Israeli police and troops operating in the West Bank city of Hebron prevented on Thursday a Hebron peace activist accompanied by a number of Palestinian residents to walk down Al-Shuhada streets in Hebron claiming that this road is a Jewish-only road.
On Thursday, Israeli police and troops operating in the West Bank city of Hebron prevented a Hebron peace activist accompanied by a number of Palestinian residents from walking down Al-Shuhada street in Hebron, claiming that this road is a Jewish-only road.
Issa Amro, a Palestinian peace activist working with the Tel Al-Rumeideh Project was stopped at the entrance of the road despite an Israeli High Court of Justice ruling, issued in December 2006, confirming the right of Palestinians to use this road, a main road in Hebron.
When the group arrived at the military post set up at the entrance of Al-Shuhada road, Israeli police told them that there was a new military order. However they faileded to present the order to him, saying that he should get his lawyer to go to court in order to see the 'order'.
The International Solidarity Movement who sends international peace activists to Hebron said that last week when Palestinians attempted to walk down Shuhada Street accompanied by an Israeli TV crew, they were also told about the existence of a ‘new’ order.
An Israeli Army spokesperson speaking on television later denied the existence of this order and promised to investigate, but so far no explanation has been offered.Members of the Israeli Peace Now movement were prevented from holding a rally against settler violence in Hebron, and were confined to the outskirts of the city.
On Thursday, Amira Dotan, a member of the Knesset, came to visit Tel Rumeida. After walking up Tel Rumeida Street she spent some time speaking to Abu Samir, a local resident of Hebron, about the situation his family faces dealing with the settlers that live opposite his home.
During the discussion Abu Samir conveyed the miserable situation he and his family live in due to the settlers’ continued violent aggression against them. After speaking to Abu Samir, Amira Dotan spent some time speaking to other locals, including peace activists, about the situation in Tel Rumeida.
Once she reached Shuhada Street the Palestinians speaking with her had to leave, as they are still not allowed to walk down this street past the settlement. A few international human rights workers were allowed to follow Dotan down Al-Shuhada Street. The Israeli army has been preventing Palestinians from driving on this street for a long period of time, however, they recently banned even pedestrians from using the road.
Earlier this week, Palestinian sources circulated a short piece of footage showing an Israeli settler woman harassing a Palestinian woman, addressing her in abusive terms and asking her to go back to her ‘cage’. This occured while Israeli soldiers were watching.
Tel Rumeida is located on a hill, with Beit Haddaseh settlement at its base and the Tel Rumeida settlement at the peak.
the neighborhood is located in the H2 area defined to be under total Israeli control according to the Hebron plan of 1997 by former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamine Netanyahu. H1 is the nearly 80% of Hebron and is under total Palestinian control, however Israel army do not hesitate to enter the area, and abduct residents and resistance fighters.
The paved roads surrounding the neighborhood are frequently declared off-limits to the Palestinian families, who can be prohibited even from walking or playing in the streets. Palestinian vehicular traffic in Tel Rumeida is forbidden, forcing all the Palestinian Tel Rumeida families to park their vehicles outside the neighborhood and walk home. Consequently, Palestinian residents must carry all their groceries, appliances, and furniture to their homes on foot.
