MIDDLE EAST:Five buses filled with Israeli peace activists converged yesterday on Hebron to mark the 40th anniversary of the 1967 war with a demonstration protesting against the occupation and colonisation of the West Bank.
Two buses travelled from Jerusalem, two from Tel Aviv and one from Beersheba. They paused on the edge of the ancient city to pick up an armed escort, then drove through streets lined with stone-built houses to a parking lot filled with police and soldiers.
Fresh-faced youngsters and veterans waved banners proclaiming "40 Years Enough", "End the Occupation", and "Negotiate for 2 States". They chanted "The settlers of Hebron are a bone in the throat" and called for the evacuation of the 400 Israelis who live in the city centre among 166,000 Palestinians.
Soldiers photographed participants from mainstream Peace Now and left-wing groups which rebuild demolished Palestinian homes, monitor checkpoints and roadblocks, and protest against the wall-and-fence complex that is carving up the West Bank.
A student from the Hebrew University remarked, "We are seen as the enemy, not the settlers".
On the other side of the sandy lot, 40 settlers mounted a counter-demonstration, brandishing a few signs in Hebrew and flying a single Israeli flag. The police and army sandwiched in between were relaxed but ready to deal with violence threatened by the settlers.
Knesset member Haim Oron from the left-of-centre Meretz party said: "This demonstration is important for two reasons. Hebron more than any other place in the territories is a symbol of all the evil and stupidity of the settlements. By putting Jewish settlers in the middle of a Palestinian city, we have prevented compromises necessary for a solution between Israel and the Palestinian nation. And settlement activity began at the Park Hotel in Hebron during March-April 1968."
Pepe Alalu, an opposition Meretz member of the Jerusalem Municipal Council, observed, "We can achieve two states, two capitals, two Jerusalems. Most Israelis understand what must be done but our leaders do not have the courage to do what is obvious."
Israelis did not mark the war anniversary but celebrated the unification of Jerusalem in May, according to the Hebrew calendar. But, Mr Alalu asserted, "There is no unification. The only unification we have is Jews with Jews and Palestinians with Palestinians."
Paul Mukerji, an Ecumenical Accompanier from Britain, said: "Hebron is a microcosm of the whole Israeli-Palestinian conflict." Foreign volunteers and women from Israel's Machsom Watch every day ensure Palestinian children get to school without being attacked by Israeli settlers and their children. Since 2000, 1,829 businesses and 1,000 homes in the centre have been abandoned by Palestinians under pressure from the Israeli army, police and settlers.
The Peace Now protest nearly did not take place because the army asked the Supreme Court to cancel it. The movement's secretary-general, Yariv Oppen- heimer, said the court allowed it to go ahead but limited the number to 150. "Three hundred came. It's the first Peace Now protest in Hebron for five years."