Harassed in Hebron

It seemed perfectly scripted if one had wanted to embarrass the settlers: a peaceful walk to the Tomb of the Patriarchs that gets disrupted by armed zealots and the unjustifiable arrest of peace activists, all done in the presence of a host of photographers. Except that our intention in visiting Hebron was simply to observe and learn about one of a number of points of conflict in this very troubled part of the world. And indeed we did.

We had just had a light lunch within a stone’s throw of the Tel Rumeida settlement. Passing Abraham’s Well, in which a few young kids were bathing, we moved past racist graffiti to Al Shohada Street. Being “sterile”, it is lined with closed shops on the one side, and the Islamic Cemetery on the other, and is devoid of any Palestinian vehicles. Eerily quiet, we walked down towards the deserted wholesale market area.

While we were listening to a resident of the street, who had caught our attention from her fenced-in balcony, speaking from her largely unused front door, a police car drove past. Within a couple of minutes, we were joined by a couple of slightly bemused settler women, one of whom was pushing a pram. Then the police returned, urging us to move on, which we did. But our efforts to advance were frustrated by settlers with a loudhailer, loud voices and abusive language.

Within a few minutes, the crowd had grown — women, children and older men. In addition to the police (who have jurisdiction over the settlers, Israelis and tourists), we were soon joined by a number of soldiers (who have jurisdiction over Palestinians) — some on the street behind us, with a couple up on the roof of an adjoining building. And before anyone knew what had happened, our three Israeli guides were arrested by the police and removed. They would be released unharmed a few hours later.

Without our guides, we moved on, stopping near the tomb to regroup and reflect. At this point, we started to speak to some settlers, including the American-born Baruch Marzel. His Jewish National Front, which received less than 0.8% in the 2006 elections for Israel’s Knesset (Parliament), calls — amongst other things — for a state run according to Torah laws, the “encouragement” of Arab emigration and the expulsion of Israel’s enemies, defined to include terrorists, terrorism sympathizers and those who call for the destruction of Israel. I suppose this includes those calling for a single democratic state for all in the territory of Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.

Marzel’s hatred is not limited to Palestinians and so-called self-hating Jews. In November 2006, he threatened violence against lesbian and gay people: “The stabbing incident during last year’s parade will seem minor in comparison with what is anticipated this year. We have to declare a holy war … [and] stop crimes in Jerusalem and acts of sodomy.” Our group in Hebron included six gay men, a good number of whom spent some time trying to engage Marzel. Luckily we had other matters to discuss.

Just before we left, Marzel “apologised”. He said we were welcome to return, provided we did so without our Israeli guides who, in his view, were simply using us to advance their questionable agenda. Many of them are former soldiers who served in Hebron, with two of the main organisers also being practising Orthodox Jews. This, it appears, is what really irked Marzel and his goons. As one of them told me when I was identified as Jewish: “Some of the worst anti-Semites are Jewish.” The self-hating label, it appears, is a widely used tool.

From the dusty streets of the twilight zone, we headed back to Jerusalem and our afternoon meeting with the President of the Supreme Court. We raised various concerns, including the security/separation wall/fence/barrier, the legal status of the settlements and the enforcement of court orders against the state. Justice Beinisch responded as could be expected, leaving us disappointed albeit unsurprised. She was somewhat charming, overly lawyerly and largely predictable. Like her fellow citizens in Hebron, she too stuck to the official script. At least there were no cameras.