What to Do with Soldiers in Your House
2008 October 17
As I turned into our alley, a young Palestinian friend said, “The soldiers are in your house!” And as I rounded the last bend, there they were, guns drawn, standing in our street doorway. (We choose to keep this door unlocked during the day.) More soldiers were standing in our stairwell. But right above them stood two of our CPT women, Laura, an Italian, and Jan, a Scot, and our Palestinian neighbor woman who shares our stairwell, arguing with the captain. Johann, a Canadian teammate, was taking digital photos.
Actually, when they first heard and saw the soldiers, Laura hid our three computers, while Jan called our lawyer in Israel-Palestine. What this poor captain, who struggled to speak English, did not know is that these two women love to argue with soldiers.
“I need to check your house.”
“Why?”
“To check security for the settlers.” (This is Sukkot week, which brings many Jewish visitors to the settlements.)
“What about security for the Palestinians?”
“That is not our mission.”
“It should be. The Geneva conventions say that an occupying army is responsible for the security and safety of all the civilians under its control.”
“I’m just following orders.”
“”Soldiers, especially Jewish soldiers (after the Holocaust), should know better than to ‘just follow orders’.”
“I would be willing to discuss that some other time and place.”
“What about Israeli law? Some of the settlements here in Hebron are unrecognized and illegal even under your law.”
“Hebron is a closed military zone right now.”
“Where are your orders?”
“No papers are required.”
But soldiers are required to present and allow photos of military closure orders and maps.
Jan called a contact with the Israeli military, who later confirmed that this closure was authorized.
“Our only view of the settlers and “their” street is from our rooftop, not from our windows.”
“May two soldiers go to your rooftop?”
“OK.”
I finally thought to serve the soldiers coffee, so I began preparing six cups. Unfortunately, just before I finished, the soldiers left. The captain had finally agreed to not search our apartment at all. Our Palestinian neighbor had agreed to allow the captain to search her apartment alone, as long as some CPTers accompanied him. He accepted that arrangement.
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