View of Shuhada Street, Hebron
The Open Shuhada Street Campaign is a Palestinian initiative aiming to organize an International Day of solidarity with the Palestinian residents of Hebron, protect the civil rights of all and to end the occupation. It was started in February 2010 and international solidarity actions took place in numerous cities around the world since then. The Israeli occupation forces closed Shuhada Street to Palestinian vehicles in 1994, after the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre, and then prevented Palestinian residents to walk there in 2000, in order to provide security for the 600 Israeli settlers occupying the center of Hebron. Shuhada Street used to be the principal street for Palestinians residents, businesses and a very active market place.
The street was partially reopened to Palestinians following the Hebron Protocols in 1997 but was closed again to Palestinians after the outbreak of the Second Intifada. The 25th of February of 2014 marks the 20thanniversary of the massacre. On 21st February of 2014, the fifth annual Open Shuhada Street campaign took place.
YAS activist at Open Shuhada Street protest
One thousand Palestinians, Israeli activists and human rights defenders protested again in the West Bank city of Hebron to reopen the central downtown street twenty years after it was first closed by the Israeli military. The peaceful demonstration, organised by Palestinian activist group Youth Against Settlements and Hebron Defence Committee, started at the Ali Al-Baka mosque and then went towards Bab Al-Baladiya. Bab Al-Baladiya is a small square in front of the gate leading to Al-Shuhada Street at the illegal settlement Beit Romano.
According to some media, when the afternoon march circled back to Shuhada Street and approached the Israeli military at the road’s fenced-off former access point, demonstrators were dispersed within minutes. The Israeli army fired tear gas, sound grenades and rubber-coated bullets to the crowd. Following the demobilization of the peaceful demonstration clashes erupted near Bab Al-Zawiye and Palestinians threw rocks at the army and burned tires, but did not throw Molotov cocktails as in past protests. According to medical sources thirteen people were treated for injuries caused by rubber-coated steel bullets and a large number were treated at the hospital or on the spot for excessive teargas inhalation. A total of five were arrested. All of these acsualties ocurred at a peaceful demisntration to open Shuahada Street.
Creativity and Awareness
During the journey, other actions took place in Tel Aviv. For instance, anti-occupation activists posted fake military orders on the storefronts of Tel Aviv storeowners. The notes ordered the stores to shut down for the entire day, in commemoration of the 20 years since the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre in Hebron, and to give Tel Aviv residents a glimpse of the Palestinian reality of segregation in the city. A creative action to raise awareness on the Israeli population and to familiarize them with the reality in Hebron. Hebron is the second largest city in the West Bank. Today H1 is Palestinian-Hebron, and H2 is Israeli-controlled Hebron. H2 is home to some 850 Israeli settlers, and 30,000 Palestinians who are not allowed on Shuhada Street.
This publication is related to a project funded by the European Union. However, the views expressed in it do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission.
