Hebron action

Today was another Hebron demo, and unfortunately my last one. It was the first one I have been to where there has been no violence from the army. In fact, they more or less kept away from the entire affair.

During the last few weeks, the Israeli army really stepped up its level of harassment and intimidation and violence against the Palestinians living in their area of Hebron. In addition to the three shops being closed down and the brutal arrests of peaceful demonstrators, the leaders have been threatened with ten years in prison if the protests continued.

Agents have been sent to threaten and intimidate the shopkeepers, threatening them that their shops too will close if the protests go on.

Today, several hundred Palestinian, international and Israeli activists walked through the markets in a musical procession. Certificates were handed out to every shopkeeper, thanking him or her for their steadfastness and support of the resistance. I saw many of the shopkeepers’ faces after they received these, some looked like they were trying to hold back tears.

Some soldiers positioned themselves on rooftops and snapped pictures of us, I decided to snap their pictures too. I was in the middle of the procession, but was told that six soldiers followed us from the back for a while before going back to their base. Thank God they didn’t do anything this time.

I think the action was a great idea. It showed gratefulness to people who are victims of collective punishment and have been made to sacrifice, and a resilience of the community and refusal to bow in the face of injustice. The protest leaders announced that next week they will be going on a “buying campaign” and purchasing goods from the shops.

 
CPTers gathering at the demo. Some of them are new to the country.
 
Showing the certificate and explaining what will happen.


 
 
The procession goes through the Old City.