Dr. Barghouthi in Al-Khalil/Hebron, 25 Feb 2011: "Why are you doing this? We are non-violent."
Just outside the Ibrahim Mosque this morning, Israeli police attempted to keep Dr. Barghouthi and the Bulgarian delegation from crossing the street in the H2 zone of the Old City in Al-Khalil/Hebron.
Before Dr. Barghouti crossed the street with the delegation, Israeli officers approached him and told him that he may not cross the street to enter the mosque.
“They are trying to segregate the street for the settlers,” said Dr. Barghouthi, the Secretary General of the Palestine National Initiative. “It is discrimination based on nationality.”
With this in mind, Dr. Barghouti—who was recently at the frontline of the annual demonstration in Hebron to open Shuhada Street—defied the IOF’s orders and crossed the street.
Dr. Barghouti reported that when he crossed the street with the delegation there were many settlers present; an officer immediately approached him and demanded to see his ID.
Reporting what the soldiers told him, Dr. Barghouti told recounted, “You are detained, and we will not return your ID until Shabak decides what to do with you.” Shabak is the chief intelligence organization, it is also commonly known as Shin Bet.
Dr. Barghouti told the soldiers, “You will either have to arrest me or release me. We’ve done nothing wrong. There is no reason for this detention. It is a violation of human rights.”
According to Anjov, a member of the delegation, several more soldiers approached the group and started pushing the individuals around. However, only Dr. Barghouti was required to show any identification.
“They were becoming more and more aggressive. It was a very simple case of racist human rights abuse.”
According to Dr. Barghouti, some diplomatic channels were contacted in addition to several media outlets. After one hour, Dr. Barghouti was released.
Since 1997, as part of the Oslo Accords and the division of Al-Khalil/Hebron into two zones, the H2 zone has been under Israeli military control. The dwindling Palestinian population there is subject to IOF-imposed curfews and severe restriction of movement.
source Palestine monitor.