The red hat and the green helmet.
By Bob Gross

When I left the Christian Peacemaker Teams apartment (in Hebron) this morning to walk up to the market for some groceries, I had not gone far when I realized that I was not wearing my red CPT hat. Knowing that it is an important identifying symbol for us and our work, I returned to get it before going on.

I'm glad I did. Walking out through the Beit Romano checkpoint, a place where CPTers have been harassed and arrested in the past, I noticed soldiers detaining three Palestinian men for an ID check, so I waited and watched for a few minutes to make sure they would be allowed to go on their way. I noticed the soldiers noticing me, which is part of their job, after all.

After buying bananas and potatoes, I started for home. As I approached the checkpoint one of the soldiers I'd watched earlier spoke to me, "Your hat is very beautiful! May I buy one?" I stopped to talk. When I said that the hat was only for persons in our organization, he said, "That is why I would like to have it; I think CPT is doing very good work."

He told me his name, and said that he came to Israel from Iran when he was 16 years old, and has a real concern for the plight of the Palestinians here in Hebron. "The people don't have enough money and what they need is expensive to buy." He has been stationed here in Hebron since August, he said. "My next duty will be in Gaza, and it is very bad there because there is no CPT or TIPH (Temporary International Presence in Hebron) to monitor what is happening."

It's good to meet the person behind the uniform and gun. I hope that one day he will trade his green helmet for a red hat.

--Bob Gross is co-executive director of On Earth Peace. He took part in a delegation to the Middle East co-sponsored by Christian Peacemaker Teams and On Earth Peace Nov. 22-Dec. 4. The delegation assisted Palestinian farmers in replanting olive trees destroyed by the Israeli military. Gross reported that other highlights of the trip were an invitation to supper with an Israeli conscientious objector and hearing from two members of "Israeli and Palestinian Bereaved Families for Peace," an Israeli graphic designer who lost his daughter in a West Jerusalem bombing, and a Palestinian computer engineer who lost his brother after imprisonment and mistreatment in an Israeli jail led to his death. Brethren in the 15-person delegation were Amy Knickrehm, Val Knickrehm, Neal Musselman, Rachel Peterson, and Bob Schnepp. Christian Peacemaker Teams is an initiative of the historic peace churches (Mennonites, Church of the Brethren, and Quakers) with support and membership from a range of Catholic and Protestant denominations.

Source: 12/17/2004 Newsline
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