The police officers angrily questioned three of our volunteers, and took their passports for a few minutes. One of the soldiers, the same one who tortured the Palestinian man a few weeks ago, began taking photos of me with his smart phone, saying repeatedly "I know your name, I know your name... _________ ". A few weeks ago, he took my passport from me and looked through it, and now evidently knows my first name. He must have thought he looked very intimidating. I was torn between wanting to fall to my knees and beg this brilliantly intelligent man to spare me, and wanting to shake his hand and congratulate him for having picked up the ability to read. After all, he looks only to be in his twenties. In the end, I decided to ignore him.
A group of Jewish tourists came by, most of them being young men and teens. They got off their tour bus and began to observe the situation. Some of them began dancing and singing a song about Israel, and then taking photos of us.
One of them asked me if I am antisemitic. I told him definitely not.
Their leader pointed to us and called us "Nazis", saying that his Jewish grandparents were murdered at Auchswitz. I resisted the urge to point out that my some of my Polish Catholic family members also were murdered by the Nazis and that non-Jews as well as Jews were mercilessly murdered by Hitler's soldiers. Jews, Roma and Slavs were the three racial groups that were marked out for extermination, and were put to death without mercy by the SS, Gestapo, and to a smaller extent the Wermacht, by the millions.
Instead of bringing up this history, I told the tourists that there are many Jewish people who see that what is happening in the West Bank is wrong, and I asked them to open their eyes and see what the Palestinians go through. I told them that the checkpoints and beatings and abuses that the soldiers inflict on the Palestinian people are contrary to the Jewish religion and values, and I encouraged them to come join us. I told them there are Jewish ISMers, and that there are Jewish activists in other groups also who do the same work we do. Some of the kids seemed to be listening . Their leader noticed this and frantically started yelling at them, telling them to walk away from us, which they did. I think I made a new friend.
The situation at the apartment was soon resolved. It turned out that a woman was watering flowers on the roof, and accidentally spilled a few drops on the backpack of a soldier, who was standing below, and whom she didn't see. The response, involving two police officers and at a total of at least twelve soldiers, lasted about an hour. I am wondering when the watering can will be added to the long list of possibly lethal weapons that could be used by terrorists against innocent Israeli soldiers, a list that already includes firecrackers.
Part of me couldn't help wondering what would happen if I called the police in my home city and asked for four squad cars to rush over and help me because someone spilled a glass of water on me from a window, even if the liquid actually landed on me. I am not sure if I would get a fine for wasting their time, or just get off with a strict warning. I keep having to remind myself that this is Hebron, and we are dealing with a situation that is anything but normal, by any definition.
We eventually went home, and spent the next few hours writing reports, which we do after every incident. So much fun.
A large team of soldiers, some standing behind a heavily armed police car, gather near an apartment under which the 'terrorist incident' occurred.
Two soldiers blocking entrance to the staircase.
An Israeli police officer grabs the passport of Sally, one of our ISMers.
The soldier who has learned my name and is very proud of this painstaking achievement, taking photos of us with his cellphone.
The leader of the tour, who called us "Nazis" and invoked the Holocaust in order to justify what Israeli soldiers and settlers do to Palestinians.
Members of the tour group singing and dancing.
Some of the people in the group, taking pictures of us. After I started talking to them, the leader of the tour ordered them to quickly walk away from us.
Tzippi, one of the most vocal settlers, and who got an ISMer and some Palestinians arrested last year on false charges, taking pictures of us with her camera.
We haven't seen each other for almost an entire year and she was so happy to see us she needed a million pictures, so I felt it was only fair to reciprocate our friendship.
No comments:
Post a Comment