Hearing the stories from a human rights worker in the Old City of Hebron will be etched in my memory for a long time.  One of her main job duties is accompanying young Palestinian children on their way to school as they go through Israeli police check points.  Otherwise, the children might be questioned, intimidated, detained, or taken to jail.

Child in a refugee camp

Other dangers might include tear gas, skunk water, stun grenades, or rubber coated steel bullets.  Seeing pictures and watching videos of these events made them very real.  Hearing that Hebron is a test site for various types of Israeli weapons was stunning.  But the presence of the human rights worker and the “sumud” of the Palestinians (persistence in continuing to live in Hebron) give hope for the future.

Our group also got to experience, on a small scale, the daily happenings in Hebron.  While viewing the city from a rooftop, we were being stared at by an Israeli army soldier from the next rooftop.  While walking through the narrow streets of the market, we moved to the side as a group of teenage army boys and girls marched by. In order to visit the mosque, we had to go through a chilling checkpoint ourselves.

Before visiting Hebron, our guide told us the world really doesn’t know what happens in Hebron every day – in his words, “what happens in Hebron stays in Hebron”. This may be the media’s mission, but our mission is to “come and learn, go and tell” the real story to the rest of the world.  And be loud.

~ Bob Garrison