Meretz MK Yossi Beilin convenes emergency meeting of peace organizations & human rights groups on worsening situation in Hebron

In response to IDF and Israel Police policy banning entry to the city of Hebron and the Southern Hebron Hills region, representatives of Israel’s peace organizations and of human rights groups active in the territories assembled for an emergency consultation on Tuesday, August 5.

In addition to the Meretz party, the organizations represented at the discussion included: Peace Now, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Breaking the Silence, B’Tselem, Rabbis for Human Rights, Bnei Avraham, Machsom Watch, Ta’ayush and Yesh Din.

The meeting was initiated by Meretz MK Yossi Beilin. It was convened in response to the new policy of IDF and Israel Police commanders in the Hebron and Southern Hebron Hills region, which almost completely prevents access to these areas by activists on the left, at a time that a grave escalation in settler violence is taking place. Lately, following the arrival of a new IDF brigade commander and a new regional Police commander, the Hebron region has become an area of exclusive control by the settlers and their supporters. Beilin told the meeting: “These new commanders …have become a tool in the hands of the settlers, and their simplest solution is to keep out those fighting evil.”

While organizations on the left and doing human rights work are blocked and not permitted to reach the area, the settlers are raising the level of violence against Palestinians and are harming the area’s residents every single day. Beilin stated that Hebron is quickly becoming Israel’s “black hole”. He remarked: “The [settlers] in Hebron make life impossible for the Palestinians. Without our organizations, we wouldn’t [even] know it was happening. As a society, we are responsible for what goes on there, and we cannot just leave the area to this wild bunch.”

The organizations represented at the meeting decided that they would combine efforts to increase their activities in the Hebron region and throughout the West Bank, and would step up their pressure on Defense Minister Barak and Public Security Minister Dichter.