CPTnet
December 11, 1998
"YOU WANT TO KILL US"
by Shady Hakim

Around 10 p.m. on Monday, December 7, to conclude an already full day of
clashes, a market fire and Palestinian arrests, CPTers Joanne "Jake" Kaufman,
Pierre Shantz and I monitored an Israeli settler demonstration.

Nearly 20 settlers had gathered on a street to protest
the "lack of security," after one of the women and her son were
allegedly attacked by stone throwers. An equal number of Israeli soldiers and
police accompanied the settlers to keep the situation from escalating.

The settlers had confronted TIPH (Temporary International Presence in Hebron)
members and were shouting at them: "Nazis! You want to kill us! Go to
Auschwitz, Nazis!"

Shantz confronted Noam Arnon, a settler spokesperson, to try to find out what
the situation. Arnon replied, "You know, you CPT with the armband on your
sleeve like the TIPH. This is the way that you try to show as if you had some
official duty here."

Shantz said, "We are here because we want peace and justice." Arnon said, "If
you recognize the right of Jews to live here in the city, in peace, and you
condemn every terrorist and those who throw stones, then I'll be ready to
speak. But at this moment this is not the situation."

I approached some Palestinians standing at the door of their home to inquire
about the situation. They said that the settlers had broken the back window of
a nearby car. The window was shattered and a large stone was sitting on the
trunk.

A young settler boy rode his bike over to the same Palestinian home and they
began cursing each other in Arabic. It escalated into an angry shouting match
with at least ten settlers, one with a baby carriage, outside and the
Palestinian family, inside the home, heaping insults and curses on each other.

Several settler women approached CPT members. One woman said, "Nazis. Go to
Auschwitz. You want to kill Jews. Go to Auschwitz."

Hakim replied, "I have been to Auschwitz. I saw it. I know you
suffered. But why do you punish those who live here?"

A few moments later another woman came close to Kaufman and said, "Nazis. Get
out of here. You want to kill us all. Why don't you go to Auschwitz, you
Nazis. Go back to Europe. Go home. You are colonists, Nazis." Kaufman
looked quietly at the woman, taking notes. Shantz replied, "We are not from
Europe."

The woman asked, "Where are you from?" Shantz said, "Canada and the US. . .
You know, one of our own members -- his uncle was in Auschwitz. We do not hate
Jews."

The woman replied, "Oooh. One person goes to Auschwitz and
you like Jews. So what. You still want to kill all the Jews -- with a
smile. You want to kill settlers and soldiers . . . with a smile. You want to
kill us with a smile. We will kill you. We will kill you all. Go to hell with
all your mother and father and family. That is where you belong."