Meeting someone from Hevron

Today, on the bus in central Israel, a girl sat next to me. She looked like she was about to go camping, wearing Teva sandals, sporty pants and a t-shirt. When we started talking in halting English, I realized she was young, maybe 19 or 20 years old. I asked her where she was from, and she told me : Hevron.

Hevron, the Hebrew word for al-Khalil (Hebron in English), the city of 300,000 Palestinians in the southern West Bank. Al-Khalil also houses around 500 Jewish settlers, who live in the Old City with Israeli army protection.  I had just randomly run into 1 of these 500 Jews, on the bus.

For a moment I actually stared at her face in slight shock. But then, I thought to myself: what to say?!? I’ve been to al-Khalil so many times, but literally never spoken to one of the Jews there. When I have seen them, they have been throwing water or garbage at Palestinians, spitting on my friends, or looking at me with disdain.  Perhaps this girl has done one of those things, perhaps I had even seen her once from a distance.

First, she told me that both of her parents are American, her father from Chicago and her mother from Baltimore (I was surprised her English wasn’t better!) This did not surprise me, as many of the most extremist Jewish settlers in the West Bank are actually American Jews.  I asked her if she had ever spoken to a Palestinian in Hebron. She said no. She then asked me what I was doing in Israel. I told her I had been working in Ramallah with a program for children (limited English prevented me from explaining more). After learning I had been staying in Ramallah, she asked me: “Do you hate Israel?”

Calmly, I said no, of course not. Look where I am? Riding an Israeli bus on my way to my Israeli relatives’ house on a kibbutz. But in my head I was also shocked.

I again brought up the topic of the Palestinians and Jews in Hebron, asking her why she never talks to any Palestinians there. She said that all the Arabs hate them, that they would never allow any Jews to live in Hebron. She said, “we will never have peace with any Arabs.”  And again, as she said it, it was as though ‘Arab’ was a dirty word. I told her, the reason the Palestinians in Hebron do not like the Jews is because they have been so hurt from them, and they are afraid. She said, “I think if I talked to any Arab they will try to (and she made the motion of putting a gun to her head).”  She asked me, “have you been to any Arab’s house before?” I said yes, many times. She looked so surprised, wondering if it was safe for me. I told her, they are wonderful people and I love to be with them.  I told her, please if you see a Palestinian girl one day in the street, try to say hello to her. Try to be kind and see what happens.

(sigh) I couldn’t believe this conversation even happened. It makes me want to talk with more settlers. If only there was a way to transform al-Khalil/Hevron into a place where Jews could live peacefully among the Palestinians.  If only someone could talk sense to extremists, if the settlers would stop teaching their children to hate all Arabs. Then I wouldn’t be meeting a young girl who is anything but innocent already.