Our Palestinian guide, Issa, told us that following the massacre, the Israeli military imposed a curfew in Hebron and immediately set up numerous checkpoints, including the one that is vital to providing access to the heart of Palestinian commerce and trade. It is called Shuhada Street but Palestinians call it “Apartheid Street.” In addition to the checkpoints, the Israelis have placed large concrete barriers blocking auto traffic and even 10-foot high barbed-wire fences which cordon off smaller side streets. About 600 very fanatical ideological Jews are settled within the heart of Hebron and it is here (and in the areas around nearby Israeli settlements) that violence against Palestinians is, arguably, the most heinous in the occupied Palestinian territories (the proper term used by the UN for West Bank lands).
Issa explained that these 600 Jewish settlers who are protected by Israeli police and IDF, dictate how some 35,000 Palestinians may live, move, conduct business, and how they are forced to only walk on designated streets. Having to traverse such routes means they often have to leave 30 or more minutes early to arrive on time at their schools, clinics, houses, or to visit family members and friends. Downtown Hebron is nearly dead, economically. Walking the often deserted, littered streets, we saw only a few local youths and numerous heavily armed, bored-looking young IDF conscripts at checkpoints and riding about in jeeps. We did, however, bring a small measure of joy to some young Palestinian children by distributing five soccer balls purchased in Hebron. The youngsters were so very happy to receive such highly prized items!
And, yet, despite the Israeli settlers’ verbal and physical attacks against Palestinians, which are well-documented via photos and film, one Muslim Hebron resident told us: “My dream is to live in peace with all people, including Jews, in a democratic, single state.” We learned that the Arab residents of Hebron, mostly Muslim, have used and still employ techniques of non-violent resistance to the now 44-year long military occupation that has resulted in creating a near ghost town -- Hebron.
We discovered that our guide Issa was arrested several years ago and fined 2000 shekels for trying to prevent the closing of some shops in the old market. While Issa is one of the leaders of “Youth Against Settlements,” we found him to be a studious young man, reserved, knowledgeable, and soft-spoken, though he walked with a cane due to a beating by the IDF. We saw with our own eyes how the IDF have literally welded shut many of the shops’ latches so that it is now physically impossible for Palestinians to openly display their wares! Following the massacre, Israeli military orders had forced more than 500 shops in the city center to close.