"I hate what they are doing to my religion"

This Saturday at 5:00 PM, we went to observe and document an event that happens in Hebron almost on a weekly basis. It is the settler tour.

During this time, Israeli settlers from Hebron and other settlements come into the Old City to have a historical tour. It is true that Hebron has both a Jewish and an Arab history, and Jews have lived in Hebron until 1929. Their lives were interrupted by a brutal attack that was carried out by some Palestinians, who lived outside the city and came inside determined to drive out or kill its Jewish inhabitants. Most of Hebron's Palestinians played no part in this, and many hid their Jewish neighbours from the killers. Nevertheless, between 67 and 69 Jews from Hebron were killed that day, and the rest were later evacuated. Every Palestinian I have spoken to in Hebron condemns this crime that took place in the past.
When the West Bank was conquered in 1967, the Israeli government urged settlers to move into it, in an effort to take Palestinian land and resources, and create population centres of Israelis that would be large enough to be impossible to remove in the case there ever was a two state solution.

Israeli settlers in the West Bank are given subsidies to live there and are encouraged to build homes, whereas Palestinians are often denied permits and face demolitions if they build their houses without them. Whereas many Palestinians struggle with water shortages, many settlers have swimming pools. Settler attacks against Palestinians happen often, and frequently go unpunished. The attacks most often involve vandalism, arson, insults and heavy beatings. Sometimes they also result in murder.
During my time with ISM in the past 6 years, I have witnessed the aftermath of three settler attacks on Palestinians. In not one of them was any real effort made to arrest the perpetrators.

Many of the settlers in the West Bank come for economic reasons, since living in the West Bank costs less because of the subsidies given by the Israeli Government. Others move in for religious reasons, believing that Judaism teaches it is their duty to settle the West Bank (which they call Judea and Samaria) and if possible, make its Palestinian inhabitants leave. Of course, Judaism teaches no such thing, but religious extremism and thinking rarely go hand-in-hand. Some of the most ideologically driven settler extremists live in Hebron, and make Palestinian lives hell.



During the settler tour, a group of a few dozen settlers marched through the Old City. They were comprised of people of all ages, many of them youth. They were surrounded from all sides by Army and Border Police personnel, and many looked very unhappy that we were there. .

Palestinians trying to get home in many cases had to ask soldiers for permission, though these soldiers were less rude and obstructive than other ones in the past. Nevertheless, there was a high tension in the air throughout, The shopkeepers were understandably worried, and many closed down for the day. Some of the small Palestinian children were scared, and a female ISMer escorted them through the crowd of soldiers. In the past, some of the touring settlers and the soldiers guarding them have started fights with Palestinians, or have deliberately blocked people from going to their places of work and their homes for long periods of time..
Although no one was physically hurt, the people in the market were definitely inconvenienced by this event.

The tour ended fortunately rather uneventfully, and we went home once the soldiers escorted the settlers back to their base.

During the tour, we ran into some international volunteers who work with Palestinian kids, leading English lessons. They and their young students were in Hebron that day, and the kids were made to stand or sit against the wall.
Later, one of the volunteers, who identified himself to us as Jewish, came forward. His voice almost shaking with anger, he told me "I hate what they are doing to my religion". He also expressed an interest in joining ISM at some point, and we told him to check out the site for details. Perhaps we will soon have a new volunteer..