Setting Off on the Palestinian Heritage Trail
On my first full day off since arriving in Hebron, I set off with fellow volunteer Ben to try and find a section of the Palestinian Heritage Trail – Hebron to Dura. The weather was good, the directions seemed clear, and the route was a manageable length (12km one way). The first thing we noticed when asking for directions is that no one had heard of the trail.
This might not sound like something notable, but when discussing it at a later point, we realised that of course people in Hebron have not heard of the trail – their freedoms are so restricted that they would never be able to conceive of a walk that traverses the length of the country. It is distinct in its availability only to visitors and tourists. We realised from our chats with vendors in downtown Hebron, that we were unlikely to be able to find the route and decided to see where our feet took us.
Curiosity Beyond the Checkpoint
In hindsight, I’m not sure why we decided to venture beyond the checkpoint by the mosque, probably a sense of morbid curiosity. We have had the fortune of spending time chatting with articulate and interesting people throughout Hebron, getting insight on their views, perspectives dreams and aspirations, for themselves, for Hebron and for Palestine more widely.
We have engaged in and witnessed the buoyant and vibrant area known as ‘H1’ (where Palestinians live), hearing the regular refrains shouted to us in greeting: ‘How are you?’ ‘You are welcome’ with follow-up questions regarding where we are from, and why we are visiting. One of the best things about Hebron is getting caught up in friendly, welcoming and curious conversations. Often heavily supported by internet translation services.
The Reality of Life in H1
But being in H1 isn’t always a positive experience. Being here means witnessing the continuous restrictions, limitations and humiliations H1 residents are subject to, resulting from Israeli state-supported settler colonialism. It is impossible to avoid. Everyone who lives here leads a life defined by the Israeli state. Where they can go, how they travel and when they can get there, what services they have access to. So many complicated, difficult stories that span from being constantly subject to the most mundane of inconveniences and delays relating to travel restrictions, through to experiences of extreme violence, injury, bereavement and loss.
One story included a friend explaining how she felt embarrassed at Amman airport when preparing for her first ever flight because when she was asked to raise her hands for a routine security search. She said that she raised her hands high above her head – the way she must when being searched at checkpoints, at gunpoint, by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF). She explained how the security officer searching her was shocked and upset by this. A doctor that we met at Al Aroub camp, just outside Hebron, talked about various respiratory conditions children are presenting with due to the inhalation of tear gas.
We have experienced checkpoints, including their arbitrary closures and subsequent delays. We have heard accounts of violence, hostility and unprovoked aggression from both soldiers, and on occasion, settlers themselves. We have walked to the bottom of closed-off streets that were once key commercial avenues and seen how they have been reduced to closed doors, with metal grating placed above to catch the trash thrown down by settlers living above.
Exploring H2: A Different World
I suppose then, we were curious. Hebron is the only city in Palestine where the settlements, and the settlers who live there, are actually in the city, rather than nearby. And given our international passports, when we reached that first checkpoint near the mosque, and were allowed through – we were free to continue walking, beyond where any sensible Palestinian would think of going.
The first thing that struck us, was how eerily quiet it was. The streets weren’t busy, there were no vendors and no one idling in the sunshine – which was a blessing as it had been very cold the previous week. To some extent, this might be explained by the day of the week. It was Shabbat, or the Sabbath, a Jewish day of rest from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday. That said, we passed a couple of runners and a group of young teenage boys playing football – so there were signs of life. There weren’t many storefronts that we could see, but there were brown tourist signs directing us toward various cemeteries, Mount Hebron and a local museum.
The Heavy Military Presence in H2
Other than being very quiet, we observed several marked differences between H1 and H2. Firstly, a huge increase in the presence and visibility of barbed wire, soldiers and fences. There were small watchtower-style buildings throughout the area, usually with a barrel of a gun visible. Recreational areas also seemed to have been designed defensively – for example, the pitch where the boys were playing football was literally a cage – it had fencing on each side and a fenced roof, with one of the mini watchtowers placed at one of the corners. It is clear that the population of H2, and/or the Israeli government believe it necessary to have an obvious military presence here. For a visitor though, it feels claustrophobic and hostile.
The Narrative on Hebron’s History
There were also large posters describing the history of Hebron as related to its Jewish population. These depictions were interesting – they were not inaccurate, but did have noticeable omissions. For example, the one shown in the photograph below skips over 2500 years between 1000 BCE and 1540, and then almost 500 years from 1540 straight to 1929 – which seems remiss as there were huge demographic shifts during this time, consequent of the rise and fall of the Roman and Ottoman empires, changes in trade and geopolitics.
There was a further poster offering a counter-narrative to that shared by many H1 residents about why the shops on King David Street were closed, and no information at all about what the closure of these shops meant for Palestinian shop owners other than a comment on compensation being paid.
Returning to H1
No doubt informed by our own personal politics and experience of Hebron so far, we were not keen to stay in H2 for a long time. It was strange to be so close to the thriving downtown market, but only be able to see it through grating, fencing and barbed wires. Both of us keen to re-enter the city that we felt we knew, and no longer feel as though there were unseen eyes (and guns) potentially following our movements. We slipped through an unmanned one-directional checkpoint high up on the hill, ‘hello! You are welcome’ a happy voice shouted.
