We arrived in Hebron around 8:00 in the evening Friday night. The sun went down during our trip, which meant that the Ramadan fast for that day had come to an end. Our servees was stopped by some youth handing out cups of water and dates. They gave it to everyone in the servees, even to us who were obviously non-Muslims.
We got to the apartment and meant Zari, a British ISMer who was holding down the apartment when everyone was in Ramallah, and who is extremely knowledgeable and friendly.
Around 9:00, we received a call from Abed, a Palestinian man who lives in the market area (souq). An Israeli soldier accused his school-aged children of throwing rocks at him. When we got there, Abed was surrounded by soldiers. They looked up when we arrived, and clearly weren't happy to see us there. There were also two CPTers. Abed's brother Shaadi then arrived with a neighbour, who had a camera. On the camera, there was footage of something shocking... or something that would be shocking almost anywhere else.
An Israeli soldier was in the video, throwing rocks- at Abed's kids, who were playing soccer. They weren't throwing any rocks at him. After the soldiers realized the video exists and that internationals who were on the spot had seen it, they left.
Unlike some other Palestinian parents, Abed is very strict at not allowing his children to throw rocks. The allegation against them was completely unfounded.
We went to visit some Palestinian friends, who invited us for coffee and sweets. It was great sitting down and eating with them. A lot of them I know from my time here last year. We hung out, and I had a good and rather amusing conversation with one of them, who also works as a substitute teacher in Ramallah. It turns out that the kids here can be as cheeky as the ones in Canada. Good times.
There were loud explosions going off all night, though it wasn't caused by fighting. Fireworks were going off all night in H1. I asked our Palestinian friends what is going on and it turns out that exam results came in today. The fireworks went on all night.
At 11:18 at night, we received another call from Abed. A soldier from the military base threw a percussion grenade at some kids who were in the market.
We went out, and on the way there we came across a group of several soldiers who suddenly walked into a small store and pulled out and detained a teenager who was working there. We followed them, asking them why the boy was being arrested. The boy's father, a man in glasses also showed up, and began pleading for his son. The soldiers roughly pushed him away, and walked him into their military base, slamming the gate.
Shaadi then showed up, and asked to come inside and speak to the commander. The gate opened and he was let in. A few minutes later, he left with the boy, who was released.
It turns out that the soldiers who arrested the teenager at work accused him of doing the same thing they accused Abed's children of doing... throwing stones. Fortunately, the store has a security camera, which showed the teenager working at the time that he allegedly was throwing rocks at the Israeli Army.
Two times this evening we were called out by people who were asking us to intervene to stop kids from being detained. The reason they were being arrested had absolutely nothing to do with what they did, and everything that had to do with who they are. They were being threatened and pulled into military bases because there was a soldier or soldier who obviously were bored, and wanted to have some fun harassing kids. In each case, the only thing that prevented them from being arrested and charged with crimes was the fact that there was video footage showing the soldiers' allegations to be false. One has to wonder how many Palestinians are in prisons and jails and military bases, locked up for crimes they did not commit, whom there wasn't circumstantial video footage to exonerate.
We got home after midnight and spent the next hour or so working on writing reports on what took place.
The souq at night.
Israeli soldiers talking with Abed, as his children, who were accused of throwing rocks, look on.
After the soldiers have left, Abed's kids pose for a picture.
Walking back through the checkpoint to our neighbourhood, thinking (mistakenly) that the night is over.
Fireworks going off at night. Photo taken from our friends' flat.
Soldiers taking the Palestinian boy away to the military base. His father tries to talk to the soldiers and pleads for his son.
The boy is taken away to the military base.
Unfortunately, my Nikon camera does not take good pictures at night time, although it is ok at taking videos, and my other camera ran out of battery. I took photos of the soldiers taking the boy out of the shop, and later a photo of him walking out of the base, being walked home by his father. Unfortunately they were too blurry.
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