West Bank hot spot: Israeli peace activists show presence in big numbers
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Hashim Sheikh
- . December 3, 2022
- . Update: December 3, 2022 8:44 pm
The largest city in the occupied West Bank was the scene of dozens of Israeli peace activists touring the area on Friday while being heckled by ultra-nationalists who chanted “shame, disgrace.”
The confrontation in the heart of Hebron served as a warning of the growing divide among Israeli society and the country’s ongoing military occupation of the Palestinian people, which has lasted for 56 years.
Following last month’s parliamentary elections, Benjamin Netanyahu, the former prime minister, is set to retake office as head of the most right-wing and religious administration in Israel’s history.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, a previous fringe figure known for his anti-Arab comments, and other ultra-nationalist group leaders have already received significant powers in the West Bank as a result of coalition deals made by Netanyahu.
The paramilitary border police, which are frequently stationed in Palestinian population areas, and supervision of Israeli settlement construction are two examples of the new tasks.
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At the same time, right-wing politicians have attacked peace campaigners and pro-Palestinian rights organisations in recent years, calling them traitors.
An incident in dangerous Hebron that was captured on camera the previous week served as the immediate catalyst for Friday’s visit.
After a lengthy standoff with a small group of peace activists, the soldier can be seen shoving a man to the ground and striking him in the face in the footage.
Another soldier is heard promising the protesters that Ben-Gvir will settle matters in this location. You guys have lost, that’s it.
The military jail term for the soldier who made the taunts was originally set at 10, but the army later reduced it to six days.
In his new role as minister of national security, Ben-Gvir will be in charge of the border police, whose members frequently serve alongside regular soldiers in the West Bank. A group of demonstrators waving a sign that said, “The people of Israel demand: evict the anarchists from Hebron” met 200 peace activists as they arrived in the heart of Hebron on Friday. Visitors were listening to tour guides in a parking lot away from the right-wing protestors when one man shouted “shame, shame” into a bullhorn.
According to Ori Givati, a spokesman for Breaking the Silence, one of the organizations organizing the trip, the visit on Friday was part of the regular schedule of anti-occupation organizations, but attendance was higher than usual because of the election results and the incident in Hebron last week.
In a city of tens of thousands of Palestinians, Hebron, where dozens of heavily guarded settlers live, he claimed that activists were concerned but also determined to carry on with their work.
“There is definitely concern for the safety, first and foremost for Palestinians under this occupation who will now be under a government that promotes hate and racism more than ever toward them, as well as toward our organization and other organizations and activists who are now in a situation where their activity here is more than ever delegitimize,” Givati said.
Those shouting anti-peace slogans presented themselves as protectors of Israeli soldiers and settlements.
The activists were dubbed “anarchists” by Matan Gerafi of the right-wing Im Tirtzu group, who claimed they wanted to undermine the military. Palestinians were mostly hidden when the Israeli groups engaged in combat.
The hard-line ideology of Ben-Gvir and others, according to Hebron-based Palestinian activist Issa Amro, will continue to permeate Israeli society.
The election of their fascist representatives to the government is being celebrated by the settlers in this area, he claimed. What occurs in Hebron will have an impact on Tel Aviv.
