Hebron, Sunday, 25.3.07 Observer and reporter: Hagit B.0930 – 1400 I accompanied Michal Greenberg, the Haaretz reporter in the South, who was on her way to Hebron to cover the visit to Hebron of the members of the Knesset: Dov Hinin and Avshalom Vilan. Yehuda Shaul from “Breaking the Silence” was with them. At the time of their visit, a demonstration of “Peace Now” took place. Sansana CP : On our way to Hebron we saw people cross into Israel, without problems. On our return, there were some 20 Palestinians, who waited for taxis on the Palestinian side, but there were almost none. More taxis should get licences to reach the CP. Road 60 : All the barriers are in place. Somewhere, close to Sansana CP, we detect some beginnings of dismantling and are glad that work has begun, but it turned out that it was the work of Palestinians themselves. The Commander of the Hebron Brigade, Yehuda Fuks, whom we met later in Hebron, claimed that till June, the dismantling will be completed, but they have not begun yet. But the building in the illegal settlement of Eshtemoa is in full swing. Dura – El-Pawar Junction : Open. Sheep Junction: Open. Hebron The location of the house: After the yellow gate of Kiryat Arba, on the turn to the left. The building that the settlers seized is over the line of the shops. The house is not finished. The settlers, who sneaked into the house at night, call it in their Orwellian language “The house of peace”. Nearby is a new mosque. It was built seven years ago, but it got a permit only this year. The family of the invaded house has set a white tent near the mosque to protest against the invasion. It’s a family of 4 wives and 14 children. Not far from the building is a graveyard, and at the end of the neighborhood, above the Route of the Prayers, lives Muhamed Ali G’aber, who belongs to one of the strong families of Hebron. It is obvious that the house, in the heart of a Palestinian neighborhood will cause infinite confrontations and conflicts, and God bewares, what might occur…In the meantime it is used as a school for the little violent children, and when they keep on screaming in front of the demonstrators of Peace Now, even Noam Arnon pleads: “Enough yelling, we are civilized…”I do not see the generator, which was reported by Mira and Ofra on Thursday. The settlers do not answer my questions, but a soldier explains that it is inside the house, and denies that it is the property of the army. The Brigade Commander arrives, because of the visit of the Members of the Knesset. He too denies that the generator is a military property. He palls up with Haim, the regular cameraman of the settlers in the town. Yes, why not. He evades my question when the settlers will leave the military camp at the Shuhada Street. Journalists, the media, international volunteers, police, a lot of people gather. Everyone is anxious to speak with the Members. I succeeded to reach the women and speak with them. They tell their sorrowful tale. One of them, Mona, a woman around 70, speaks fluent English. I take her and another one to speak with Dov Hinin and with Vilan. They exchanged phone numbers, for direct contact. Abu Vilan held a speech before the demonstrators and demanded from Amir Peretz an immediate action to evacuate the invaders.As I am talking with the women, settlers go up to the third floor where soldiers guard. They make ugly gestures toward us, and again I go to the commander and demand an explanation as to the symbiosis between the soldiers and the settlers and in front of the Palestinians. He says that I am right and calls to the commander on the third floor to stop it. Now, the Border Patrol, 8 soldiers, stand as a human shield between the Palestinian women and children and the settlers. They stand not farther than 20 cm from the women. I go over to the commander of the soldiers and ask him to stand not so close to them, and, to my surprise, he acquiesces. Eli Zamir, the commander of the police station in Hebron cannot understand why I have a problem with the fact that the house might indeed have been purchased and that it is legal (!) I explain to him, as usual, that Jews aught not to live there at all…and that the situation is very dangerous, because till now the settlers only drove through this street, but now they will roam around on foot among the Palestinians, and it is a disastrous situation.I leave my phone number to the women, and promise to return tomorrow, on my regular shift.