We, as members of civil society in Hebron, call on our international partners to take action and join in the campaign Dismantle the Ghetto, evacuate the settlers out of Hebron.
This campaign coincides with the anniversary of the Ibrahimi Mosque Massacre of 1994. It commemorates the hundreds of lives lost and the thousands of lives permanently impacted by Israel’s illegal military occupation. Hebron is a symbol of the issue of settlements, the policies of separation, and the problems of freedom of movement across the entire West Bank.
The Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF) continue their strategy of pressuring Palestinians to leave their homes in Hebron city center and replacing them with Jewish settlers.
The IOF enacts this pressure through the closure of markets and streets, blocking roads, maintaining military checkpoints, and subjecting Palestinian civilians to martial law. The application of martial law is often expressed in the form of random searches and detention without charge.
The IOF closed Shuhada Street in Hebron to Palestinian vehicles in 1994 following the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre, when American-Israeli Baruch Goldstein opened fire on Palestinian worshippers. A member of the terrorist organization Kach, Goldstein killed 29 Palestinians and wounded another 125. Despite the fact that this act of violence was committed by a Jewish ultranationalist terrorist organization and directed against the historical Palestinian community of Hebron, it was Palestinians who paid the price. This precedent of punishing Palestinians for the acts of settlers would continue. A policy of indiscriminate restrictions on Palestinians followed, as the Israeli military imposed curfews during the 2000s and closed more streets from Palestinian access.
It is important to recognize that the conditions in Hebron serve as a case study for what is occurring throughout the West Bank; the violent and discriminatory policies of the Israeli military that only exist to uphold the larger settler-colonial interests of the State of Israel.
The strategy of collective punishment has continued until today. In November 2015, the IOF declared the Tel Rumeida neighborhood of Hebron a closed military zone, allowing only Palestinians living there to enter the area. The Israeli military denied all other Palestinians and international human rights organizations access to this part of the city.
Today, the Israeli military has closed more than 500 Palestinian stores by use of military orders in the center of Hebron. The Israeli military’s policies have forced out thousands more by evicting people from their homes, setting up checkpoints, allowing for constant harassment by Israeli settlers and soldiers, and promoting structural and physical violence–all while settlers living next door in the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba enjoy the freedom of movement.
After years of escalation by the IOF and settlers, Palestinians will not be able to live normal lives in Hebron as long as illegal settlement processes continue. It is important to recognize that the conditions in Hebron serve as a case study for what is occurring throughout the West Bank; the violent and discriminatory policies of the Israeli military that only exist to uphold the larger settler-colonial interests of the State of Israel and its government.
We are a Palestinian-led initiative aiming to mobilize international solidarity groups with Palestinians from Hebron in their struggle to live in peace in their own city.
We call all our friends across the world to be part of this campaign.
If you are willing to join in your city or on your university campus, please get in touch with us and follow us on our Facebook page.
Protests and actions of the campaign demand the:
• removal of the illegal Israeli settlements from Hebron.
• removal of restrictions on movement throughout the Old City of Hebron
Here are some ways that you can get involved:
1. Demonstrations, marches, vigils, and flash mobs.
2. Organize a film screening about Hebron.
3. Arrange a lecture, workshop, or presentation.
4. Organize a BDS action.
5. Photo exhibitions about Hebron
6. Video messages to community forums, media outlets, and social media urging the international community to use diplomatic pressure to Dismantle the Ghetto, and to evacuate the settlers out of Hebron.
7. Letter writing and petitions to your country’s elected officials and Ambassador to Israel, asking them to intervene.
8. Close roads to show the public the effects of closing the main road in Hebron.
9. Visit Hebron to gain an understanding of the situation and the daily suffering of the people living there.
10. Any other non-violent activity you feel supports the cause: be as creative as possible!
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For the record re Hebron 1929 riots:
In 1925, Vladimir Jabotinsky, a Zionist zealot from Poland, founded the fascistic Betar or Brown Shirts along with the Revisionist Party (origin of today’s Likud) which advocated “revision” of the British Mandate to include forcible Jewish colonization of then Transjordan in addition to Palestine. Such Jewish extremism, along with the racist rants of Rabbi Kook & threats against the Dome of the Rock by Revisionist demonstrators led to the terrible & bloody riots of 1929.
Vincent Sheean, an eminent American journalist who arrived in Palestine as a pro-Zionist just days before the 1929 riots erupted, was shocked at what he saw: As he later wrote: “I was bitterly indignant with the Zionists for having, as I believed, brought on the disaster…. [W]hy couldn’t the Zionists leave it [Palestine] alone, it would never hold enough Jews to make even a beginning towards the solution of the Jewish problem; it would always be a prey to such ghastly horrors as those I saw everyday & every night….” (Vincent Sheean, “Personal History, New York.”
Hundreds of Hebron’s Jews were taken in & protected by Muslims. Tragically, 64 of Hebron’s Jews died, but 650 were saved. Throughout the country, total of 133 Jews were killed & 339 wounded while Palestinians suffered 116 dead & 232 wounded.
Bitterly ironic is the fact that most Jews living in Hebron in 1929 were anti-Zionist. They were the descendants of the Sephardim who had founded the city’s Jewish Quarter near the tomb of the Patriarchs in the 1500’s after Jews were expelled from Spain & then welcomed & given sanctuary in the Arab world. Their numbers increased somewhat during the early 1900’s with the arrival of Hasidim from Poland who came to study. Many Muslims who were driven out of Spain by the Christians also moved to Hebron. Prior to Zionism, Jews & Muslims lived together harmoniously in Hebron for 400 years with the Jews always forming a small minority. There were very few if any Christians in the city. (cont’d)
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In 1930, a report issued by a British commission of enquiry attributed the 1929 clashes to the fact that the Palestinians “have come to see in Jewish immigration not only a menace to their livelihood but a possible overlord of the future.” (Another 1930 British report, trying to find a way to reduce tension between Zionist alien Jews and native Palestinians, revealed that there was no additional land available for agricultural settlement by new Jewish immigrants.)
The friendship that existed between Muslims and Jews in Hebron was attested to by Israeli journalist, Chaim Hanegbi, whose great grandfather was the city’s last Rabbi: “My grandfather lived very peacefully with his Arab neighbours…. His family joined the grape harvest every year, and the [Muslim] neighbours cooked kosher food so the Jews could share the feasts with them.” (Canada’s Globe and Mail, February 18, 1997)
It should also be noted that in the spirit of reconciliation, Hebron’s mayor has stated publicly that he and his fellow Muslims would welcome the descendants of the city’s Jews if they choose to return and replace the Zionist fanatics who are now there.
BTW, according to the Palestine government (British Mandate), Jerusalem, 1945, Jews privately owned a mere one per cent of sub-district Hebron’s land. Palestinians privately owned 96% and state land comprised four per cent.
Dismantiling the Hebron Ghetto is exactly what the Israelis want, of course. They want to expel all the inhabitants and turn the Ghetto into another Jewish settlement.