Скачать или смотреть WEST BANK: HEBRON: PALESTINIAN BOY BEFRIENDS ISRAELI SOLDIERS

(7 Jun 1996) Arabic/Nat

The West Bank town of Hebron is home to thousands of Palestinians and some 400 Jewish settlers.

It is also a temporary home for the Israeli soldiers who guard the settlers.

The soldiers have been based in Hebron for the 29 years of Israel's occupation, and are part of its daily life.

So much so, that a Palestinian boy has made them his new friends.

For the Palestinians living in Hebron there is the constant, daily reminder that they are a people under occupation.

Most of the Israeli troops in the town were to have been redeployed in March, but the move was suspended following a wave of suicide bomb attacks in Israel.

So the Palestinians still have to go through the daily harassment and inconvenience of searches and I-D spot checks.

At the age of four Rami Abu Dabaat is still too young to distinguish between soldier and civilian, between Israeli and Palestinian.

Throughout his young life Rami has lived with the Israeli soldiers.

He sees them on street corners, the market place, and patrolling the streets.

Rami does not realise that the Israeli troops are regarded as an unwelcome presence by Palestinians.

He is too young to have experienced the fighting of the Intifada.

Rami hangs out with the soldiers at their guard post.

He plays football with the soldiers, drinks their water, and also helps them pass the slow hours of guard duty.

In what is both ironic and fitting, Rami wears a hat that says "Shalom", or peace, in both Hebrew and English.

When his father comes to take him home to wash his hands, Rami
doesn't want to leave the soldiers.

He says that the soldiers have water and that they will do it.

SOUNDBITE: ( in Arabic)
" - Why are your hands dirty? How did they get dirty? "(Rami) -"Let me go!" (Othman)"Why do you want me to go?" (Rami) " I want the soldiers to wash my hands for me." (Othman) " You want the soldiers to wash your hands?"
SUPER-CAPTION: Rami Abu Dabaat, and his father, Othman Abu Dabaat

Rami also befriended the Norwegian observers in Hebron - or TIPH, the Temporary International Presence in Hebron.

The observers were in Hebron to oversee the Israeli redeployment.

His father, Othman, is not entirely happy with his son's new playmates - but says he trusts them nonetheless.

SOUNDBITE: (in Arabic)
"The soldiers don't harass anybody because these are little kids. There is no other place for them to play but here. There are no parks, no swimming pools, no place for them to play but here. And, of course, when the soldiers see them here they start playing with them."
SUPER-CAPTION: Othman Dabaat, Rami's father

So Rami continues to play with the soldiers.

Palestinians will hope that the Israeli soldiers will leave Hebron before Rami grows to realise that they are an unwanted presence.

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