THE HEBRON MASSACRE - 7 LONG YEARS AGO SUNDAY

Abraham's dysfunctional family has had unbelieveable historical ramifications for which the focal point today is Hebron, site of Abraham's burial place, a religious site to both Jews and Muslim alike who are today quite literally at each other's throats. The Israeli occupation army is in charge of course; with Arabs and Jews now nearly totally separated, guns and knives at the ready.

There has been much violence in Hebron this century, most of it the result of the Jewish turn toward political and colonial Zionism. The small enclave of radical Jews living in Hebron today symbolizes for nearly all Arabs their oppression, and for fanatical Jews their Abrahamic "birthright".

The first two articles are what happened on February 25, 1994, are written by Muslim Palestinians and their perspective, and emotions, are deep and understandable.

The final article comes from a group of Christian Americans who have set up a "witness" presence in Hebron in recent years. For additional background information, especially about the agreement Yasser Arafat was coerced to sign with Prime Minister Netanyahu a few years ago -- http://www.MiddleEast.Org/hebron.htm

In the early morning of February 25th, 1994, one of the most heinous acts upon humanity occurred in the Palestinian town of Hebron. A Jewish zionist terrorist opened fire with machine-guns and grenades on men and boys while they were bowing and praying to God. This crime against innocent people not only occurred in the holy month of Ramadhan, but also in the Ibrahimi mosque, where the prophet Abraham is buried.

That frightful morning, over twenty-nine people were killed, and over one hundred wounded. The ages of those killed ranged from only eight years old, to over seventy years of age! The shear magnitude of how many people were affected in that act of racist hatred is almost incomprehensible. The women who lost their husbands and sons, the children who lost their fathers and brothers, etc, etc. For those who were wounded, even the most superficial wound leaves a scar for life. The high number of people permanently debilitated, or seriously physically or physiologically scarred, is distressing.

Ironically, this atrocity was committed by a person who hated others because of their race. This mass murderer was ironically in Hebron because of another person who hated others because of their race; Hitler.

The Isrealis have been granted land, money, and special privileges because of the so-called "Holocaust." In turn, they are creating a "Holocaust" for the Palestinian people. The Isreali soldiers and settlers desecrate every aspect of Palestinian life, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. These gun totting, trigger happy gangsters, kill and maim Palestinian men, women and children at the blink of an eye, and without a whisper of shame from the so-called, civilized, democratic governments, most notably, the United States.

To add insult to injury, the Isrealis receive more US aid each year than the victims of the Midwest floods, California earthquakes, and East Coast storms have in the last 10 years! I am sure the billions of dollars sent to the Isrealis each year, is of no comfort to the many of poor and homeless Americans forced to live and die on the streets because of the bankrupt welfare and public health care system in the US. The Isrealis also receive unlimited US veto power and support in the United Nations, that has not, nor probably never will be, paralleled.

Through hardship after tragedy, the Palestinian people have remarkably survived.

Their sheer will and determination for freedom, have been their only companion since 1948.

With heavily armed, Isreali soldiers and settlers occupying and stealing Palestinian land and lives, and the world turning a blind and ignorant eye, generation after generation of Palestinian children will continue to struggle with stones and hope, until true justice is practiced, and freedom is achieved.

The world must realize, that until the illegal settlements are dismantled, the refugees are allowed to return to their homes, and Jerusalem is the capital of the Palestinian state, peace will not be reached. The Palestinian dream is a simple dream, and the same dream of all peoples, to live in peace and freedom, and not under occupation and terror.

In the mean time, Isreali zionist terrorists, such as Barouch Goldstien, will have a free hand to continue their murderous rampages. (originally written March 16, 1994)

This week Palestinians commemorate the Ibrahimi Mosque Massacre. The murder of 29 Palestinian worshippers by the settler Baruch Goldstein in this sanctuary in February, 1994 was only the most tragic link in a chain of settler-violence against Palestinians in Hebron. An additional twenty Palestinians were killed by Israeli occupation forces who continued to shoot at those who were trying to flee the mosque, at those who were evacuating the injured, and at those who had gathered at the hospital in order to find out about their loved ones and donate blood.

During that weekend, seven Palestinians were killed and more than 200 injured as Israeli soldiers continued to fire at Palestinian civilians who were protesting daily throughout the Palestinian territories. In drastic measures which had not been taken for some time, twenty-one Plaestinians were killed by live ammunition from the Israeli occupation forces in the first six days following the massacre.

However, this was not enough for the occupation authorities. They went even further by imposing collective punishment upon the Palestinian residents of the Westbank and Gaza Strip: curfew on the majority of cities, towns and villages, and a total closure of the occupied territories preventing entry into Israel and Jerusalem. The city of Hebron continued to be under 24-hour curfew imposed immediately after the massacre.

The settlers in Hebron and Kiriat Arba, aided by the Israeli occupation forces, have terrorised the city's Palestinian population for the last 30 years. Hebron's absurd reality is that the presence of 450 Israeli settlers dictates the lives of 120,000 Palestinians, and the illegality of the settlements under international law. Reports and pictures showing settlers beating Palestinians, destroying their property, upsetting vegetable carts in the market, and shooting and rioting have been published in most media. They even permitted reporters to photograph them doing target practice and military exercises inside the old city of Hebron. The Israeli occupation authorities gave them permission to do this, providing them with protection every Friday as the settlers made raids of terror throughout the streets of the city, under the guise of visiting Jewish sites.

For years, the entire occupied Palestinian territories have been subject to incessant, brutal actions carried out by settlers against Palestinians, all with the sanction of the government and the Israeli occupation forces who approved their establishing armed militias who have imposed a reign of terror on the Palestinians. Since the Oslo accord in 1993, the number of settlers in the West Bank and Gaza has doubled to 200,000, not including approximately 200,000 settlers now living in East Jerusalem. The building during Barak's government has actually escalated, with 14,000 settlers added and tenders issued for building 4,000 units last year alone, compared with 3,000 units a year built under Netanyahu. Compared to 1999, in the year 2000 there has been a 96% increase in settlement building.

Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have been increasing since the start of the current intifada in September 2000. These settlers have generally acted with impunity, as the Israeli military and court system historically have been reluctant to arrest, try, and punish settlers for violence they commit against Palestinian civilians.

As a result, settlers are virtually free to carry out intimidation, assaults against people and property, and even murder against the Palestinian population.

The existence of Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories violates both international law and particular international agreements Israel is signed on. According to Article 49 of the fourth Geneva Convention it is prohibited to transfer civilians of an occupying power to the territory occupied.

The Hebron massacre is not another milestone, like Deir Yassin, Ailaboun, Qibya, Kufr Qassem and other massacres of Palestinians, because the number of deaths is so frightening, but rather because it occured during the process in which parties were negotiating. Now, it seems that history repeats itself. Once again an entire generation sits and watches events as they unfold. The peace process was never neutral. The presence of settlers negates the Palestinian presence on their land, and their subjugation over them is part of occupation and colonialism. Palestinians are occupied under their occupation. There can be no mutual offers of condolences because the crime continues as long as occupation continues.

From Christian Peace Team (CPT), a witness group living in Hebron

Wednesday, February 14th - curfew Travelling back to Hebron from Beit Jala, CPTer Pierre Shantz was in a Palestinian taxi-van which was turned back several times by soldiers on the Israeli-controlled by-pass road. Finally the taxi driver tried a dirt road through the mountains, avoiding the by-pass road altogether. After driving 15 minutes, they came upon a mound of dirt blocking the road. Some Palestinians were already there digging away the mound. Shantz and others from his taxi joined in. Before they had it completely dug away, five soldiers drove up in a military jeep. The Palestinians ran for their cars, but Shantz remained to make his presence known as a foreigner. One soldier yelled at some of the taxi- drivers to come, and the commander ordered another soldier to aim his gun at the cars. Shantz immediately moved to stand by the soldier pointing the gun and said that if the soldier shot, Shantz would be witness to what was happening. "None of the people here have weapons. They are only trying to live their lives", noted Shantz. The soldier repeatedly swore at Shantz, but did not shoot. When all the taxis had gotten out of the area, Shantz left and caught up with his taxi- van which had waited for him at the bottom of a hill. The passengers in the van said that this was one of the lucky times, other times soldiers had fired on vehicles leaving checkpoints.

As Shantz continued on his way back to Hebron, he passed the Israeli settlement of Efrat and saw about 20 settlers, mostly teenagers, stopping Palestinian traffic. Israeli police were trying to push them off the road. While passing another checkpoint, Shantz witnessed Israeli police fire two canisters of tear gas into the crowd of people trying to walk across the mound of dirt blocking their way. Shantz finally made it back to Hebron after a taxi-ride of 2.5 hours. The ride usually takes 30 minutes.

Thursday, February 15th - no curfew in morning, re-imposed at noon Gunfire was heard at 5:00pm for a brief period, and heavy gunfire and tank shells were fired into the Palestinian neighbourhood of Hart isSheik at 8:00pm.

Friday, February 16th - curfew On morning patrol, CPTer, Rebecca Johnson, noticed that all the water pipes around the corner from CPT's apartment, on Shuhada St., had been punctured and water was spraying out of them. Johnson questioned soldiers stationed nearby and they reported that the water had been spraying out since the beginning of their shift at 7:00am. The water pipes and sewage system on Shuhada St. were installed in 1997 by USAID as part of the Hebron Accord.

In the afternoon, Bob Holmes accompanied Human Rights Watch investigator, Peter Bouckaert, to meet with the U.N. Commission on Human Rights regarding abuses in the Occupied Territories. The U.N. vehicle, however, was unable to get into Hebron and the meeting was postponed.

At 3:00pm, Holmes and Jamey Bouwmeester observed a large crowd of settlers on Shuhada St. near the CPT apartment. Investigating, they discovered soldiers restraining many male settler teenagers. In total, there were 46 soldiers at the scene. When the Israeli police came, one adult male yelled continuously at them. No one was arrested, and the street cleared after an hour. Soldiers informed Bouwmeester and Holmes that settlers had been trying to go up into the Palestinian- controlled neighbourhood of Abu Sneineh.

Gunfire began at 8:15pm and continued sporadically until 8:30pm. Two un-armed Palestinian civilians were killed in the shooting. One Palestinian woman was shot through the side of her car as she returned from a wedding.

Saturday, February 17th - curfew The CPT delegation arrived in Hebron in the morning, and left the apartment to meet with local Palestinian Human Rights workers in the early afternoon. At 2:00pm, heavy gunfire was shot into the main Palestinian intersection of Baab Azawia. A round of shots was also fired into Hart isSheik, after shots were fired from that neighbourhood at one of the Israeli settlements.

Shooting began again at 4:45pm into Hart isSheik, just behind the office in which the delegates were meeting. CPTer, Anita Fast, checked the streets and realized that it would be safe returning to the CPT apartment via Shalallah St. since the gunfire would be fired across and above the street, not down it. When there was a lapse in the gunfire, Fast and the delegation quickly left the office and hugged the side of the street closest to where Israeli soldiers were shooting from, keeping Bouwmeester (who was back at the apartment) on the cell phone as they progressed. There were no rounds of gunfire while the delegation was on the street, but another round was fired minutes after all were safely back in the CPT apartment.

Sunday, February 18th - curfew was lifted from 8:00am - 1:00pm While taking a taxi to the Beqa'a valley, the CPT delegation was re- routed through several other Palestinian villages to avoid military roadblocks. A trip which usually takes 5 minutes, took nearly an hour.

Monday, February 19th - no curfew Shantz and Bouwmeester, returning from Bethlehem, reported that the number of soldiers and tanks along the by-pass road was greatly increased, and that all Palestinian roads connecting villages to the highway were blocked.

Shantz and Johnson went to Beit Jala after receiving a call from a Palestinian woman who reported that her daughter's home had been hit by gunfire and missiles the night before. CPTers documented the damage on video camera. The living room had a large hole through the wall, and shrapnel had destroyed everything inside. Nearly all the windows were shattered by bullets, and even the windows in the room where the family was hiding since they thought it was the safest place, had its windows broken due to the impact of one of the explosions as missiles hit their home.

Tuesday, February 20th - no curfew in morning, reimposed at noon The CPT delegation visited a family in the Palestinian neighbourhood of Abu Sneineh which is often shelled by the military. The family showed results of mortar and gunfire, and spoke about the fears of their four children.

At 10:00am, Fast received a call about a home demolition which was taking place in Beit Ummar. Fast and Bouwmeester immediately departed for the village, and called delegation leader, Rich Meyer, to have the delegates meet them there. When Fast and Bouwmeester arrived, the military had already declared the area a closed military zone and were not allowing anyone close to the home. Fast and Bouwmeester recorded the event on video camera, and spoke with both Palestinians and soldiers about what was happening. Meyer and the delegation, along with CPTers Johnson and Art Arbour, arrived about an hour later. Two partially-constructed homes were demolished. (See Release: Israeli Occupation Forces Demolish Homes)

Upon returning to Hebron, CPTers learned that at noon, a Palestinian woman stabbed an Israeli settler near the settlement of Beit Romano. The settler, who was a Yeshiva student, was lightly wounded, and the woman was arrested. Curfew was imposed immediately afterwards.

Mid-East Realities

www.middleeast.org

Source: http://www.middleeast.org/articles/2001/2/82.htm