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A New Coalition Formed to Launch Activities on Land Day
Hebron is the largest city in the West Bank, with more than 500,000 inhabitants spread between the city and larger district. Hebron is an exceptional case among Palestinian cities in that settlers live inside the city itself. Bypass roads surround the city on all sides, passing very close to Palestinian homes.
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What is taking place in the South Hills of Hebron is well known among international human rights organizations: a deliberate policy of transfer, deporting people far from their land to expand settlements and bypass roads. Tens of thousands of dunums have been confiscated and closed as "military zones" in the last few years. Only a few weeks ago, Israeli authorities issued three military orders to confiscate more land and to build a security fence on the northern side of the Wall - within the Palestinian side of the Green Line. An additional 80,000 dunums of land will be isolated between this new fence and the Wall. The path of the Wall itself cuts deep into Palestinian areas in the Hebron area of the West Bank. In many villages, such as Ramadeen and Idna, the Wall runs directly beside Palestinian homes.
The situation in downtown Hebron is known throughout the world: settler rampages, checkpoints, closing of shops, iron and electronic gates closing off portions of the city, long curfews, etc. Unlike other cities, Hebron has iron gates at all its entrances, allowing soldiers to seal off the city whenever they choose to do so. The Israeli civil authorities refuse licenses to Palestinians to build on their own property, strangling Palestinian growth. The military then uses the failure to obtain a license as a pretext to demolish Palestinian homes - specifically in areas targeted for settlement. These and many other practices are calculated to destroy the Palestinian economy and social existence within the city of Hebron and to make life so unlivable that Palestinians will leave voluntarily to make way for settlers.
Because of these intensive violations of human rights, many international organizations have focused their attention on Hebron as a "hot spot" in the occupied West Bank. The AIC is one of the organizations that from the beginning has used its political understanding of the situation in Palestine to focus attention on the policy of land settlement in the Hebron area. Six years ago, the AIC worked to draw attention to the events in the South Hills where 300 families were deported from their land and were living in caves. As a result of the AIC's work, through press conferences, protests, tours, and publications, the case became internationally known, and many other groups began to work on the issue of the "cave dwellers." The AIC continues its work in the Hebron area by providing information on its website and in publications, by giving alternative tours, and by documenting land confiscation, settlement and the suffering of the population.
Two months ago, the AIC came together with other organizations to form a new coalition of groups working in the city of Hebron. Its first initiative will be the launching of a series of high-profile activities aimed at drawing attention to the situation in the Hebron area. Five meetings were held between 10 organizations, the AIC, Badil, Palestinian Hydrology Group, the Land Research Center, the General Committee for the Defense of the Land, Anqa Cultural Association, the Palestinian Farmers Union, the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees, the Temporary Committee to Boycott Israel, and the Hebron office of the Ministry of Culture, to plan 10 days of activities around Land Day. Activities will take place in cooperation with municipalities, youth centers and other local organizations in villages throughout the Hebron area, and will include a poster campaign, public forums, film screenings and other media and educational events. The primary focus of all activities will be the Wall and the organization of a boycott campaign; the main activity will be an art exhibition concerning the Wall.
Activities will start on March 23 with a workshop in Beit Ola, located very close to the Wall. On each succeeding day an event will be held in a new location. On Sunday, March 26, the exhibition will start in the auditorium of Hussein Secondary School for Boys in Hebron. On the following days, activities will take place in Dura, in Al-Fowwar Refugee Camp, and in other places. On Land Day, March 30, there will be a march during the day and a large meeting in the evening at the Hebron Municipality to discuss the international campaign of boycotts, sanctions, and divestment from Israel.
The AIC will be a major contributor to the program of activities, providing films, speakers and information for many of the events; a representative from the AIC will be a featured speakers at the Land Day meeting on March 30.
(Full program of activities will be announced soon.)
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