First I wanted to tell you something that I forgot to mention yesterday. When you leave Bethlehem thru the Tantur gate, you go thru one checkpoint drive and have to stop 5 meters later to go thru another one. Ok, that's said.
I could write and talk about today for 3 months, but I unfortunately only have about 30 mins to do so. I will not be able to re read myself, so once more, apologies for the grammatical mistakes, typos...
This day has been amazing. Why? Hebron and the Bedouins.
Let's start with Hebron.
HEBRON
We met with R, an amazing woman from "Women in black" and ICAHD, Maschom Watch and pretty much every single organisation for a right justice. She had to hid at the back of the bus because Israelis are forbidden to go to the West Bank. The official reason is that the army cannot protect them there (quite funny when you know that the Israeli Occupation Forces are overly present in the West Bank). The real reason is that for the Israeli government the West Bank (Palestine) does not exist and that Israeli should not see what's taken place over there.
While reading, always keep in mind that Hebron is a Palestinian Town.
Hebron is famous for its really sweet grapes but even more for its ultra extremist Israeli settlers.
Around 40000 Palestinians live in Hebron old city (number is going down every year).
Around 400 Settlers live in Hebron old city (number is going up every year). They are mostly from the USA. They are protected by around 1500 soldiers. You've read correctly.
The first impression you get when arriving in Hebron is that it is an Israeli town. IOF soldiers every where, religious Jews walking around..quite stunning.
The second thing you notice is that there is pretty much a checkpoint or IOF outpost every 100 yards. It seems crazy, Orwellian.
I decide to go and talk to one soldier, standing at the entrance of the town. He seems friendly and is happy to talk to me (even if I film him). What a shock to discover that he speaks French fluently, his Lebanese (South Lebanon) and Christian on top of it. When I ask him what he is doing here, serving for the IOF, he answers that he always wanted to get into the IOF. He came to Israel 7 years ago, got his citizenship and joined the army. He has got one more year to go, tells me that his job is really boring, and that he cannot wait to quit the army and join the University in Jerusalem to study architecture. He seems like a really nice bloke, really friendly, even offers me some of his food. This man, I think to myself, could be my friend. Weird feeling.
I leave him and continue to walk following my group. We come across an IOF jeep arresting a Palestinian. They do not want us to take pictures, to film or talk to them. I walk a bit further and film. We then come across someone in jeans and runners but holding a machine gun? He is a settler, settlers are armed here. Bloody scary place. The normal and fast entrance to the old city has now been closed we therefore have, as everyone else to walk a lot more than necessary to get there.
He arrived to another IOF outpost and I talk to another IOF soldier. He is so young. He tells me that he really hate London. He also tells me to be really careful because after this outpost, it is Arab land, he cannot protect me there, and I will be in danger. It is like Irak, he tells me. Oh, by the way, He has never set foot in London and never really talk to Arabs, on the other side.
We then get to the other side, Irak, and what a surprise. So lively, full of life, people, cars....I talk to a really old Palestinian who does not seem to understand that it is not because i can say A salamu alaykum in Arabic, that it means that I'm fluent. Another Palestinian arrives and start translating. "Look, you have 2 foot, and 2 shoes. Can you put both feet in the same shoe?"
The other man tells me that he has plenty of Jewish friends, that he trades with them. He only wants to live a normal life. Nothing more.
We go around the old city, see the market with its net fixed on top (Settlers have bought houses surrounding the market and throw rocks, garbage..on the Palestinians doing their shopping. Rocks means rocks. We even spot massive bricks. Amazing.)
Just before we go, we talk to another IOF soldier, as young as the last one, who tells us. "life is hard here....for us" and "Are you for Israel?" When I tell him that I am here to try to understand and see the situation for myself he tells me that I cannot understand, and will never do. "Palestinians tried to stab us 2 days ago". He has got a bullet proof vest a gun and an M16. "I look stronger than them with all this gear, but it is not true". P from the group tells him "but you are stronger!".....we have to go unfortunately. I feel that we actually could have engaged in a really good conversation here.
Back to the bus. R tells us about another myth about Israel treating women as equals. Ben Gurion wanted, when Israel was created in 1948 family laws according to religion. No secular weddings in the country. If the man does not want to divorce the woman cannot do anything.
In anti occupation marches, most of the people are women. We leave Hebron. An amazing place. What a contrast between the Israeli part and the Palestinian one.
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