Living in a circus

Just wanted to share how Wednesday night went for ISMers in Hebron. After a whole day of relative quiet, things got very interesting again.

Around 10:00 PM that night, 3 Palestinian men were detained by the army after one of them got mad after a soldier made an offensive comment in Hebrew to some Palestinian women. The soldiers detained him, then settlers showed up and according to the Palestinians, pointed out 2 men who should also be arrested. The settlers were mostly teenager girls, and were laughing. Palestinian neighbours and internationals came out, asking the soldiers why the men were being detained. They threatened to arrest some of us for getting too close, and threw 2 sound grenades to disperse the crowd. The teenage settler girls at this time were laughing and taking selfies and photos with the soldiers, then shone flashlights in our faces when we were taking pictures. The men were eventually released.

We got back close to midnight, and received a call from a Palestinian shop owner and his brother that settler kids were breaking into a gated off alley where his store used to be before soldiers closed it down several years ago, but he had some of his belongings. We got down there with members from CPT and TIPH, and could actually see the teens coming down a ladder into the backlane. The DCO (District Co-odinating Office)- which is to be called so they can call the police- was called like 4 times both by the brothers and a CPT member. Not surprisingly, nothing happened. Exasperated, some of us ran to a nearby army base and notified a soldier on duty that settlers were breaking into a Palestinian store. The soldier is a young guy who I have seen before and is very polite, and I truly believe he means well. He immediately notified the others on the base. We made sure to thank him. They went on a leisurely stroll to where we were, and when they were there, the thieves came back and could be seen mucking around in the alley. One of the brothers saw them, and pointed them out to the soldiers. I actually caught this on tape. The soldiers slowly walked back to the base, and then nothing. Me and the CPTers followed them, and I asked the guy on duty if they are going to do something to stop the thieves. He said of course, it's his job. He also told me that the thieves are "just st**id kids, we'll catch them". Then we got a phone call from ISMers who were with the brothers, that the thieves could be seen a third time in the alley, this time climbing up the ladder, carrying sacks. The soldier notified his friends, and they slowly walked over the alley on the roofs, looking down. When they got to where we were, lo and behold, the thieves were gone. They told us they will investigate tomorrow and that many of the settlers "are only children who have backpacks and travel from place to place so it's hard for us", but they removed the ladder that was used to get down into the alley. I'm less worried about the settlers being caught (you have to be a realist at some point) and more about the possibility of the brothers getting arrested again, like they were last time, after their place was broken into.

This place is going to be hard to explain to people when I get home. To even begin to understand and function here without going crazy, it's necessary to set aside everything you know and expect about reason and fairness and common sense. Forget these things. They don't apply when you are dealing with the people who are in charge here. Those who have read my blog entry from 2 days ago may remember that one of the ISMers, when he was arrested and was in the police station, saw a portrait of a giant clown looking down at him. I can't help but think of Heath Ledger who played The Joker in the movie "Batman", and his famous line "why so serious". This place is like a circus sometimes, or some weird Kafka novel that doesn't make sense, and isn't supposed to. This whole situation would be funny due to its absurdity, if it wasn't for the fact that tens of thousands of people live here, and this isn't a movie or a video game. This is life.

These events are on mentioned on the blog:
http://mighty-stream123.blogspot.com/

Videos of the incident are still being uploaded.

I don't condone rock throwing or violence, and believe it leads to nowhere. But I'm beginning to understand what those people must be feeling who decide "screw it, I'm going to chuck a stone at these jerks", even if it means getting shot. And when they do, and they get hit, they wind up in the hospital or cemetery.

Alarmingly, Hamas is becoming more and more popular here, and many people support their rocket attacks on Israelis. That wasn't the case in 2010, the last time I was here. I believe obviously that Hamas' violence is wrong and sick, but I can't help think that a lot of the daily abuse and humiliation and injustice like of this sort, isn't what drives people into their hands.

Please pray for justice in Hebron and in the West Bank. The injustice here is a large cause of the violence. If Israel doesn't change its policies towards the Palestinian people, the Israelii people (who also are innocent civilians) may find themselves undergoing a lot more suffering.

Edited by TG12345 - 01 August 2014 at 3:17pm