Journey to Hebron

by Katharine Maycock

from: Bullet Points (used w/permission).

We left Jerusalem at 9 this morning. 36km and several checkpoints later, our mini bus found the main checkpoint into Hebron city closed off by Israeli soldiers (IDF). So the bus driver sped on.

The next turn off was also blocked - but by 3 self-appointed guards. Hanging out near their white van in the centre of the side road were a group of Jewish settlers. Two had long dark hair and beards. They all wore dark blue uniforms and they all had massive guns hanging round their necks. Our driver sped on along the main road. Then changing his mind, he turned round, and turned into the side road. The settlers immediately flagged us down and told everyone to get off the bus. To have ignored them could have meant being shot at.

So, 10 Palestinians and we, the 5 foreigners got out, unloading all the luggage which packed us tightly into the bus. The settlers separated the men and women and told us to stand up against the fence. Suddenly, my attention was caught as the settler behind us ran out into the middle of the main road aiming his automatic rifle at a speeding oncoming vehicle - which was heading away from Hebron. The car stopped and he hassled the Palestinian driver until he got out. The settlers searched the vehicle and took his identity card. As I watched, the Palestinian woman I'd chatted to on the bus came up and put her arm round me.

Another settler carrying a gun asked me for my passport. We said they didn't need to see them. Jewish settlers in the Occupied Territories have no authority whatsoever to control who goes where - except that which they give themselves. The roads do not belong to them. The maze of checkpoints and roadblocks confining over 3 million Palestinians to tiny enclaves are illegal under international law. What's more, our passports had already been checked by the IDF and Israeli police at the previous checkpoint. As the Palestinian driver urged us to show them so we did and then we were allowed on our way. As it happened, the end of our ride came a few hundred yards further on when the bus reached an impassable road block. So we hauled our stuff out over the mud (see below) and walked the rest of the way into Hebron.

Hebron is an ancient Palestinian town of 160,000 Palestinians. Because it also has 400 Jewish settlers in the heart of the city, guarded by 2000 IDF soldiers - that is, 4 soldiers per settler - the city is frequently put under full curfew, as it is tonight, and has been for the last 3 days.