The "Nightmare" of Hebron

According to Lazare and Bayard, the Palestinians of Hebron live in a city transformed by extreme security measures they dub the "architecture of apartheid." These prison-like structures and features render normal life impossible and subject Palestinians to daily humiliation and threats of violence from soldiers and Israeli settlers. However, residents are organizing to resist these measures and to revitalize their community.

"Palestinians living on [Shahuda] street have to climb into their houses from the rear, either cutting across neighbors' rooftops, carving holes in their walls, or...scaling a rope to the second story. Their front doors have been welded shut or barricaded with rusty metal, like the countless shops in Hebron, closed by military order. Streets are sealed off with concrete and bales of ribbon wire...Some roads have a concrete barrier running along the edge, leaving a few feet for Palestinians to walk along while two wide lanes are reserved for settlers. [Yet] Palestinian residents of Hebron have been organizing to revitalize their communities and challenge military occupation and settler violence. The Hebron Rehabilitation Committee fixes up battered neighborhoods to encourage people to come home, planting gardens and repainting dilapidated storefronts. Youth Against Settlements has organized creative direct actions: a recent protest involved setting up mock checkpoints next to Israeli ones, getting arrested after five minutes but still drawing attention to the conditions they live in."