CPTnet
October 5, 1998
CPTERS HOLD CANDLELIGHT VIGILS AT CLASH SITES THROUGHOUT HEBRON
by Jake Kaufman

HEBRON,WEST BANK -- CPTers held lighted candles, sang songs, read scripture
passages and prayed for peace in the deserted streets of Israeli-controlled
Hebron (H2) on Saturday evening, October 3. They held five short vigils,
beginning in the burned debris left from a grenade attack on a car last
Wednesday, September 30, and moving to the sites where clashes have occurred
between Palestinian youth and Israeli soldiers.

After team members sang "Dona Nobis Pacem" at the first stop, they read the
following statement, "In response to the hatred that prompted someone to lash
out with a grenade; In response to Israel's blind search for "security" that
has led to the illegal collective punishment of curfew; In response to the
clashes caused by frustration and anger: we hold this candlelight vigil: We
sing songs of peace and pray for healing and justice in this divided city. .
. CPT condemns the individual act of terror that injured 24 people.
Violence of this kind is not only wrong, it is abhorrent. CPT also
opposes the continuing collective punishment of curfew that Israel
has imposed on the Palestinian population of H2."

As the team left, someone from Avraham Avinu settlement shouted, "Christians,
go to hell."

A soldier by the checkpoint near the CPT apartment muttered, "Ku Klux Klan" as
team members walked past with candles lit inside plastic cups. Further along,
two Palestinians informed the team that they could be mistaken for settlers
who often hold candles in plastic cups. The team then removed the cups from
their candles.