West Bank Population Growth, East and West of the Barrier

Hebron? The whole occupied territories are one big game, but the difference in Hebron is that the Jewish settlements are inside the town, and these are the worst zealots living there. There are all kinds of settlers, and they can be grouped. The guys from Gush Etzion are nicer. The people who live in Ariel actually think they’re living in Tel Aviv. Twenty minutes drive on Highway no. 5. They don’t notice; they don’t know a thing. . . . The Efrat settlers, too, are these city jerks, [and] that’s fine. . . . And there’s Hebron, and there’s pure evil pouring out of the settlers there. Evil. I can tell you there was one guy there who was okay. When the kids made trouble he’d come along, take his daughter and send her home. All the other parents would . . . actually send their kids to do it. I remember they broke into a “welded shop” (a shop whose doors the army had welded shut). There were these aluminum trays, all kinds of plastic containers and stuff. The kids pick them up and take them home to their mommies. I forcibly took that out of her hands, put it back in its place and closed up, just so that an hour later they took it again, and although I didn’t have to do it, for it doesn’t help, I told her, “How could you do this?” “They kill us and this and that. . . . ” What can I say? The mother sends her children to do this. . . . And every time we were at the Shaharabati House, the parents would distract the soldiers, and the children would sabotage the place. In Hebron it’s an upside down world. Simply upside down. You protect the Palestinians there. I swear to you. Because [of] the Jews there. . . . You’re used to Arabs throwing stones, but in Hebron it’s different. The Arabs don’t do anything, really nothing, and the settlers are the ones throwing stones all day. It was amazing, what went on in Hebron. . . .

Breaking the Silence, Soldiers’ Testimonies from Hebron, 2005–2007 (Jerusalem, 2008), Testimony 66, pp. 88–89