Hebron Street Work Draws Jewish Protesters West Bank Settlers Concerned About Safety Disrupt Work On U.S.-Backed Project
A U.S.-funded project to renovate a street for Palestinian traffic in Hebron became the focus of violent confrontation Tuesday, a week before Secretary of State Madeleine Albright arrives in the region.
Jewish settlers threw stones at Palestinian workers renovating Shuhada Street, a main downtown thoroughfare that passes by two settler enclaves in this West Bank town. They fired pellet guns, smashing the window of a bulldozer.
Renovating the road, which had been demanded by Palestinians, would “endanger our lives and allow for masses of troublemakers to come,” settler leader Noam Arnon said. “We need to prevent this for peace and security in Hebron.”
Israeli police arrested the project manager, David Muirhead of Sherman, Conn., and two Palestinian employees for refusing to cooperate with them. Muirhead accused police of failing to stop the attack.
“I was arrested for holding up the police in arresting the driver,” said Muirhead, who was released on bond with the other two and ordered to appear in court today.
The Israeli army closed Shuhada Street to Arab traffic after a Jewish settler killed 29 Muslim worshipers in a Hebron mosque in February 1994.
The street was partially reopened after Israel withdrew troops from most of Hebron last January. The Palestinians demanded the street be fully opened, and as part of the withdrawal agreement, the United States pledged $1 million to fix up the street, which is in the Israeli-controlled area of Hebron.
Muirhead said he was trying to make substantial progress on the $1 million project, which is one-third complete, before Albright arrives in the region Sept. 10.
The State Departement said Tuesday that American mediator Dennis Ross would help set up Albright’s visit to the Middle East during meetings this week with Israeli and Palestinian negotiators.
Department spokesman James Foley declined to list the issues Ross would discuss when he meets separately with each delegation in Washington.
Albright hopes to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, which broke off six months go in part over Palestinian charges that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is evading peace accord obligations.
The Palestinians - who fully or partly control almost a third of the West Bank - say they expect Israel to carry out a further troop pullback in the territory by Sunday, which they say is the deadline implicit in past accords.
Netanyahu has said Israel would not withdraw unless Palestinians arrest Islamic militants in Hamas, the group blamed for a July 30 bombing that killed 17 people at a Jerusalem market.