A July 26 Page One article about the tension between Jewish settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank city of Hebron incorrectly said settler spokesman David Wilder largely dismissed public relations until a 1994 shooting. It was the Hebron settlers generally who did not embrace public relations until that event; Wilder did not become spokesman until two years later.
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In Divided Hebron, a Shared Despair
International observers say Jewish settlers regularly toss debris onto the chicken wire above Jamal Maraga's shop.
(Photos By Scott Wilson -- The Washington Post)
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Hemmed in and harassed, the Palestinians are fleeing today. Nearly half the homes in and around the Israeli-controlled Old City of Hebron have been vacated, the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem recently reported. The group also said that more than three-quarters of the Palestinian shops and restaurants in the casbah and adjacent commercial districts have been shuttered, many by military order.
Shuyukhi's band had failed to make it past the checkpoint for 15 consecutive weeks. But this day, the soldiers waved them into the Israeli-controlled area. After several moments of bewilderment, Shuyukhi started down the empty street -- shops closed, no cars, men and boys with Palestinian flags following behind.
As they approached Beit Hadassah, a Jewish settlement of about 30 families, army jeeps roared up. Soldiers in helmets and body armor, joined by a few Israeli police officers, ordered Shuyukhi's group to lower the Palestinian national flag they carried and turn back.
"We will not take it down," Shuyukhi shouted. "The Ibrahimi Mosque is ours, not theirs."
Suddenly, an older settler rushed from the entrance of Beit Hadassah, clutching a walkie-talkie in one hand.
"Grab the flag, grab the flag," he shouted in American-accented Hebrew.
A policeman blocked him. But the man spun from his grip and, like a determined running back, plowed toward the Palestinians.
"Go take care of the Arabs, the criminals," he shouted at the police, who led him struggling away.
Mats Lignell, a former Swedish soldier with the observer mission in Hebron, watched the scene before heading to a raised path across Shuhada Street, which his mission financed so Palestinian students could reach their Cordoba School without passing near Beit Hadassah.
The 50-yard walkway took months to complete because each night the bricks were uprooted. It opened this year.
During the three-month period ending Jan. 31, the observer group received 35 complaints of settler violence and harassment, ranging from beatings to throwing debris. Over the next three months, 71 cases were reported.
"The pattern you see is that you have settlement and then violence around it," Lignell said. "And you see this project inching forward."
