas they control, the soldiers often stop Palestinians and demand ID. They also set up roadblocks as they see fit and impose curfews which confine people in their homes, sometimes without water and food. Yet many of them do not want to be here themselves. Most Israelis do not support the settlers in Hebron, who attack Palestinians as well as soldiers who they see as not being zealous enough in defending their interests.


We are staying in Hebron city centre and will be there for 2 days. Our job will be to go on patrol with full-time CPTers and observe the army and settlers.

I had an encounter with the soldiers today, will write more about it tomorrow.