This week we (Beth and Martha) were in a sector of Hebron, called Tel Rumeida, working with another peace activist group.   To reach Tel Rumeida, one must pass through an Israeli military checkpoint.  You pass through a metal detector and show identification to a soldier sitting behind the window.  Once outside the edifice, another soldier checks any bags that are being carried.  Welcome to Tel Rumeida. 

Continuing up Tel Rumeida Hill there are two more soldiers stationed, one on each side of the street. They are bored standing there many hours at a time with nothing else to do but check Palestinian IDs and bags.   

Climbing down to Shallalah Street, you are “greeted” by a soldier.  If you are Palestinian, you are questioned and must show ID. Then you must take a left, because towards the right will lead toward an Israeli settlement and empty, closed-down Palestinian shops, with restricted entrance.  Only Israeli settlers enter there freely. On the other end of Shallalah Street, which is open to Palestinians, you will find an empty road with more closed down shops.  Businesses bustled here prior to 2002.

Also located in the area is the Ibrahimi Mosque, sacred to Muslims, Christians and Jews alike.  There are two separate entrances to the Mosque, one where Jews can freely enter, and the other for Palestinians, guarded by soldiers who check IDs and hassle Palestinians.

Tel Rumeida is full of military presence.  Military jeeps, which can either be soldiers, police, or border police, pass at high speed through this 10 – 15 block area all day long. Resident Palestinians, who are not allowed to drive vehicles, can be stopped numerous times during the day as they walk through their sector.  They have to keep their I.D.s with them at all times.

While in Tel Rumeida, we observed a group of young women trying to enter Tel Rumeida, but one had accidentally left her I.D. at home.  After about 20 minutes of trying to negotiate with the soldiers she was sent back and not allowed to enter Tel Rumeida.

We found ourselves asking, ‘what effect does this constant presence have on children?’  We found most Palestinian children to be extremely pleasant and affable.  The children showed us their hand-made kite, included Beth in their soccer game and requested her help in learning to write English words, and frequently asked us “What’s your name”?  However, now during summer break, the children are mostly trapped inside this small city area, surrounded by soldiers carrying large guns.  These are the streets they play in.

Some Palestinian boys (ages 10-12) were picked up by the police for questioning the day before we arrived.  An Israeli settler had reported that they were using a knife to cut the plastic off some old pieces of cable with which they wanted for play.   The next day when we were there, the police were looking for another boy that had been involved.  He stayed in his house two days to avoid them.  Other peace activists there told us that children often return from police questioning having been beaten.

Along with the Israeli military presence, there is the presence of Israeli settlers who continue to invade by setting up housing in the sector. These settlers are raised to despise and act cruelly towards Palestinians.  The adults do it with words and looks, but the settler children are physically abusive towards Palestinians.  This produces an adverse psychological effect on the Palestinian children in Tel Rumeida.

There are also strong consequences on the Israeli settler children.  Our first encounter with settler children occurred on the third day in Tel Rumeida.  We were both sitting atop Tel Rumeida hill monitoring the soldier post.  Two settler boys, ages 8-10 and dressed as is the custom for settler boys, came toward us with a stick, dropped that, but then spat on Martha three times.  The two sat next to Beth telling her, “You go,” and then used a profanity against her.  In leaving, the boys spit big clumps of spit on Martha twice, and then proceeded to unsuccessfully hit her with a rock.  We had decided to ignore them, but we could have taken the situation to the Israeli police, where we would have waited several hours with no resulting legal action. Under Israeli law, children under the age of 12 cannot be held criminally responsible for their actions; therefore, settler adults encourage the settler children to harass Palestinians and internationals.  However, it would have been good to film this for documentation should some journalist in the future want to do a story on the destructive behavior of settlers and their children.

On our first day in Hebron, there was a van full of Jewish people driving down Shallalah Street, where we were monitoring checkpoints.  The driver stopped, took our picture, and then asked where we were from.  Another peace activist told them all three of us were from the United States.  He said he had Chicago visitors in the van who wanted to know what we were doing.  When we refused to tell our names, he said, “Come on, give me a name, tree, apricot, anything?”

We observed two humanitarian groups serving the people of Tel Rumeida.  Internationals from Doctors without Borders drove a woman to the hospital since ambulances are not allowed to enter Tel Rumeida to pick up ill Palestinians.  TIPH (Temporary International Presence in Hebron), the other group, produces reports sent to the Israeli and Palestinian governments and their six European governments, but little is done with them.

We encountered two Israeli peace groups, Breaking the Silence (part of Refusing to Kill) and Macsum Watch.  These groups really do make a difference.  Breaking the Silence, a group of former soldiers who report the situation in the occupied territories to the Israeli public, are not very well received by the military personnel in Tel Rumeida.  We observed one former soldier attempting to give a group of well-dressed adults a tour of the settlement.  He was stopped by two jeeps of soldiers, one police jeep, and two border police.  This situation begs the question, if the military is there to protect the settlers and people of Israel from Palestinians, why are they also not letting Israelis enter settlement areas?

Macsum Watch volunteers are Israeli women who monitor checkpoints and have the advantage of relating to these soldiers as though they were their own sons.  One volunteer told us that the soldiers have been brainwashed for 20 years to believe in what they are doing here.  She added that they truly believe that they are keeping the people within Israel safe.

These soldiers seem to be unnecessarily paranoid by the thought of “terrorists”, but also like to show their power.  The day we watched the checkpoint at the Ibrahimi Mosque, we saw a young Palestinian taken out of line by a soldier.  We walked over to where he was being detained and found two soldiers with him, one who had him up against the wall with arms and legs spread apart, searching him.  We took pictures, and when the soldier searching him turned around and saw us, he looked embarrassed and angry.  Beth asked him why the young man was being detained.  He said that there was no problem; it was just “for security”.  Then he told us we were not allowed to take pictures, but we replied to him that we had a right under Israeli law.

The problems in Tel Rumeida are structural problems in Israeli society.  Children are taught to believe in militarism.  Mental health, such as post traumatic stress, must be a serious problem.  Two weeks before we were in Tel Rumeida, one soldier ransacked a home and shot and killed an elderly Palestinian man and injured his wife who died later.  The very next day, the army put him on duty at a checkpoint post.  Many Israeli soldiers who have completed their time in the military travel to India and get strung out on drugs for a time.  There are costs of the occupation on both sides.

We recommend a “Google” search on Tel Rumeida.  The inhumane situation for Palestinians is unbelievable.