<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[The Sharp End of&nbsp;Hebron]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p>11.04.11 &#8211; 13:51| PNN &#8211; Palestine News Network</p>
<p>By Issa Amro &#8211; Hebron’s problems began after 1967.  The Israeli army worked hard to create the Kiryat Arba settlement, and  after that the settlers and soldiers started living inside Hebron,  transforming it into an occupied city. We started to feel it when they  created settlements in the heart of the city. In the early 1980s  settlers started to come from all over the world, moving into our houses  and markets. They treated Palestinians as slaves and animals,  fourth-class humans, only there to be taken advantage of.</p>
<p>All this was not so obvious until 1994 and the Ibrahimi  Mosque massacre, when a fanatic settler killed 29 Muslims. After that we  were punished. The apartheid policy was employed more obviously, with  the closure of Shuhada Street and many local businesses. The army  divided Ibrahimi Mosque and confiscated the gardens.</p>
<p>My  resistance efforts began in 2003. The army had closed Hebron University  when I was a student there. They locked the gates and told us to “go to  the streets. You will have no future here.” This made my decision. I  would struggle, in a nonviolent way.</p>
<p>I was fortunate  to be guided by a specialist in activism. With him I discussed strategic  planning and a methodology for how to re-open our university. One day  we just broke in, opened the doors, started the classes and began to  study by ourselves. The army arrived shortly after, so we camped out in a  sit-in tent that we had bought. We called our international friends and  media. We explained to everybody the importance of our university to  us. After six months, it was finally re-opened.</p>
<p>That  has given me the encouragement to continue ever since. I understand when  Palestinians feel that resistance is hopeless. The Israeli army does  not distinguish between unarmed demonstrators and armed enemies. They  have one law, which is against protest in every form. To oppose them is  to provoke a killing machine.</p>
<p>I do not criticize any  form of resistance. It is our right. I follow the nonviolent path for  two main reasons. Firstly, I want our community to remain peaceful. As  Ghandi said, using violence to be rid of an oppressor “establishes a  pattern of violence.” This is not our way. Secondly, through nonviolence  we can achieve massive participation from whole communities rather than  individuals.</p>
<p>Nonviolence is dangerous for the  occupation. How do I know? Between April 2010 and now, I have been  arrested no less than ten times. This tells me that our methods are  working. The army is not trained to deal with nonviolence, as the  Egyptian authorities were unable to handle the youth movements. It is  only a matter of time, and will, before we see a similar result here.  When I am arrested they try to paint me as a terrorist. I have been  accused of attacking policemen and settlers, of stealing guns, and of  other crimes which fit their image of Palestinians. I am never  discouraged by being arrested, but it is very difficult for my wife and  family. We all know that my safety is endangered by my activities.</p>
<p>The  army has a new crime to accuse us of: “incitement.” It is such a vague  term that it can be applied to anything, especially protest. It carries  the threat of prison time and was used to jail Bi’lin organiser Abdallah  Abu Rahmah in 2009. The creation of this law implicates the highest  Israeli authorities and the legal system in allowing, even promoting,  institutional racism. The law itself is racist. If incitement means  anything, why not use it against Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor  Lieberman, who talks about killing people, rather than me, for  exercising my right to peaceful demonstration? We see racist laws every  day in Hebron, where we are under Martial Law, and our settler  neighbours are under Israeli Civic Law.</p>
<p>We look to  international leaders to help our struggle against settlements, and we  were shocked by the recent American veto (of a UN resolution condemning  them). US leaders announce that they are against them, but when they are  tested we find that they are still blindly supporting Israel.</p>
<p>So  we must do it ourselves. I represent the Youth Against Settlements  group in Hebron, which includes the Tel Rumeida project, empowering  families to deal with the daily effects of settlers. Our work is  preventing the quiet transfer of Palestinians from their homes and is a  barrier against the beatings, theft, and rights abuses so common here.</p>
<p>Yet  we face a complex and determined opposition. The Israeli government is  clever in using settlers. They are trying to say that Hebron is  important for religious history, but what I hear from settlers is that  it is a step towards taking Nablus, Ramallah, and the entire West Bank.  Hebron is a frontline. If they succeed here in their campaign of ethnic  cleansing under the banner of religion, they will move on to new goals.</p>
<p>But  I am very optimistic about the future. Our Open Shuhada Street  demonstrations attract thousands. Our movement is growing, and we will  soon have a new Youth Against Settlements branch in Ramallah. We need  Palestinians from all towns and villages to come and lend us their  support. On the settlement issue we are all united and our youth  activism movements are developing. International boycott campaigns  against settlements must continue as they are already effective.</p>
<p>It  is only a matter of time before we see our own mass nonviolent  uprising, as in the other Arab countries. A new generation is coming  together to reject the violence and injustice of settlements. I believe  it will happen next year.</p>
<p>Issa Amro is a lifelong  Hebron resident. He is an electrical engineer, human rights activist and  community leaders. He has founded several youth projects and  initiatives, this article was sent to PNN by the Author.</p>
<p><a href="http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=9869&amp;Itemid=58">Source</a></p>
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