Being an EA in Hebron
The main task for the EAPPI team here in Hebron is to accompany the Palestinian children to and from the Cordoba school every morning and afternoon. The settlers have previously attacked the school several times and the children have been frequently attacked with stones. In November, settlers tried again to put the school on fire one night (they set it on fire in September, requiring a major redecoration), ruined the flowerbeds and put big rocks on the path leading to the school. The school is in the settlement of Tel Rumeida, while right opposite it is the settlement of Beit Hadassah. About 35 000 Palestinians live in the old city, which is in area H2. Hebron was divided by the Hebron Protocol in 1997 into two zones, H1 under Palestinian Authority and H2 under Israeli control. About 1/3 of the population in the H2 area lives off food aid from the UN and the Red Cross. About 500 Israeli settlers live here as well, and even though they are usually armed, they have between 500 – 2000 soldiers to protect them. Most of the children at the Cordoba school live here, while some live outside and have to go through a checkpoint every morning in order to go to school. So do the teachers. They are on a list, which the soldiers have, and should go through a gate next to the checkpoint, as going through the metal detector every day could be harmful, especially if they are pregnant. The atmosphere changes after passing this checkpoint. When you come from the lively area of H1, it is like coming to a ghost city, it is all quiet and empty in the street and all the doors are closed, except for when some of the children who live there come out to go to school. This is Shuhada street, and the children can only go to the next checkpoint and then up the stairs to the school. From here on, the street is closed for the Palestinians, only settlers can walk there.
Every day the children have to walk past the soldiers and settlers who carry guns. They walk fast and do not look up very often. Some of the oldest children are happy to see us and stop to talk. Others, especially the youngest ones, pass by us quickly and never smile. The principal of the school, Reem, tells us that she started working there in 2006. She has managed to increase the student mass with 30 % since she started. The Cordoba school now has 119 students. She has done this by trying to make the school a safer place to be, by having teachers of high quality and by making the school a place where the children are happy to be. The whole school has been painted, with the help of the International Committee of the Red Cross, in fresh colours of green, yellow and orange. The teachers now have a couch instead of plastic chairs in the teacher’s room and Reem herself has new, shiny furniture in her office. TIPH (Temporary International Presence in Hebron) has donated money for a new path into the school. Inside the school gate, there is always a guard keeping an eye on the main door. Reem tells me that things have calmed down a bit now, as international observers and many journalists come to visit, everybody will know if something happens to any of the students or to the school.
As internationals, it is allowed to walk on Shuhada street. It is a weird feeling walking there in the empty street. Below Beit Hadassah settlement, there is the settlement of Beit Romano and the street where the old market used to be in Hebron, it is now the settlement of Avraham Avinu. The only people you see are soldiers and a few settlers; they normally drive cars everywhere. As you walk down to the Ibrahimi Mosque, there is another checkpoint that leads into the old city. Almost all the shops in the old bazaar in Hebron are closed. Above the street level, there is netting full of garbage. The settlers, who live on the first and second floor, throw their garbage down on the Palestinians, who have their shops on street level; that is why the net is necessary. There is a distinct smell in the old city… A few shops now and then are open, and old men sit quietly in front of them drinking their tea. People are extremely welcoming despite their difficult life. Everyday they say “SabaH ilkheer! (good morning!)” and smile at us when we walk through the streets and stop to chat. It feels important to be here. To see what is going on and support the people trying to live their daily life in the old city of Hebron.
