Peace Now brought four buses of activists to Hevron for what it said would be a massive protest. Land of Israel activists came to disagree.
Peace Now, a left-wing group founded to bring about Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon, but expanded to work toward a withdrawal from all areas won by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War held a protest in Hevron earlier this month. The protest, in the heart of the tiny Jewish quarter of the city, featured large signs demanding the Jews be barred from living in the city of the Patriarchs.
The 200 Peace Now protestors (the group claimed 300 came and state-run radio reported that as well - though only four 50-seater buses were brought) were ringed by heavy security as they delivered their message that the Jewish community in Hevron is a burden on Israel's security forces. The local community, by and large, chose to ignore the protest, saying the group's aim was to draw them into confrontations it could then use to justify Peace Now's provocations - but several activist groups from outside Hevron came to counter Peace Now's message.
Women in Green, Tzafrir Ronen's Nahalal Forum and Kumah all turned up with signs and activists to say that Jewish life in Hevron is a positive thing, which should be expanded and allowed to flourish. Peace Now protestors led chants like "We don't want to die in vain, make peace now!" and "Hevron settlers - a bone in the throat."
Women in Green's Nadia Matar pointed out that Peace Now is heavily funded by the same European Union that is soft on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad."In any event, we didn't come here to stare at them." she said. "They are here to protest 40 years of 'occupation,' and we are here to celebrate our return to the Land of Israel."
Kim M., a student at a Christian university in Pennsylvania, observed the Peace Now protest from the side. "I've only been in Palestine for a few days," she said. "And I'm still trying to figure everything out." Kim wore a CPT (Christian Peacemaker Teams) hat; she was part of a tour organized by the radical Christian group. Other CPT members stood aside and opined that the Jewish Peace Now protestors still insist on occupying pre-1967 Israel as well, "stolen from the Palestinians in 1948."
Tzafrir Ronen, out of earshot in the spot designated for the counter-protest - said that similar protests were in fact heard prior to 1967 by the left, when the government wanted to expand the now-concensus Galilee city of Afula. He also blasted the journalists who had come on armored buses paid for by Peace Now.
The armored buses came in handy, as the left-wing protestors were targeted by Arab stone-throwers while leaving Hevron due to their yellow license plates identifying them as Israeli.
Peace Now told reporters that it thought the rocks may have been thrown by "settler youth," not Arabs.