The Opposite of Silence

Clashes between Hamas militiamen and a Fatah-allied forces. Not a good sign. Imagine if you will—this takes an active imagination—Mahmood Abbas reaches some actionable agreement with the Israelis. Its provisions can be implemented only in the West Bank. Hamas, better-armed than they've ever been according to numerous reports, waits and trains in Gaza. It would seem that unless Hamas decided to disarm and recognize Israel—chances: slim to none—an oft-mentioned large-scale IDF operation in the Strip becomes more likely. Then you'd have Abu Mazen and supporters of this imagined accord pulling, in essence, for the IDF against people who, political and religious affiliations notwithstanding, are still Palestinians. Brother versus brother, basically, or one brother watching as the big dog on the block (militarily speaking) went after the other brother. Granted, that strategy has been at play for months now, Israel and America trying to bolster Abbas's Fatah forces against Hamas. But what kind of agreement is possible under such circumstances?

Another clash of supposed brothers: There is an Israeli group called Breaking the Silence, former soldiers who want to publicize what they've seen and done in the Palestinian Territories in order to counter what they perceive as Israeli leadership's desire to obscure what happens day-to-day in the name of security, and an inclination amongst the public to ignore it. They've collected several hundred interviews with ex-soldiers, staged exhibitions, and, with a group called Children of Abraham, they lead tours in Hebron. Members act as guides, discussing past experiences and current dynamics. They tour Hebron because there is an Israeli-administered area in the middle of the town, IDF soldiers protecting small groups of Israeli settlers, which Israeli citizens can legally enter.

On the bus ride, the guide/ex-soldier talked history, the group's and Hebron's. An even presentation, given the limitations of a 40-minute drive. No simplification or polemic. Appreciation of cycles of action and reaction. Plenty attention paid to the historical Jewish presence in Hebron, the strife between populations, the still-resonant massacre in 1929 of 67 Jews by Arabs, the near wholesale absence of Jews in Hebron until after the 1967 War. The group, the guide said, mainly discusses Israel's role because that's what they know. That's what they participated in. Doesn't mean, he said, that they overlook Palestinian responsibilities and Israel's security concerns. Not about blame, but about saying what's happening is not working.

Their route into Hebron passes through Kiryat Arba, one of the larger West Bank settlements, wherein one finds Rabbi Meir Kahane Park and the grave of Baruch Goldstein. In 1994, Goldstein, an American-born doctor and resident of Kiryat Arba, shot and killed 29 Palestinians as they prayed in the Muslim section of the Tomb of the Patriarchs and was then himself killed. He was a follower of Kahane, a man who called Arabs a “cancer” that must be excised and founded the extremist Kach Party, which Israel outlawed and branded a terrorist organization.

Clearly not your typical sights-snapshots-and-smiles tour. The participants file out and gather around the grave, which stands alone at the far end of the park, a memorial of sorts, since a larger memorial was forbidden. The guide starts to speak. A man storms into the circle loudly denouncing the tour's presence, accusing everyone of planning to defile a holy site. This is Noam Federman from Tel Rumedia, a small settlement inside Hebron, a Kahanist who has been jailed in the past. Federman reaches the guide and shoves him in the chest with both hands. Yehuda Shaul, a Breaking the Silence founder, pulls out his video camera. When the guide speaks, Federman shouts or sings over him. Other settlers arrive, including Baruch Marzel, another of Kahane's American-born, oft-arrested acolytes and the founder of an outfit called the Jewish National Front. One of the settlers calls Shaul a terrorist and a Nazi. The police come. The guide accuses Federman of assault. Federman, despite the roughly 30 witnesses, accuses the guide and Shaul of assaulting him. The guide, Shaul, and Federman must all go to the police station to give statements. The tour continues into town, a Children of Abraham member pressed into the role of tour guide.

The rest of the tour passes without real incident. The Tomb of the Patriarchs, holy to three religions. Through a fortified army checkpoint, shuttered shops in an abandoned marketplace along the main road, which is closed to the Palestinians who make up roughly 80% of Hebron's population. The locales of old Jewish neighborhoods where the 1929 massacre took place. Sites where settlers were killed more recently. Settlements and nearby places recognizable from various deeply disturbing videos posted on Youtube. An IDF military outpost that's also, for some reason, home to some settler families. Pathways Palestinians use to get to their homes since they can't drive or walk on the roads they once used. A checkpost at the edge of Tel Rumeida, where further passage is denied for security reasons.

Hagit Ofran, who researches the impact of settlements for Peace Now, took over as guide. Like the others, she explained the sides and perspectives, the history and dynamics, the hows and whys of the jarringly incomplete scenes of life, the interrupted, stunted, meticulously directed movements, the tension and suspicion, the deeply embedded existence of something that absolutely will cause more strife and conflict, no matter how loudly or passionately anyone makes a case for their righteousness. One feels the absence of leaders ready to confront the complexities and perils of this place. One feels the the prominent presence of people who think this bizarre, embattled state is how things are supposed to be, as dictated by book, or history, or psyche.

Near Tel Rumeida, Baruch Marzel, who'd been with Federman at the Goldstein grave--and who once advocated assassinating the founder of Peace Now--turns up again. “You are hearing nothing but lies,” he says. “Have you heard the history? Have you heard about Jews who were killed?”

“Yes,” says a tour participant. “Yes, we have.”

“Not the real truth,” Marzel responds. “They terrorize us, attack us constantly, and these people”—the tour leaders—“tell you lies.” Presumably, he feels the same about B'tselem, which just released a report on settler violence in Hebron, saying it's getting worse.

On the way out, the original guides return from the police station. One tour member had video of the confrontation, but says a file was opened, an investigation begun, into the charges against and made by Federman. Thus endeth the tour.
--Phil Zabriskie/Jerusalem