Choosing a life in danger

January 9, 2004
By Louise Bjerre Dalum

“I cannot change anything by myself, but I truly believe that together we can improve things here in Hebron.”

These words come from a Danish police officer, Kaare Knudsen.  For the last eight months he has been working in Hebron for TIPH, the Temporary International Presence in Hebron.

“I have always wanted to be an observer, and finally I reached the right time in my life where I had the opportunity to leave my family for a short period. And I have never regretted it.”

Kaare Knudsen has been an observer through many years.  In 1993 he served for the United Nations in the former Yugoslavia as an police monitor, and in August 2000 he arrived in Hebron for a nine-month period.  Knudsen’s time in Hebron has been an experience that has changed his view of the situation between Israel and Palestine.

“Before I left Denmark I truly believed that I was going to a quiet area. And it was quiet in the beginning, but then Sharon took his famous walk at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and from that moment everything changed. Suddenly I was in the middle of a very aggressive fight in the city of Hebron. Every time we went patrolling, the Palestinians were throwing stones at the Israelis and the Israelis responded with their bullets made of rubber.”

TIPH consists of about 70 members from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Turkey, Italy and Switzerland.  It began its civilian observer program in 1994 after a request from Israel and the PLO. Its overall goal is to maintain stability in Hebron where four settlements are located inside the area of TIPH’s responsibility and three other settlements lie within the borders of the Palestinian city and are protected by thousands of Israeli soldiers. This creates a lot of conflict between the locals and the settlers and there are daily battles and harassment.

“The biggest challenge here is to optimize the Palestinians’ life as much as possible and try to prevent the Israelis from harassing them. We cannot directly interfere in different situations, but we are there. We always tell if there has been a violent attack against Palestinians or inhumane treatment. Concretely, we have the ability to photograph everything and make reports. It can sometimes be a frustration that you are not allowed to get directly involved in the different situations which we observe, but on the other hand we try to remain neutral.”

The observers patrol Hebron every day. If they see any signs of violence or human rights offences, they report directly to their parties, the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) and the Palestinian Police Forces (PPF) and finally to their member countries. None of the reports are public.

“I truly hope that our daily patrolling is a help. I believe that some of the Jewish settlers gain more and more territory because of their behavior. That leads to a very difficult situation where some of the Palestinians are being very pressed and the situation keeps getting worse.”

The second time Knudsen came back to Hebron was in the spring of 2003. Two and a half year after the second intifada broke out Hebron had changed.

“After being in Denmark for two years, it made a very deep impression on me how much Hebron had been destroyed. Even though the situation was not as violent as when I left two years ago, I noticed that everything had changed. I heard the grinding sound from the road and I realized it was coming from the Israeli tanks driving on the roads. A lot of the roads in the inner city have also been blocked by stones and the people’s ability to get in and out of Hebron has almost disappeared. I was very surprised to see these changes.”

About two years ago two TIPH observers were shot by snipers while on duty. According to the agreement about TIPH’s work situation, all observers are allowed to carry a weapon. But none of the countries approve of the use of weapons.  Knudsen appreciates that decision because he believes weapons only create further violence.

“As a TIPH observer, you have to realize that this is a life in danger. You can be hurt during your patrolling. Here people shoot with bullets to kill. But for me personally, this is also the same risk as being a police officer in Denmark, so I decided a lot of years ago that it is a worthy risk.”

Kaare Knudsen will be going back to Denmark at the end of January 2004.