Den där stängda gatan

Fem år sedan jag skrev om den stängda gatan i Hebron. Idag lånar jag text av en annan följeslagare på plats - Maria Kabatanya

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Open Shuhada street day 24 februari 2012

Separation
We walk on a winding, tarmac road leading up the hill to the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba.1 Palestinian homes line the street to the left and right. Checkpoints and watch towers, manned by Israeli soldiers, are a recurrent sight. A group of soldiers look down the road from the rooftop of a building ahead of us. They watch the Palestinians and Israeli settlers walking on the road. They watch us in our EAPPI vests.2 Israeli army jeeps and settler cars occasionally pass us on the road. It is a road that, despite the abundance of Palestinian homes in the area, only a few Palestinians with permits are allowed to drive on. It is a road that setters can use as they please.

It is late Saturday afternoon. Young Israeli soldiers stand at different locations along the road leading up to the settlement, all the way up the hill. Guns close to their chests and hips. The green silhouette of their army uniforms and berets stand out on the horizon, that’s otherwise dominated by the grey colour of the wire fence enclosing the settlement they guard in the background. The tarmac road leads up to both Palestinian houses and to the settlement. Two settlers make their way down the road from the settlement. Chatting as they approach and greet the soldiers. A group of Palestinian women make their way down the hill from a house just outside the settlement fence. Unlike the settlers, the women do not use the road. Walking instead on the hilly fields on the side of the road. For they are not allowed to use the road on Saturday.

A line of concrete blocks form a boundary line between the tarmac road and Palestinian homes to the side of the road. Two Palestinian boys with a bicycle make their way down the hill. Negotiating the stony, uneven surface of the path to the side of the concrete block. For they are not allowed to walk on the road. The boys approach an area where an Israeli soldier stands. The settlers approach the same area on the tarmac road. The soldier signals for the boys to stop. He escorts the settlers for a short distance as they pass by. The boys are allowed to continue on only when the settlers are at a distance. And they are only allowed to walk on the side of the concrete barrier. Not on the road. We witness separation.

We approach the soldier and ask why the Palestinians have to walk in the fields and on the ditch-like path on the side, while the settlers use the road. “It is the Sabbath today and the settlers are on their way to pray so only they are allowed to use the tarmac road. We do not want trouble. We keep the Israelis and Palestinians apart so that nobody gets attacked by somebody. That is why the Palestinians are not allowed to use the road on Saturdays”, he explains.

It is the story of a policy of separation. A scenario that is not unique to this particular road in Hebron. We witness it on Al Sahla street, where Palestinians are not allowed to walk on the road. Using instead a narrow walkway separated from the tarmac road which is reserved for settlers. Israeli soldiers stand at checkpoints on this street and fiercely enforce this policy. Any Palestinian that would attempt to walk on the road is normally shouted at and pushed back by soldiers. Palestinians with homes along Al Sahla street must have permits which they must show the soldiers in order to be allowed on this street, in order to access their homes.

We witness the separation policy also on Shuhada street.3 On parts of it Palestinians are allowed to walk, but not drive. On other parts of it Palestinians are forbidden to both walk and drive. Settlers can use the entire length of the street as they please. What once used to the commercial center of Hebron, a thriving, bustling street, has for years been closed to Palestinians by Israeli military order.4 It has, since the year 2 000 been forbidden for Palestinians to walk and drive on most parts of Shuhada street. Not just on Saturdays, but everyday. We witness a policy of separation in the name of protecting the settlers.5 Separation in the absence of, in the place of enduring peace.

Maria Kabatanya, Hebron

1 Settlements are communities that have been built on land occupied by Israel in breach of international humanitarian law. Settlements have been built in the Occupied Palestinian Territories during the 40 year occupation, with political, military and and financial support from the Israeli government. Settlements have been built on land confiscated from Palestinians through military order. http://www.diakonia.se/sa/node.asp?node=971

2 The Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) brings internationals to the West Bank to experience life under occupation. Ecumenical Accompaniers (EAs) provide protective presence to vulnerable communities, monitor and report human rights abuses and support Palestinians and Israelis working together for peace. When they return home, EAs campaign for a just and peaceful resolution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict through an end to the occupation, respect for international law and implementation of UN resolutions. http://www.eappi.org/

3 Closures, http://www.tiph.org/en/About_Hebron/Hebron_today/

4 Shuhada street, The Dying Heart of Hebron. http://www.eappi.org/index.php?id=75735 Hebron City Center, http://www.btselem.org/hebron