Settler Violence and Jerusalem Roadblocks

The Hebron settlers seem to be getting scarier and scarier. I was walking with a few others along a road that leads from the settlements to the Tomb of the Patriarchs, and the soldiers at one of the checkpoints stopped us, saying that we could go no farther, because the road is not safe for anyone who is not Jewish. It was interesting to hear that from an Israeli soldier.

We had a meeting with someone from the Hebron government who told us about settlers from Kiryat Arba (the largest settlement in Hebron) confiscating some Palestinian land and building a path from the settlement to Worshipper's Way. Worshipper's Way is the ancient path that leads to the Tomb of the Patriarchs. The story is that it was the path that Abraham walked. We went to inspect, and found the story to be true. The Hebron official checked with all the Israeli occupation authorities and confirmed that the settlers do not have any legal claim to the land.

Tomorrow some Palestinian Christian groups in Bethlehem are planning a march from Bethlehem to Jerusalem for Palm Sunday, complete with donkeys. The procession will challenge the Israeli military checkpoint that divides Bethlehem from Jerusalem and makes it impossible for Palestinians to get from one city to the other. CPT is one of the sponsors of this action and we will all be there. I am looking forward to Mass at the Church of the Nativity, which stands over the spot where it is believed that Jesus was born.

For me the march has great symbolic significance: the Palestinian followers of Jesus today cannot travel from Bethlehem to Jerusalem. Also, Jesus' own procession into Jerusalem had political as well as religious significance. He knew that if he went to Jerusalem he would likely be killed by the Romans, but he went anyway because he knew it was part of a mission much larger than his own life. I feel there is a parallel when we go to Tuwani: We know there is a high risk that Israeli settlers will attack us again, but we go anyway, sacrificing our safety for a cause much larger than ourselves.

There were three separate incidents with settlers in Tuwani this week. First 12 settlers came out of the outpost, one with a gun, and went after Palestinians farming and grazing. Rocks were thrown, but the army got there quickly and they left. A little later about 100 settlers came out of the settlement and occupied a hillside belonging to Palestinians. Then 50-60 Palestinians came out and stationed themselves on an opposite hill. The CPT and Operation Dove folks stationed themselves between the two groups, along with a large contingent of Israeli police and soldiers. There was a 2-hour standoff, until a high-ranking Israeli officer got them to disperse. CPTers spent their time trying to keep people from throwing rocks at each other. Some of the Israeli settlers are armed, but the Palestinians are not. Then the settlers started walking back to the settlement, when they turned off the road and occupied another Palestinian's grazing land, chasing his sheep away.

There is a nonviolent revolution with sheep happening in Tuwani right now, which is why the settlers are getting so concerned. With our accompaniment, shepherds are starting to band together to go in large groups to grazing land they have not been to for many years due to settler harassment. They are reclaiming land previously confiscated by the settlements, emboldened by our presence. This is important, because when the lines get drawn for the Palestinian and Israeli states, they are most likely going to use the de facto boundaries drawn as a result of settler violence and harrassment. Both sides, I suspect, are fully aware of this.