CPTnet
November 23, 2001
Hebron Update: October 22-28, 2001

Monday, October 22 - No Curfew
CPTer Mary Lawrence and translator Zleekha Mutahseb visited families at Tel
Rumeida in Hebron who have undergone much harassment by Israeli settlers
and soldiers in the past week. They took photos of damage to a number of
homes. The damage included broken windows and ruined water tanks from
stones and bullets. One bullet hole had entered the family bedroom. In
addition, a Palestinian family near the Tel Rumeida settlement reported
that settler youth had tried to set a fire in the yard of their neighbor's
house. Lawrence and Mutahseb also spoke with a 75 year old man who had had
his arm badly injured by a settler youth the week before.

In the evening, Atta Jaber from the Beqa'a valley called to tell CPT that
his nephew, 4 year old Mahmoud Jaber, son of Ismael, had been injured by an
Israeli hit-and-run driver on the settler by-pass road near their
home. Mahmoud sustained multiple fracture wounds to his skull, a broken
leg and abdominal injuries. He was in a coma. He was taken to a hospital
in Hebron.

Tuesday, October 23 - No Curfew
CPTers Lawrence and JoAnne Lingle went to the hospital to be with the Jaber
family as they waited for news of Mahmoud's progress. The boy remained in
critical condition. Attempts were being made to transfer him to Hadasseh
hospital in Jerusalem where he could receive more sophisticated treatment.

Wednesday, October 24 - No Curfew
On morning patrol, CPTer Anita Fast overheard three young Isreali soldiers
mocking a Palestinian man as they checked his I.D. by saying "Is your name
Osama bin Laden? Do you know Osama bin Laden? Do you like Osama bin
Laden?" The Palestinian man kept saying 'no, no', and appeared extremely
distressed.

Israeli radio reported that early in the morning Jewish settlers opened
fire on a Palestinian taxi-van just South-East of Hebron. Six Palestinians
were injured, two of them in critical condition. The Shin Bet (Israeli
secret-service, roughly analagous to the FBI) stated that they believed the
attack was carried out by one of several
Jewish terrorist cells operating in the West Bank.

While shopping in the market, CPTer Lawrence was stopped by a shopkeeper
who informed her that early that morning soldiers had thrown stones at the
window of the Mosque and broken it. No other damage had been done to the
Mosque, and by late afternoon, the window was being fixed.

Thursday, October 25 - No Curfew -
While on patrol, CPTers Lawrence and Lingle heard many Israeli helicopters
circling in the area, and shops closing early. They met a Palestinian
journalist who said that he had been in Bethlehem for the past two days and
had never seen anything worse. The Israeli military had invaded and
occupied
Bethlehem, Beit Jala, and Beit Sahour a week earlier (see October 22nd
release, HEBRON/BETHLEHEM URGENT ACTION: STOP THE ISRAELI INVASIONS INTO
PALESTINIAN CITIES).

At 3:30 p.m. a Palestinian friend living in Abu Sneineh neighborhood
overlooking the old city of Hebron called CPT to report that about twenty
Israeli settlers were invading the hillside. Lawrence and Lingle went onto
the CPT apartment's roof and saw settler youth in Abu Sneineh throwing
stones at Israeli soldiers who were trying to prevent the children from
moving further up the hill. The soldiers were unable to contain the
settlers, and the settlers soon began throwing stones at Palestinian
homes. Some others occupied a Palestinian Girls' School and could be seen
on its balcony with many Israeli soldiers. By dusk settlers and soldiers
had left the hillside, and an evening settler release stated that they had
occupied the Palestinian-controlled area because a Palestinian sniper had
shot at their settlement from Abu Sneineh. However, none of the CPTers,
nor anyone CPT spoke with who lives in Abu Sneineh had heard any gunfire
from the area.

Friday, October 26 - Curfew -
At 10:00 a.m. settlers returned to Abu Sneineh, occupying a Palestinian
home on the hillside. Israeli soldiers removed them half an hour later.

At 2:00 p.m., translator Mutahseb called CPT to tell them that she had
received a call from a Palestinian family living behind the Israeli
settlement of Beit Hadassah. The family was complaining that settlers were
throwing stones at their home. CPTers Fast and Lawrence went to
investigate. They were warmly received by Nabil Al Halabi who showed them
the piles of stones and garbage on their roof, thrown down from the roof of
Beit Hadassah. Just that morning, settler girls had thrown a large stone
onto their water pipe and broken it. Al Halabi turned on the water tap to
show the CPTers how no water was coming out. Fast took photos of black,
charred areas on their roof where Al Halabi said settlers had thrown
Molotov cocktails, burning the laundry the family had hung out to dry. Al
Halabi also reported that when he requested help from an Israeli soldier on
a nearby roof, the soldier pointed his gun at him and said "Go home". Just
before Fast and Lawrence left the home, Al Halabi requested that they "keep
watch" while he tried to get onto the roof long enough to fix the water
pipe. Fast climbed up after him with the digital camera and stood watch
while he fixed the pipe and covered it up with pieces of wood to protect it
from more stones. No settlers or soldiers bothered them while they were on
the roof.

Saturday, October 27 - Curfew
At 7:30 a.m. Fast, Lawrence, and Lingle went on patrol to help Palestinian
children get to school. Soldiers at Avraham Avinu and the Ibrahimi Mosque
were not allowing children to pass. The soldiers informed the children and
the CPTers that they were only following orders that no one was allowed on
the streets, even children going to school. Fast told them that an
agreement had been made that allowed children to go to school during
curfew. The soldiers said that there were new orders now. After half an
hour, children gave up and went home. Lawrence attempted to call the
Israeli District Coordinating Office in Hebron to inquire about the new
orders, but the DCO refused to talk with her.

Sunday, October 28 - Curfew until 2:00 p.m.
On their way out of the old city to go to Church in Jerusalem, CPTers Fast
and Lawrence met a group of Palestinian school girls and teachers who were
gathered at the border between the Palestinian and Israeli-controlled parts
of Hebron. They wanted to get to th