At J Street, someone handed out a booklet of Breaking the Silence testimonies from the occupation in Hebron, published in 2008. An excerpt:
Testimony 37, Hebron
Once we were checking some woman. We didn’t want to. They went: “No, not a woman!” We don’t care. No one gets through. We delayed a woman for three hours at a checkpoint until she agreed to lift her blouse and be checked.
Which checkpoint was that?
The Pharmacy.
At night?
No. Daytime. Guys take her off to the side and say, “Lift your blouse, if you want to get through.” They sat there for three hours. Finally she gave up and said, okay.
What did you ask her to do?
To lift her blouse for the check. One of the soldiers said, “What, can’t she smuggle arms? If she wants to get through, she’ll lift her blouse.”
And she finally did?
Yes. She gave up.
There was no woman-soldier there?
Just men. No female soldiers in Hebron. As far as I know. Perhaps at the observation posts.
Remember that a theme of the Goldstone report (which you can get here) is the relentless assault on Palestinian dignity, especially of women. And it is the undercurrent too in that amazing video Adam Horowitz published today.
