Art and Mary's Travel Blog: Monday Hebron

Sunrise from the hotel balcony

Views along the way

In the district of Hebron there are 450,000 Palestinian residents. About 120,000 of these are in the City of Hebron. Hebron is a city subjected to intense occupation. The army, including elete units, is on every street corner . Palestinian streets have been designated as ares where commercial activity is no longer allowed and residents are not even allowed to use their doors that open to the street. Some are not accessible by Palestinian cars, some not even by Palestinians walking. It is a place where settlers force their way into Palestinian neighborhoods, evicting residents, protected by solders. All of the coercive power of the army and the settlers are used against Hebron citizens.

The first soldier to question us. She would not let Muslems pass through. We had to turn around and go a different route.

And on the next block, these soldiers said no Arabs could walk on the street. Our guide corrected them that no Palestinians could walk on this street and they finally relented.

An Israeli military vehicle

A Palestinian home with the door chained from the outside. Residents can only leave their homes through their roofs and find a way out through a bsck passage. Palestinians are detained in they are found on a street that was a bustling market.

This home was confiscated by settlers. When challenged, the army said no one could live in the house until the claim was resolved leaving the Palestinian family homeless.

This street was once a thriving marketplace.

This is the tomb of Baruch Goldstein, a settler, who on February 25, 1994 murdered 29 Palestinians and wounded 125 during prayers in the Cave of the Patriarchs before he was killed. The inscription reads something like "my God rest his soul and avenge his death".

The result of the occupation is 42% of residences are abandoned, 30% live in poverty, 70% are unemployment, 1800 of shops are closed. Pregnant women leave for safer areas after the 5th month because they can not get an ambulance if they need one.

We stopped by a Bedouin school that TOL funded. The school was founded by Amal Abu Alkhom, an amazing Bedouin woman who is director of "Bedouin Women for Themselves". The children greeted us with flowers they had made. Local aritsan items were for sale to support the school.