Israeli soldiers sometimes sit in jeeps or an armored personnel carrier at the intersection to keep watch over Route 60 and the settlers traveling on it. The school is a few miles north of the ancient city of Hebron. Chat with Monitor reporter Cameron Barr Wednesday, April 18, Noon ET . For the boys and young men of the nearby Palestinian villages, Beit Anoun junction is their intifada, their place to hurl rocks and gasoline bombs at Israeli troops. On Nov. 4, the intifada is 36 days old.
School ends at midday and the boys take up their positions behind buildings near the intersection.
They wait for the girls to get out of harm's way. It is a nice thought. Gazala and dozens of girls cross the highway, walk between the Israeli jeeps, and hurry past the boys, some of whom are crouching and holding stones. As the girls leave the intersection, the boys initiate the clash and the Israelis begin to respond. The girls soon hear the hiss of canisters spewing tear gas, the concussive clap of a stun grenade, a few gunshots.