in the middle east

Hebron represents one of the saddest and most harsh realities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is one of the larger cities in the West Bank, and is the major industrial production city in the Palestinian state. After the 1967 war, Israel took control of the city, and in 1979 Israeli settlers seized and moved into the center of the town. The Israeli military then divided the city into two sections: H1 the larger expanse of the city (about 150,000 Palestinians) and H2, the city center (about 50,000 Palestinians) came under Israeli military control to 'protect' the 400-500 settlers who refuse to leave the city. Thus, the city that was home to many thousands of Palestinians for centuries past has been turned into a place of hostility and violence (for a quick overview of the city's history, Click Here). We recently took a day long 'political tour' of Hebron with a guide from Jerusalem. He and his family have been threatened by Israeli 'security' officials because he gives these tours to Westerners, and so I cannot mention his name. We walked all around the city center and our guide showed us places and introduced us to people that epitomized the problems here. All the while, we walked along the border of the Israeli settlement that was heavily guarded. I could see heavily armed soldiers peering at us through camouflage nets and fences; it was rather eerie. The whole experience was quite disturbing: you could feel the tension in the quiet streets. Life in the H2 part of Hebron has become quite miserable for Palestinians: their children have rocks thrown at them and their homes are vandalized by the settlers (Click here for more info). The violence that has taken place here has even caused many Israeli soldiers here to band together in protest to the way the Palestinians are abused; their organization is called Breaking The Silence (see their website by Clicking Here). I really don't have much else to say, except that the Western Media does not typically represent what is actually happening in the West Bank under Israeli military occupation. The recent stirrings about re-engaging the Israeli-Palestinian peace process may be a cause of hope for some, but until the severe human-rights abuses taking place under the occupation are brought to an end, the effects of any peace-agreement with remain totally theoretical. To see more, Click Here.