Hebron

The latter part of the today we journeyed to the West Bank and the town of Hebron which is has special significance because it is holds the tomb of Abraham. So, it is a place where the dysfunction family of Abraham can be at its worst. The town in a part of Palestine but yet there have been squatters there in settlements in random places in the town. Basically, these groups have come to this place, claimed their place, and refused to leave even though it is a part of Palestine. I think it is understandable that they want to have a presence here because of the tomb of Abraham. However, I don't know if this is the best way to do this. And, an intersting thing is that there are approximately 480 Israeli settlers and there are 1200 Israeli troops there protecting them!

Today the place was particularly charged for several reasons. First, a couple of people had been killed the day before because of this continuing conflict. Second, there was an Israeli settlement that had been ordered to leave by the Israeli government that was basically refusing to leave. These groups are very Zionistic and won't even listen to their own government. So, there was press near the area and people were nervous.

And then there was us. We somehow ended up here in the midst of all this conflict. The reason we were there was to meet the Christian Peacekeeper team. They were a group advocating non-violent resistence that seemed to use the civil disobedience as a main part of their method. We met up with two members of the team and then split into two groups to walk to their center in Hebron. It was quite the trip and I don't even know how to explain it. It was a mix of emotions and feelings from around us. First, there was a feeling of tension in the city due to the events and forced exit of the settlers. Also, there was this big group of Americans walking around through a part of the city that was predominantly Muslim and therefore we stuck out more than we ever had on the trip. It was even a bit more awkward for me being a minority in our group. There was a lot of staring and wandering eyes and I don't know what any of us were supposed to think in that situation. I myself was guarded and also a bit protective of the group so I was more alert to those around me. I do think part of the staring was due to curiousity. Either way, it was a difficult situation for the group and for our leaders.

We arrived at the Peacemaker's place which happened to be right there on the front lines. In other words, we were two blocks from where they were forcing the Israeli settlers to leave. So, there were soldiers with guns on the roof top right next to us. We looked out to the town from the roof, saw more soldiers assembling with press, and then watched them march off. We didn't have a clear view of the settlement which wasn't necessarily bad thing. We then went in a talked to one of the CPT team members for a bit and then ventured back to bus.

All in all it was a very odd experience. To some extent, it almost felt like we were being put on parade and marched through this very dangerous place and put in a situation of conflict just to show us off. It was also apparent that they weren't used to being responsible for a group of people. When we were up on the roof the CPT member that was with us mentioned that sometimes the soldiers would order them off the roof and that if they were to to that today that we would just "take our time getting off the roof." Umm, when two soldiers holding large guns tell me to get off a roof, there will be no hesitation. At the same time, they did really believe in what they were doing and you had to respect them for that. I may not have agreed with their methods but I'm glad there are people out there taking chances and in a time like this the Palestinians need all the help they can get.

Safetywise, I suppose I felt a bit threatened and there was tension in the air but it was never necessarily directed at us. And as for the leering comments or whatever the people were saying to us on the street, well, it's not like I don't hear those kind of things in English in the US or that people in the US don't do the same thing to travelers to our country. Maybe I'm naive but I do expect stuff like this when I am walking around a foreign county. I have had the same thing happen to me in Greece and I was almost more worried there. It's not that I'm not cautious or what not, I just think it was all blown out of proportion within our group. Either way, we were safe and it was a once in a lifetime experience that I was happy to have. And, hey, the roof we were standing on may have even been on the news last night. Peace everyone!