While we ate supper tonight, a call came in that Israeli soldiers were on patrol down the road and were stopping young men to check i.d.’s. Several of us left the table, grabbed our red CPT caps, and followed two of the longer-term CPT workers down the stairs and out into the street. Just a couple turns away on the narrow streets of the Old City (Hebron) we came upon the soldiers. The first thing we saw was a machine gun pointing our direction from around the corner of a building up ahead.
We came upon a patrol of 4 soldiers who had stopped a truck and were checking i.d.’s. These soldiers were a lot more up tight than the ones we came across a few nights back – probably a new rotation into the area. After they finished checking out the driver, they let him continue on and they started down the narrow road, stealthily going from windows to entry ways, swinging their machine guns around each corner, while six of us walked casually behind them in the middle of the road. What were they looking for? Did they think some Palestinian teenager is really going to try to directly confront a machine gun? Nobody has been causing trouble in the area. It’s just the routine.
Soon they stopped several young men and demanded identification. This is just a normal part of life here, but it just seems crazy, humiliating, degrading. Some of the men are put up against a wall and patted down. We move to get a better view, and a soldier tells us we must keep a greater distance. We ignore him. Do they have something to hide? If not, why do they care where we are? If so, then it needs to be exposed.
Two Europeans from a monitoring group that is officially sanctioned by the Israeli government show up. They are watching also, taking pictures. When the soldiers take a couple more young men around a corner to search them, one of the monitors walks boldly past the rear-guard soldier who is telling her to stop. She retorts that she is authorized to do this by the Israeli government and keeps going. The soldiers are not happy, but they don’t act to stop her.
We follow the patrol for twenty minutes, during which they stop a dozen young men (15-25 yrs old probably). This is a constant of life here for the Palestinians.
The local people tell us that they are happy we are here. The soldiers are less likely to harass and abuse detainees with international eyes and cameras watching. CPT has a good reputation with the locals, and this is why we received the phone call during supper from a shop keeper alerting us to the patrol. I’m grateful for CPTers who have served here over along period of time to establish these relationships.
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