CPTnet
December 26, 2002
HEBRON UPDATE: December 13-19
Friday, December 13
Curfew
Thursday, December 12, at approximately 8 pm, two
Israeli soldiers were shot and killed as they were
approaching the Tomb of the Patriarchs/Matriarchs.
Gunmen fired from the Jabal Johar neighborhood then
fled.
CPTers learned that the IDF (Israeli military)
bulldozed five homes during the night. The homes were
close to the site of the ambush and were inhabited,
although the Israeli military made claims that they
were vacant.
CPTers Kristin Anderson and Mary Yoder visited people
in the Jabal Johar area whose homes were near the site
of the November 15 ambush. One family’s house was
very cold because Israeli settlers had broken all the
windows. The family had put cardboard and rags over
the windows. They said they could not afford kerosene
for their heaters and three of the children were
barefoot. The children have rarely gone outside in the
past month, explaining that soldiers threaten and
point their guns at them. The family continues to live
day to day without a bathroom or kitchen because the
Israeli military demolished them. Across the street,
settler children have painted all the house fronts
with graffiti.
Anderson and Yoder visited the site of the prior
night’s ambush in the Jabel Johar area and
photographed the five houses that were destroyed in
the area. They saw one family sitting on a rooftop
overlooking the remains of their house. Families told
the CPTers that the bulldozers started knocking down
the outer walls around 5:30 am without warning. The
Israeli military then gave the families enough time to
get out before the rest of their homes were
demolished. Neighboring houses had water lines cut.
When one man attempted to get water, soldiers severely
beat him and did not allow an ambulance to escort him
for medical care.
The soldiers in the area told CPTers they could not
take pictures because the area was a closed military
zone. Israeli settlers, however, were allowed to take
pictures and came in a steady stream of cars. One
settler yelled out his window to the CPTers: “I’ll get
you someday.”
At 8:00 pm CPTers received a call requesting
accompaniment for a very ill baby close to the Beit
Hadassah settlement. JoAnne Lingle and Anderson
responded to the call, walking through a street full
of settlers since it was Shabbat. Anderson and Lingle
negotiated the ambulance’s arrival in the area. After
one to two hours, a soldier indicated that the CPTers,
along with the baby, the mother, and the mother’s
sister, would be allowed to walk to the Beit Romano
checkpoint to catch an ambulance. The group was
escorted down Shuhada Street where they were
surrounded by approximately 10 soldiers. An Israeli
doctor examined the baby. Four soldiers escorted the
mother, baby, and CPTers past more settlers on Shuhada
Street where they met the Red Crescent ambulance and
journeyed to the hospital. The baby was treated and
released. Anderson and Lingle were pleased to witness
the women’s excitement about the soldiers’ friendly
and polite treatment of them.
Saturday, December 14
Curfew
Lingle and Anderson accompanied the family with the
sick baby back to Al Alia hospital in Hebron, where
they were informed the baby will need surgery and will
be sent to a hospital in Jericho.
Kathie Uhler and Lingle responded to a call by a
distraught man who lives west of Hebron. He is
building a home on his land that the IDF claims is
agricultural and plans to destroy. The Palestinian man
said the land is part of a village and he has two
lawyers representing him.
Sunday, December 15
Curfew
LeAnne Clausen led a training for the International
Accompaniment volunteers in Beit Sahour.
Uhler and Lingle were walking from H1 to the Old City
when they noticed
new barbed wire strung across the entire four-lane
street connecting the Bab iZaweyya neighborhood to the
Old City.
At 11 am, Yoder and Anderson saw six soldiers entering
a neighbor’s house via the roof. Anderson and Yoder
asked the soldiers why they were invading the house.
One soldier attempted to confiscate Anderson’s film
but was stopped by another soldier. The soldiers found
old army tarps at the neighbor’s house, which the
neighbor buys when they are discarded/outdated. The
soldiers took many of the tarps for themselves and
spoke very harshly to the neighbor even though he had
the sale documents in his hands. The soldiers took the
man with them at gunpoint.
Anderson and Yoder spoke with soldiers at the Beit
Romano checkpoint. The soldiers accused Anderson and
Yoder of giving money to the “terrorists.” Yoder
stated that CPT is concerned about the inability of
Palestinians to get food during curfew. One soldier
responded by saying that if CPTers help people get
food, they are helping the “terrorists.” He said:
“These people should all starve and you should go back
to America.”
Monday, December 16,
Curfew
Anderson and Yoder met with Dr. Kamel at the
Palestinian Medical Relief Association. Dr. Kamel
stated that he has received calls from people in the
Jabel Johar neighborhood who have been without food
for weeks. The organization has food parcels and cars
in which to transport them but is unable to get
through the Israeli checkpoints.
Rick Polhamus and four CPT visitors arrived at Bab
iZaweyya to find a young man who had been beaten by
soldiers. The man was very traumatized and hysterical.
Polhamus sat with him and comforted him until the man
could talk. The man said he had been with his mother
when curfew was imposed and did not move quickly
enough to please the soldiers, because his mother has
bad knees. Two border police put him in a van and beat
him before dropping him off at the checkpoint. The
commander arrived and told Polhamus that they were
investigating the border police officers’ actions.
Tuesday, December 17
Curfew
Polhamus and three CPT visitors did early morning
patrol. Students were allowed to go to school but
soldiers stopped some teachers and adults, ordering
them to go home.
Lynes and Yoder spent the morning with the Palestinian
Medical Relief Organization transporting medicine from
a clinic near the Beautiful Mosque to the Community
Center. Medical personnel stated that people are too
frightened to go to the Beautiful Mosque clinic
because it is near a checkpoint. CPTers were able to
transport large quantities of medicines and did not
encounter the Israeli army.
Anderson and Lingle escorted a local Palestinian
pharmacist friend out of the Bab iZaweyya area after
he became confined to his store.
In the evening Polhamus, Greg Rollins, and Amanda
Gambill responded to a request to escort a woman to
the hospital during curfew. After the CPTers escorted
her, medical personnel at the hospital treated the
woman for chest pain and a high pulse rate. Due to the
lack of available rooms, she was discharged and CPTers
escorted her home.
Wednesday, December 18
At 4 pm Clausen heard soldiers shouting at neighbor
boys who were attempting to feed their chickens. The
soldier on the roof aimed a rifle at the 12-year-old
boy and his 8-year-old brother and continued
screaming. Clausen stood next to the boys and waited
for a foot patrol of soldiers to come. The roof-top
soldiers demanded that Clausen speak to them in Hebrew
but she replied that she didn’t speak Hebrew. When the
patrol arrived, the boys were allowed to feed the
animals.
Thursday, December 19
Curfew
John Lynes and Polhamus went to area of the new
settlement to investigate reports that police were
dismantling it. Hundreds of police were observed
dismantling the tents and buildings and removing the
caravan.
CPTers gave a tour to an Israeli woman’s group. On the
tour, one settler stopped his car and yelled at the
Israelis and CPTers, “You want to kill all the Jews!
Nazi! Nazi!”
At 5 pm Rollins and Lynes again accompanied the
neighbor boys feeding their chickens. Soldiers
separated the boys from the CPTers and confiscated the
CPTers’ IDs. Soldiers also confiscated Anderson and
Sue Rhodes’ IDs when they later arrived on the scene.
After much negotiation with the police commander, the
soldiers were reprimanded and ordered to give back the
IDs.
