Eyewitness report from Christian Peacemaker in Hebron

Palestinians waiting to go through Ibrahimi Mosque checkpoint

As we are coming out of the Ibrahimi mosque where the tombs of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob and Leah are located, two young Palestinian women from Abu Dis were coming to pray. An Israeli soldier pointed a gun at one of the girl's heads and she said: "Don't shoot me! Don't shoot me!" Muslim guards intervened and the Border Police arrested them for interference. They also arrested the young women, tying their hands behind their back and blindfolding them.

Arrested for wanting to pray. Our Palestinian guide says: "It is bad when we are thankful for two girls being arrested, because at least they have not been killed." We are told we cannot go back through the checkpoint where all this is going on. The IDF does not want us to see them arresting innocent young women.

Just as Lazarus came out of the tomb with his grave clothes still on, the Palestinians of Hebron need the tight bands of military occupation and settler violence removed. Israeli soldiers and settlers are murdering them and the victims are mostly young people.

One of CPT's longest friends and partners died of tear gas inhalation two weeks ago.* The settlers rampage through Palestinian homes and shops. They beat Palestinians and kill them with no consequences.

Many Palestinian shops have been permanently locked or welded shut by the Israeli military because of Israeli settlements nearby. Palestinians have placed sheets and wire netting over the market below the settlement because settlers throw their trash, excrement and urine in to the market. The Israeli authorities have closed the main street in the city, Shuhada Street, to Palestinians. Those who are still trying to live there have had their front doors locked so they have to go in to their homes through the roof. Many of the Palestinian families with homes near the settlement have had their homes confiscated.

Stephanie from CPT shows us a video of the IDF arresting two boys, aged eight and ten years old. We see a ten year old in the market watching us. Our guide tells us he has been arrested many times. These boys have their childhoods stolen.

Our Palestinian friend says, "My mind can not think." She is too distressed by the violence. There is a demonstration in Hebron to demand that the Israeli military return eleven bodies of Palestinians that Israeli soldiers and settlers have murdered to their families. Our friend tells us the Israel charges the families thirty thousand shekels (about ten thousand dollars) to return the body of the loved one.

We hear soldiers shooting sound bombs and tear gas near our location. We realize we cannot leave from the market from where we came. We can leave Hebron, but those who remain have locked themselves in their homes, fearing the violence. I remember the words on the blackboard in the CPT apartment. "They tried to bury us. They did not know that we were seeds."

Be a witness; join a CPT Delegation. www.cpt.org/participate/delegation

* See: ICN 22 October 2015 -Holy Land: Doctor, peace campaigner killed by Israeli forces www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=28630