by “D”
Twenty-five years ago Baruch Goldstein, a New York-born Israeli settler walked into the Ibrahim Mosque in Al-Khalil and opened fire, killing 29 Palestinians and seriously wounding more than 150. Today Goldstein is worshiped and referred to as “the Holy Saint” by violent extremist settlers in Al-Khalil. In his settlement of Kiryat Arba, there is a shrine built for him that is well tended and revered, visited often by settler tourists.
After the massacre in 1994, the UN Security Council published Resolution 904 which called for the establishment of an international presence “to guarantee the safety and protection of the Palestinian civilians throughout the occupied territory” and established a group of international observers throughout the city – the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH). TIPH successfully operated for 22 consecutive years as a result of The Hebron Protocol of 1997. The belief was that this presence would dissuade the settlers from unleashing further terror on the native Palestinian community. In effect, what transpired was little more than a speed bump as the settlers continued their crusade, albeit gradually, as they attempted to colonize Al-Khalil and erase the Palestinian soul from the city.
Al-Khalil is experiencing a historical moment, as earlier this year TIPH was forcefully removed from the area by the Israeli Government. Moreover, the day after Israel decided to remove TIPH, another international observer force on the ground in Hebron–EAPPI (Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel)–left Hebron after their personnel were targeted by a campaign of harassment from the right-wing fascist group Im Tirtzu. This has left only two international groups present in Al-Khalil to function as international protection, observer and education groups – the International Solidarity Movement and the Christian Peacemakers Team.
A group called Im Tirtzu, which has been described by the Israeli court system as a fascist organization, has been staging rallies in the occupied part of Al-Khalil to celebrate the removal of TIPH and EAPPI. Despite the fact that Im Tirtzu has a record of inciting violence against Palestinians and regularly engage in Islamaphobic rhetoric, they freely organized a rally of over a hundred settlers in February, and stormed down Shuhada street attacking Palestinian homes, under the watch and eye of the IDF and police. Sadly, this type of collusion between occupation forces and the most radical streams of the Zionist movement is all too common. The settlers feel galvanized by their recent victory against EAPPI and TIPH and have intensified their intimidation tactics. This looks like daily harassment and aggravation, to framing activists, to sticking up “wanted” posters of activists around the city, to death threats and physical attacks, all with the goal of hoping to force the remaining witnesses out of Al-Khalil.
The situation is worsening. What’s left of international observer and protection groups are being targeted and pushed out. Settlers are becoming emboldened, and more aggressive, collaborating with police and military to do their bidding. The most militant and aggressive of illegal settlers are organizing campaigns to chase out internationals and Palestinian supporters, having felt like their previous campaigns of terror had succeeded in removing TIPH and EAPPI. These groups are striving off this moment and using it as a political platform to further their Zionist agendas.
There is an increasing overall sense of unease in Al-Khalil, a lack of a feeling of security and safety. It’s becoming more and more common for areas to be declared closed military zones, for checkpoints to close down for hours on end and restrict people’s entry into their homes. We are seeing more invasions into the H1 area to terrorize people, stop and frisk, and fire off concussion grenades, rubber coated steel bullets and teargas for no apparent reason. There appear to be more roadblocks, construction and temporary checkpoints being established, more late night raids into peoples homes and the kidnapping of children. Overall there is a rise in targeted physical attacks on Internationals and Palestinian activists by both the IDF and rogue settlers. We even saw an execution of a Palestinian man in the streets in March. The UN seems like it’s struggling to find solutions and is too nervous to put observers in, fearing it’s far too dangerous.
The biggest war in Al-Khalil is the war on education, on shutting down the schools, a war on children. ISM volunteers in Al-Khalil spend most of their time attempting to accompany and protect students to and from school within the H2 areas. Everyday is a new struggle, a new tactic and strategy employed by the IDF, the police and settlers, to chase out or shut down international witnesses and to attack and harass the schools, their faculty and their students.
On the ground, there is a fear that there will be more demolitions, more closed zones, more land theft, and the shutting down of schools, and that all of this is tied to the increasing trend of collaboration between settlers and the Israeli Occupation in trying to force out the remaining international witnesses out. The Palestinians fear that the international expulsion is yet another stage in the planned ethnic cleansing of Al-Khalil. In this critical moment, Palestinians are being forced to have to fill the roles of previous international groups, becoming more organized and involved in protection and observation work.
In the wake of this exodus of teams critical to thwarting violent attacks against Palestinians by Israeli settlers and soldier it’s critical for ISM to sustain an international presence. ISM, CPT and various Palestinian groups have been working closer and closer together, building networks and coalitions to try to quell the issues at hand and deal with this desperate time. What is needed is more internationals, and more people willing to help contribute to this critical coalition building.
We ask the international community to come defend Palestinian human rights on the ground here in Al-Khalil. This is what has been asked of us by the people on the ground here. They want our support and welcome us with open arms and hearts. If you’re interested in joining the ISM team in Hebron, please contact us about an upcoming ISM training session in Palestine. It is a historical time in Al-Khalil, a new era of colonialism presenting an increasingly violent threat toward Palestinian lives, and also a new era of solidarity and close-knit coalition building. What can be heard from inside the checkpoints is a desperate call for international solidarity.
D was part of the ISM al-Khalil team in occupied Palestine from January through March of 2019.