RAMALLAH: In the throbbing heart of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, among the embattled remains of historical Palestine, Hebron is snugly situated amid rugged hills. Nowhere in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) is the heavy hand of martial law as tangible as this Biblical city, home to the only Israeli settlement in the West Bank that sits in the center of a Palestinian city. The OPT were divided into three territories of control–Palestinian Authority, Israeli, and joint Israeli-PA–as a result of the Oslo Accords. Hebron, a microcosm of the West Bank at large, was also cut into three areas of control–H1, H2, and H3. As a result, military checkpoints were erected in several places across the city, namely around the historical Al-Ibrahimi Mosque and near the Israeli settlement. Under international law, all Israeli settlements, including those in East Jerusalem and Area A (Israeli control) of the West Bank, are illegal. Hebron is the largest city in the West Bank, home to over 165,000 Palestinians. In the dead center of the old city, around 3,000 Israeli soldiers are stationed to protect less than 500 settlers. In the ancient market (as-suq), located on Shuhada Street (aptly translating to Martyrs Street), over 2,000 Palestinian stores were forced to close during the Second Intifada, devastating the local economy. Only Palestinians who reside in the immediate area of Shuhada Street are allowed to pass through the checkpoint. Israeli soldiers check their ID cards, order them to walk through a metal detector, and frisk them before they are allowed to continue the journey home. Although Israeli flags line the street in every direction, Hebron is nowhere near the Green Line (1967 borders) and will go to a future Palestinian state in any two-state solution. Violence is a daily occurrence. Soldiers often humble local Palestinians, and during my first visit, I witnessed two young soldiers rip a child from a moving bicycle and drag him. Once they noticed that we were watching, their behavior immediately changed: they patted his shoulders, dusted him off, and told him to go on his way and be safe. He walked his bicycle away, horrified and crying loudly. More frequently, however, soldiers stand aside and look the other way while armed settlers terrorize local Palestinians. Hebron's vigilantes, many of whom are American immigrants, are the most religious and extreme in the Israeli colonial settler establishment, often pelting schoolchildren with stones and cursing them with racial slurs. Under these oppressive conditions, Hebron also gives births to many of the radical ends of the Palestinian spectrum. Fighting between Palestinians and settlers and soldiers sky rocketed during the Second Intifada. The Al-Ibrahimi Mosque holds Abraham's Tomb, a site holy to the three major Monotheist religions. It has been dissected into halves, one side having been turned into a synagogue for settlers. In 1994, Baruch Goldstein, an American-born Israeli settler from the nearby Kiryat Arba, dressed in military insignia, entered the mosque, and opened fire on the worshippers during prayer. 29 Palestinians died and nearly a hundred were injured before the was overcome and beaten to death. Settlers have also been known to attack international visitors, ostensibly operating on the assumption that they are “Palestinian sympathizers”. A local shopkeeper remarked, “They attack us everyday. Every single day. The soldiers just watch, or only interfere to stop us from defending ourselves.” On the side of an elementary school for Palestinian girls, someone has spray painted in large bold Hebrew “Death to Arabs!” Sitting next to it in English is “Gas the Arabs!” When I try to photograph it, a settler approached me and speaks in a thick New York accent. “Why don't you go home?” he asked in a thick New York accent. When I asked him the same question in return, he replied by spitting on my face. Across the city settlers have put up signs alleging that Hebron was stolen from Jews. Although it is true that there has always been a continuous historical Jewish presence in Hebron, the immense population is testament that is a Palestinian city. If there are legitimate concerns that Israel is not practicing a form of apartheid in the West Bank, they can be laid to rest after a visit to Hebron. The United Nations defines apartheid as ”committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime.” The practice of systematically privileging one ethnic group over another becomes especially at dusk every Saturday, as the Jewish day of rest concludes and settlers make their weekly march through the H1, where they are not legally allowed to enter. They stormed through the market, harassing shopkeepers and customers and waving Israeli flags. Soldiers follow behind to ensure their protection. Abuse has become so frequent that shopkeepers have erected a large metal caging above the market to protect them–settlers regularly throw stones and other objects at settlers below. The caged netting protects from large rocks, but we quickly learned that it doesn't protect from smaller stones or cups of urine (one of which was tossed from the window of a settlement above in our direction as we toured the market). The situation in Hebron is a microcosm of the broader occupation, almost unconditionally overlooked in corporate media outlets. Whenever one visits Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, or even Ramallah, it is easy to overlook the impact Israel's 45-year occupation of the West Bank. For anyone who wants to better understand what occupation means for most Palestinians, a visit to Hebron is indispensable. These photos were taken by Patrick O. Strickland and friends on a visit to Hebron in October 2011. They have been published on BikyaMasr.com with permission.
