The Truth About Hebron

In January I went to Al-Khalil (also known as Hebron) for the first time, and I was struck by how eerily empty the streets were. Since I know that the old city has been invaded by the Israeli army and that Jewish settlers have taken over whole areas, I (a little naively) assumed that the reason why all the shops were closed and the streets were empty was because the native Palestinian population can't keep their shops open because they get harassed by the settlers. I wrote a blog post about it.

However, I was wrong. Naive. The streets of the old city of Al-Khalil are not empty because business isn't good with Jewish settlers harassing shop keepers and shoppers (although they do harass them on a daily basis, and that can't be good for business), but because the Israeli army has welded shut the doors and windows of Palestinian homes and shops so that the Jewish settlers can pass through the streets "freely."

Here is the story (by B'tselem) of how Malka Kafisha, an old Palestinian woman from Al-Khalil, was shut inside her home when the Israeli army welded the door and windows of her home shut. She now has to climb up on neighbors' rooftops to get out of her house.




I can't even find words to express how this makes me feel. What the hell is the world letting Israel get away with?!