Community Peacemaker Teams - Palestine

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Community Peacemaker Teams - Palestine

CPT Palestine supports Palestinian-led, nonviolent, grassroots resistance to the Israeli occupation.

Our vision: A world of communities that together embrace the diversity of the human family and live justly and peaceably with all creation. Our Mission: CPT-Palestine is building partnerships to transform violence and oppression. We support Palestinian-led, nonviolent, grassroots resistance against the Israeli Occupation, through solidarity and advocacy with Palestinians living in the H2 area of Al-Khalil/Hebron city, and south Hebron Hills.

29/09/2026

Over the weekend, people from all over the region descended upon the old city of Hebron for the annual grape festival. This festival celebrates the harvest, history, and cultural significance of grapes in Palestine and Hebron’s famed grape products. Families, school groups, and even foreigners packed the old city with life, laughter, and celebration. Music played throughout the streets and shops buzzed with customers. While people often avoid the old city out of fear of the army and settlers, the streets were packed during the festival. Even the settler incursion, a weekly Saturday event, was cancelled due to the number of locals in the old city. The festival is a reminder of the importance of the old city of Hebron and the importance of holding on to heritage.

22/09/2026

On Monday, September 21, just as the school day ended for the Jaber and Jabari neighbourhoods in the Old city of Hebron, soldiers appeared and began blocking the path of schoolchildren attempting to return home to their parents. Children from Tayseer Maraqa girls’ school and Beir Alsaba’a boy’s school attempted to leave when soldiers pointed guns at them. The soldiers further intimidated the students by pretending to chase them, before laughing at how scared they could make these children. At the start of the incursion, two soldiers stood to block the street. By the time they left, there were nine soldiers. These incidents are not for the safety of the settler population, but rather a tool to intimidate Palestinians. The occupation seeks to make life in Hebron unbearable, in hopes that the residents will leave. Despite this harassment, the people continue to hold on to their homes and communities.

20/09/2026

Two days ago, and like any other Friday, people from all over Hebron and the surrounding villages came for afternoon prayers at the Ibrahimi Mosque in the old city. Families dressed in their best clothes and trekked together into the old city, only to spend the Friday prayer waiting in line at the checkpoint. As CPT monitored the situation, the checkpoint only opened twice for a few minutes at a time. Eventually, many of the people waiting decided to give up and go pray elsewhere. Even when the checkpoint did open, many were stuck in an additional lineup at the secondary check inside. Despite the unpredictability of this checkpoint, people from Hebron come every Friday to assert their right to pray in their own city.

07/09/2026

After three months of summer break, schools finally opened their doors to welcome students back.
The beginning of a new school year should be filled with excitement, hope, and commitment to learning. Yet, for many children in Hebron, this atmosphere is repeatedly replaced by fear, anxiety, and uncertainty due to the heavy military presence surrounding their schools.
On the second day of classes, CPT Palestine accompanied students on their way to school and monitored the situation throughout this morning. We observed more than 20 soldiers during school hours, harassing and intimidating schoolboys, women, and passersby. One soldier pushed two boys, preventing them from reaching their school. Other students hesitated to make their way to school because of the heavy military presence in the area.
Soldiers blocked roads, prevented cars from passing, ordered drivers to turn off their engines and place their keys on top of their vehicles.
Movement in the area was also restricted for approximately an hour following the arrest of a local young man, who was handcuffed at Salaymeh checkpoint.
Soldiers also threw sound bombs to clear the area of students near four boys’ schools.
This is only the beginning of the school year.
What will the rest of the semester look like?

03/09/2026

Last week, 25 August marked the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed, a day when almost everyone is off from work for a holy and sacred occasion. In the Old City of Hebron, this is a day where the entire Ibrahimi Mosque is open for Palestinians to pray.

With 80% of the mosque regularly off-limits for non-Jews, many people flocked to the Old City for the opportunity to pray in Islam’s fourth holiest site. As sweets and water were handed out to celebrate the day, dozens waited in line at the checkpoint for their moment. Though the checkpoint remained open, the soldiers took their time letting people through, causing delays for worshippers, with more people waiting than actually entering. Teenagers who arrived alone were turned back and barred from entering the mosque. Israeli soldiers have decided that minors cannot attend prayers without their parents. Others who had the bad fortune to forget their identification cards were also denied entry. Despite these injustices, the Old City was filled with joy, friendship, and commerce for much of the day.

As settlements continue to encroach on the city from all directions, the people of Hebron continue to remain steadfast in their home and way of life.

31/08/2026

The seventh session of Through Their Lens was filled with energy, creativity, and enthusiasm from the nine participants. The session provided them an opportunity to reflect on their experiences, share their ideas, and celebrate the progress they have made throughout the program.

We began with a review of the photographs the girls had taken during the previous week as part of their photography homework. Each had the opportunity to present and discuss her photos: to explain what she wanted to capture, why she chose a particular subject, and what the image meant to her. This activity encouraged the girls to look at their surroundings from different perspectives and to think more deeply about how photography can be used to express feelings, ideas, personal experiences and dreams.

The girls also revisited the “vision boards” they had created. These boards represent their dreams and aspirations, the paths they imagine taking to achieve them, and the challenges they believe they might face along the way. Sharing these ideas created an open and supportive space where the participants encouraged one another, recognized their strengths, and reflected on the importance of perseverance when working toward their goals.

Another important part of the session was reviewing the stories they had written about themselves. The girls had written their stories in their own words, allowing their individual personalities, experiences, hopes, and perspectives to come through more clearly. This process helped them take greater ownership of their stories and understand the value of telling their experiences in their own voices.

Overall, the seventh session was a meaningful opportunity for the girls to reflect on their creativity, personal journeys, and future aspirations while continuing to build confidence in expressing themselves through photography and storytelling.

29/08/2026

Yesterday, On Friday in the old city of Hebron, many come for the chance to pray at the Ibrahimi mosque, the most sacred mosque in Hebron. Yet not all who come and line up to enter are able to get in, and many who do often miss the call to prayer because of the checkpoints.
Often, a massive line of worshippers snakes through the old city, as hundreds of people wait in line to pass through the first checkpoint. With arbitrary delays of 30-60 minutes, some turn back. They would rather catch the prayer at a nearby mosque than be late for prayer at the Ibrahimi mosque. Some choose to pray in line at the checkpoint, remaining determined to enter one of Islam’s holiest sites.
Those who forgot their ID cards, or assumed a picture of their IDs would suffice, are turned back at the checkpoint. After waiting long periods in line, the army tells them they cannot enter and forces them to turn away. Despite these difficulties, many from Hebron and the neighbouring villages come frequently to Friday prayers at Ibrahimi. Some even attending every Friday.
These delays and closures are not random, but part of a larger strategy by the occupation to deny freedom of movement to Palestinians and prevent their freedom of worship. As Israel continues to steal Palestinian land in the name of the Jewish religion, they simultaneously prevent Muslims from worshipping in their ancestral homes and mosques.
Today much of the Ibrahimi mosque is off limits for Palestinians.
Everyone has a right to pray and worship without fear of repression and violence. Yet the people of Hebron are denied these basic freedoms. Despite these continued restrictions, many continue to come pray at Ibrahimi on Fridays and assert their right to live and pray in their own community.

23/08/2026

As part of our “Through Their Lens” project, we recently held our sixth session, focusing on an important question: What does success mean to us, and what does it take to achieve it?

The session included engaging discussions and activities exploring the meaning of success, the qualities and habits of successful people, and the different paths that can lead us toward our goals. Rather than seeing success as a single destination, participants were encouraged to think about it as a personal journey shaped by dreams, choices, challenges, persistence, and determination.

As part of the session, we were honored to welcome Dr. Ahmed Al-Harbawi as a role model and an example of a journey toward success. Participants actively engaged with Dr. Al-Harbawi, asking questions, sharing their thoughts, and discussing the experiences and values that contribute to achieving personal and professional goals. His story and the materials presented opened space for meaningful conversations and lively debate among the group.

The participants also expressed their own visions of the future through artwork, creating images and phrases that reflected their dreams, ambitions, and hopes for success. These creative pieces became a way for them to share how they see their journeys ahead and what they hope to achieve.

Through “Through Their Lens,” we continue to create spaces where young people can explore their voices, dreams, and perspectives and where their ideas can become part of the story they are creating for their future.

Their dreams. Their voices. Their success and their journey. Through their lens.

22/08/2026

Every Saturday, during the settlers’ incursion of Hebron’s Old City, the area is transformed into an almost deserted ghost town. Palestinian residents and shopkeepers face severe and often unjustified military restrictions. Shopkeepers are ordered to close their stores or are forcibly removed from the area. At times, they are not even given enough time to close their shops and are simply pushed out, leaving their shops open.

Residents, visitors, and passersby are required to keep a significant distance from the settlers. Palestinians are prevented from moving freely through the Old City so that the settlers can conduct their tour without encountering Palestinian residents. As a result, residents are denied access to their homes and shops, while the soldiers protecting the settlers form a human barrier around them, further restricting visibility and movement.

The military presence is accompanied by aggressive behavior toward residents, visitors, journalists, and anyone attempting to pass through the area. Restrictions begin even before the settlers’ incursion starts, with movement through parts of the Old City severely limited in order to clear the streets, shops and alleyways .

The restrictions extend to Palestinian homes. Soldiers sometimes occupy the rooftops of Palestinian houses, creating an atmosphere of fear and preventing residents from moving freely within their own homes.

Press crews and other observers are also pushed away from the area and directed toward a distant location near Al-Shalala Street, making it extremely difficult to document or observe what is happening during the settlers’ incursion. The result is an Old City emptied of Palestinian life and movement, allowing the settlers’ incursion to proceed while residents bear the restrictions, disruption, and intimidation.

10/08/2026

On Tuesday, 04.08.2026, we held the fourth session of Through Their Lens at Sharek Center.
The session focused on dreams, giving the nine participants the opportunity to share their personal aspirations and explore what they hope to achieve in the future. Each participant prepared a presentation about her dream, sharing ambitions that included becoming an English teacher, traveller, journalist, photographer, psychologist, chef, plastic surgeon, and businesswoman. One participant also shared her dream of adopting a cat!
Through games, activities, discussions, and presentations, the participants explored what it would take to achieve their dreams and the obstacles that may stand in their way. The discussion opened space for the girls to reflect on the challenges they face, including fear, anxiety, the Occupation, and the impact of patriarchy. Despite these challenges, they encouraged one another to see difficulties as challenges to overcome, to take things step by step, work hard, continue learning, and keep moving toward their goals.
The three hours passed quickly, with the participants showing great energy, focus, humour, and enthusiasm throughout the session. There was a strong sense of encouragement and support among the girls as they listened to one another and shared their hopes for the future. We look forward to continuing these conversations and exploring their dreams and the challenges they may face in achieving them during the upcoming sessions.

Address

Hebron

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