Soldiers invade Palestinian home

Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Tel Rumeida, Hebron

Shortly after 3pm this afternoon, two internationals working with ISM in the Tel Rumeida neighborhood were walking through the olive groves between Palestinian homes, when they observed two armed men in civilian clothes enter an unoccupied Palestinian home which had been broken into and vandalized last week. Keeping a distance, and calling several other internationals for assistance, they approached the home, and became aware of the sound of breaking glass. When two other internationals and an Israeli peace activist arrived, they entered the courtyard of the home and observed six to eight Israeli soldiers inside the Palestinian home. When the soldiers became aware of the internationals' presence, one from their group quickly blocked the doorway of the home and demanded that the human rights workers (HRWs) leave the premises. The HRWs refused to leave and demanded an explanation for the soldiers presence. The soldiers insisted that the home was necessary for their training excercises, and claimed to have no responsibility for the earlier break-in. When asked to leave, the soldiers became hostile, saying the internationals "had no right to be in Israel", and that they were "trespassing in the Palestinian home". One soldier in particular made multiple racist statements about Arabs, and also disparaging remarks about American Jewry. After speaking to an Israeli human rights group about the legality of the situation, and being under the impression that their presence was perhaps extending the duration of the soldiers presence in the home, the HRWs decided to leave.

(Apologies for the impersonal feel of this blog- its an official report.)