A Weekend in the South Hebron Hills

Complete with a loveable cast of activists, soldiers, settlers, shepards, rowdy children, puppies, and Fox News reporters.

So my weekend did not in fact start out in South Hebron, but in Ramallah on a Friday morning, when there is absolutely nothing to do, because of Musilm Friday prayers.  The only people around are internationals on their way to Bil'in, the town of a major weekly demonstration against the wall (Taxi drivers shout "Bil'in! Bil'in!" as they drive around al Minara, the central square.  Aby and I got a ride with a friend who it turned out was not going to the demonstration in Bil'in, but in Nil'in, a village known for violent and terrifying demonstrations.  After Aby and I panicked in the back seat, her friend realized that he could easily drop us off at Bil'in instead. 

Internationals gather downtown, and an ambulance prepares to treat anyone who suffers from excess tear gas inhalation.  The Israeli group "Physicians for Human Rights" has been coming to Bil'in to give First Aid trainings to residents.

We arrived at the center of the town, where internationals gather before the march.  This is always a fun beginning, because I always reunite with activists whom I've met at past demonstrations and events in the West Bank.  I even met up with SCB's own Kaamila!  Although the small size of the international and Israeli activist group is saddening, it creates a nice sense of community.

The town of Bil'in is full of posters saying "Goodbye Bassam," for a Palestinian from Bil'in who was killed a few months ago at the demonstration, after being hit in the head with a tear gas canister.  He is now a symbol of resistance in the town, and has actually increased the international prominence and attendance of the demonstrations.

Marching through olive groves toward the fence, holding flags of Palestine, Bassam, and various political parties.

Fox News is on the scene, doing what it can to portray the peaceful protestors as supporters of terrorism.

Protesters open the gate leading to the fence, and squeeze against the fence. 

Onlookers stand atop a giant mound of garbage, Palestine's preferred garbage disposal system.

This week at Bil'in, soldiers unveiled a crowd control weapon in addition to the usual tear gas.  They sprayed a chemical onto the crowd that smelled exactly like feces.  Some people became drenched in the chemical and vomitted.  Others ran away.  As painful as tear gas is in the short term, I think it is by far preferable to this weapon. 

After the demonstration, I went back to a house in Bil'in where about a dozen International Solidarity Movement (ISM) volunteers were staying, and we all smelled absolutely disgusting.  Taking turns showering, we soon realized that water only made the smell worse, even after excessive scrubbing with soap.  We tried to maintain enough of an appetite to eat lunch, hungry but nauseous from the stench.  We tried to expose ourselves to other smelly substances: sunscreen, bug spray, food sauces, or cigarette smoke.  The smell eventually wore off, but gave us an unpleasant yet hilarious experience.  It is a new kind of bonding, to be stuck in a room with lots of smelly people!

Kaamila and I joined members of the Palestinian Solidarity Project (PSP, different from ISM!) on the way to Susya, a village in South Hebron where shepards are being kicked off of their grazing lands because of settler outposts.  Our "affinity group" (a small activist group that watches out for eachother amidst larger demos or events) held two PSP kids named Devon (from Chicago) and Maha (from Berkeley), as well as Dela, an ISM kid also from Berkeley. 

We took a long and beautiful ride in a service taxi from Ramallah to Hebron, through winding cliff roads and sandy, desert-like hills.  We were dropped off in the town of Yatta, where a dozen young boys surrounded us, amused by our American selves and yelling in our faces in Arabic, while we waited to be picked up by Nasser, a volunteer coordinator from Susya village.

Devon and I rode in the back of Nasser's pickup truck, through the desert under the brightest stars I've seen yet in Palestine.  It was a good time to reminisce about the Conflict and our role in it....but you don't want to hear about that now, do you!

Soldiers take Nasser's lisence plate to scan

In the middle of the desert, Nasser was stopped by a tank of soldiers, who questioned him about his Israeli lisence plate (he has a Palestinian ID).  They questioned him in Hebrew for quite a long time, presumably worried about the truck full of internationals on their way to the village, since Susya is often a site for actions.

Checking his ID...

Finally, we passed the soldiers, taking a detour in another village to avoid the soldiers.

We finally got to Susya, where we went to sleep quickly.  The next morning, we woke at 5:30 to escort the shepards and their sheep.  Often, soldiers keep the shepards off their own land, because it is declared a closed military zone due to nearby settlements or settler outposts.  Sometimes, but rarely, settlers try to get Palestinians off the land themselves.  A group of 7 internationals went with them to act as witnesses to any illegal activity.  Usually, as long as internationals are there, no trouble occurs.  The whole time, though, we could see soldiers watching us and the sheep on adjacent hills, but that had little effect on the incredibly peaceful feeling we had with the sheep under the sunrise.

Me and my best friend Bush, one of the Susya shepard dogs

The gorgeous Susya hills beneath the rising sun.

The next morning, we prepared for an action in coordination with Ta'ayush, a joint Palestinian-Israeli peace group that focuses their efforts in South Hebron.  We were going to the top of a hill, owned by the Palestinians in Susya village, where settlers had established an outpost, and have a picnic!  This was mainly a photo opportunity, to show the media that Palestinians and internationals are not allowed to eat together on their own land.

Actions in South Hebron are usually kept secret, because the army tends to stop them before they happen.  But today, that didn't work so well.  Two buses of activists were stopped on the drive from Jerusalem, and 20 Israelis were arrested.  This was especially problematic for those of us staying in Susya, because the arrested activists had all of the food!

A few cars dozen activists got through by walking through the hills rather than driving, so we finally started our action, with a smaller group than planned.

On the outpost, we start our delicious picnic!

The soldiers arrive...

Ezra and I enjoying some grapes as the soldiers monitor us from behind.

The soldiers order everyone to leave.  A few Israelis refuse to get up, and are immediately arrested.

When things cooled down, we returned to Susya village to rest.

Kaamila picking fights with innocent Susya boys...

And losing.

But we are all friends anyways.

Now, we started action number two for the day.  We went to a settler outpost recently established outside of Qiryat Arba, a mainly Russian settlement near Hebron.  This outpoust has already been demolished twice...which shows that the authorities acknowledge its illegality.  Yet soldiers still protect them and allow them to stay. 

A soldier guards the outpost.  You can see rows of Qiryat Arba houses in the distance.

We visited the outpost, and began by making conversation with the settlers who hung out there.  As hard as we tried to be polite, it was hard to get pasd the confrontational nature of activists vs. settlers!  Soldiers finally came and stood between us and the settlers, although we had just as much legal right to be there as them.  I decided to make use of my most polished Hebrew sentence, "Efshal layla-tev et ha kelev shelchah," meaning "Can I pet your dog?", and pursued two adorable settler dogs.  One settler (pictured below in the blue shirt) was very protective of his dog, and continually called the soldiers over to "protect" it.  Too bad for the settler, because the dog loved me a lot more.

This dog is very bad for associating with Smolaneem (lefties)!

After a half hour of arguing with the soldiers as they told us to leave, they agreed to kick out the settlers as well!  This was, of course, a small victory, because they will certainly come back tomorrow.  But still, it was a victory!  In front of international and Israeli media cameras, the authorities enforced an often-neglected Israeli law.  We celebrated as we were escorted down the hill, settlers and activists together.  Peace was finally accomplished!  Just kidding.

Settlers, soldiers, and activists leaving the closed military zone.

The next day in South Hebron was back to usual ICAHD busineess: visiting villages in South Hebron to plan our building project.  But more of that later.  I'm sick of blogging.  Bye!