CPT Update: The walk to school and the normalization of violence

The checkpoint closure at Shohada Street. The graffiti is done by Palestinians.Greetings, friends.  
 
I am happy to be able to use a computer where the power is on at this point to send you an update on our CPT delegation.  We are now halfway through the work and there is much to report.  If I were to summarize this week in one phrase, it would be "freedom of movement".  
 
We all know that the land is divided, according to the borders of 1968 and the Oslo agreement.  But most aren't aware of how the land is divided.  The wall, which is oppressively high, is arbitrarily raised through the middle of villages.  In East Jerusalem, which is supposed to be Palestinian land by both 1968 and Oslo, is annexed by the wall, cutting off the people of Silwan from their schools and mosque.  In order to travel through get to school, they must travel through the wall, and it is up to the Israeli military whether or not to open the checkpoint.  Palestinian children walking home along the wall in East Jerusalem.This causes a problem for achieving at least two of the UN's Millenium Development Goals of Education and Maternal/Child health.  In various places in both East Jerusalem and Hebron, children may not be able to get to school, and women sometimes have difficulty getting to their local hospital to receive health care for them and their children.
 
So far there is nothing to report on the school patrols regarding acute incidents of violence.  But perhaps this is the most disturbing part.  There is nothing to report, only because the threshold of what we would call violence in this place is set inhumanely high.  The cage over the market protects the Palestinians from the settlers throwing things from above. Notice the debris caught by the wire, and the Israeli soldier standing guard in the distance above.Both Israeli and Palestinian friends that we have met here lament that the normalization of violence has become total.  And for me, the proof of that estimation is that what Israelis and Palestinians accept as normal is not humane.  The street level markets of Hebron are covered in wire to keep the settlers from throwing stones down upon Palestinian families walking to mosque and school.  The only recourse against settlers' harrassment is to erect a cage around their lives.  Children swing on the turnstile as if a merry go round in a play park.  While the children came through the turnstile and razor wire, one soldier standing in his perch put the stand on his rifle and trained it on the gate.  One boy, who is about seven years old, came through the gate and has his backpack taken from him and searched, and as the search goes on, the little boy is standing below the barrel of the soldiers rifle which is slung over his soldier.  The little boy wipes his nose, pushes his glasses up and simply waits.  The normalization of violence here in this place is complete.
 
While we have had some tense moments trying to get information from armed police about detentions, things are relatively uneventful.  But that is a clear sign of the tyranny of normalized violence.  On a morning like this, 'uneventful' means the children were all allowed to pass to school under the muzzle of a gun with only one boy detained and bag searched.  I know that this has become normal, but for me, every morning, that was indeed a significant event.
 
Approaching the checkpoint. The armed soldiers wait on the other side.I will write again as soon as possible.  Thank you all for your continuing support, and please continue in your prayers for CPT in this place, and for all of the soldiers and children of Hebron.
Peace to you all,
Chad

Comments

[Marci]

God bless you Chad.