Hebron, South Hebron Hills, Mon 29.10.12, Morning

.Trans. by Naomi S.

We drove to Hebron along Route 317 and 356. We wanted to see the olive harvest, hoping it was proceeding quietly and uninterrupted.

The harvest seemed wonderfully pleasant. In every olive grove, large plastic covers laid on the ground and the people could be seen among the trees, working, cutting, eating, and drinking, notwithstanding the neighboring settlers from Sousiya and Ma'on Carmel.

For a moment, one could imagine that life in this area were normal.

But only for a moment – because suddenly, next to the outpost overlooking the road leading to Massafer Yata, a few soldiers from the Shimshon Brigade came down. They detained cars, conducted searches, and examined cars with yellow registration plaques [Israeli]/

While we were there, we could see how a Palestinian driver was made to take off a yellow plaque. And then another, and another…

That's it. We were reminded where we are.

Photos 2847, 2848: taken next to the outpost, in the middle of nowhere.

Phots 2853: A new, fresh graffiti of "Na, Nach, Nachman, from Uman 

Hebron

In Hebron, it is quiet. The last day of Id-Al-Adha, all are on holiday, nicely dressed.

And yet, next to the Gross Square, uphill on the blocked alley leading to Abu S'ninah neighborhood, we notice soldiers patrolling. We walk up to them.

"What's this, in the middle of a holiday, soldiers in H1 area (Palestinian controlled)?

A polite and pleasant sergeant approaches and asks that we leave the area. Why? We enquire. "Because I am responsible for your safety", he replies. What are they doing there, we ask, and he replies that he can't tell us. "It is holiday today" we remind him. "I know. Precisely therefore"[?], he says.

Not a dull moment in Hebron.