We were almost finished our patrol and were on our way to do some groceries, when we ran into a patrol of five soldiers. I almost swore out loud. I was really hoping for a quiet and uneventful morning. However, protocol needs to be kept. We started following them, as we always do.
They stopped a Palestinian man in the market who had a beard and was clearly a religious Muslim, and ordered him to open his briefcase.
As we were following them, the commander clearly wanted to get us off his tail, so he jumped a fence and ordered his men to do the same. We couldn't follow them, but the Palestinians in the neighbourhood knew the area as well as the soldiers do, and directed us to some back alleys we could walk down, in order to meet up with the patrol. We caught up with them after about ten minutes.
As we were following the patrol, a man asked us to come into a building. He leads a community centre, and told us that the patrols often cause problems for the neighbourhood kids, harassing them and chasing them. He asked us if we could increase our presence in his neighbourhood, and include it in our patrols.
About thirty minutes later, the soldiers stopped two Palestinian young men, and took their IDs. One of them was ordered to put his hands against the wall and spread his legs, as soldiers searched him. We asked them why they are doing this, and no response was given. After about eight minutes, the men were let go.
The soldiers eventually returned to the base. We went out for some lunch with a Palestinian friend, and had some falafel.
Sometimes the situation feels so surreal. If I was in Canada and never had been in Hebron, and someone told me they spent two hours following a group of soldiers with cameras and playing what sometimes feels like a game of tag, I would laugh and think they are crazy. However, for the Palestinians who live here, this is not a game. The soldiers make their lives difficult for them on a difficult basis. If it wasn't for the foreign observers on the ground, the situation would be even worse.
The leader of the patrol.
A Muslim man is stopped, and made to open his briefcase.
The soldiers hop a fence to get away from us. Sometimes they go up and down hills, and try to lose us by jogging. Often we are able to follow and keep up with them, but this time were unable to, so we went down a back alley and caught up with them soon afterwards.
Two Palestinian men stopped by soldiers, one was searched.
A soldier with a camera on his helmet. As we film them harassing and stopping Palestinians, I guess they film us interfering with their work.
The Palestinian man in the picture asked us to start including his neighbourhood in our patrols, as kids have been harassed by soldiers there.
After several hours following the soldiers around, we stopped at a small restaurant for some falafel, along with a Palestinian friend.
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