It never stops: more about Shaadi

A few days ago, I went running to Khoruba after I was told that settlers had hit Shaadi with a rock. On the way, I heard a huge bang that sounded like gun shots. I arrived to find Shaadi in quite a state. Settlers from Havot Ma'on had shot two of his sheep and his large ram (the most valuable animal in his herd.) The sheep were wounded and Shaadi was distraught. I started photographing the injuries and then watched as Shaadi gave his testimony to various Israeli authorities. He must have told his story 20 times that day.
In the end, some three hours later, I videotaped as one sheep and the ram were loaded into a police van and taken away from Shaadi. A few days later, I talked to one of Shaadi's daughters. She told me that the sheep and ram in custody died and Shaadi lays awake all night.

Here's the release we put out with the full story:

Israeli Settlers Shoot and Wound Palestinian Sheep and Goat near At-Tuwani

Settlers from the illegal outpost of Havat Ma’on fired five shots into a
Palestinian flock of sheep and goats late Wednesday morning, badly
wounding a sheep and a large male goat.  The shooting took place on
Palestinain land in Khoruba valley near the village of At-Tuwani in the
South Hebron Hills.  A second sheep, believed by shepherds to have also
been wounded, fled into the valley and could not be found.

Israeli police and Army personnel arrived shortly after noon and spoke
with the owner of the sheep, a shepherd from the nearby village of Magayer
al Abeed.  Two settlers, armed with automatic weapons, arrived at about
2:00 PM and spoke with the Israeli police and Army personnel. The settlers
attempted to prevent international volunteers from Christian Peacemaker
Teams  (CPT) from filming, and threatened to take video cameras and tapes
from them and have them arrested.  The CPT volunteers observed the
settlers remove the written police report from the police vehicle and then
return it after several minutes.

Several Palestinian shepherds from surrounding villages arrived at the
scene and told Police that they heard five shots fired at about 11:00 that
morning.  They said they were unable to use their grazing land that day
due to the violence.  At roughly a 4:00 pm the Police left the scene,
taking both injured animals with them.

Palestinian shepherds in the area and volunteers working with Christian
Peacemaker Teams report that Settler violence directed at Shepherds in the
Tuwani Area has increased sharply in March. On multiple occasions both
Settlers and Army Personnel have injured Palestinian-owned animals.

The Stations of Shaadi
13 March, 2008
Written by Eileen

The South Hebron Hills are a place of great beauty. Gazelles roam the
hillsides, birds are abundant in the sky. When you look out over the
hills you can see ancient Palestinian villages where people are still
living a simple, subsistence lifestyle. They have flocks of sheep and
goats. They market lambs, and the women make delicious cheese and
butter. In springtime, the valleys are brilliant green with crops of
wheat and barley.

But this beauty is marked with pain. As you look out across the
horizon now, you also see the unmistakable mark of Israeli
settlements. They appear as modern suburban developments dropped down
on the hilltops in this rugged terrain. Settlement outposts extend the
reach of these settlements, and confiscate increasingly more
Palestinian land exclusively for Israeli use. Religiously zealous,
ideological and violent settlers threaten and attack anyone who dares
draw near. Palestinian shepherds here find they have less and less
land to graze their flocks, and must take grave risks when they do.

As we accompany these shepherds, they often speak of the stories this
landscape holds for them. They speak of the land they knew as
children; the places they used to roam; the valleys their fathers and
grandfathers used to graze the flocks. Recently, as we accompanied one
shepherd, Shaadi, he pointed out some of the landmarks in his memory
along the way.

From high on a hilltop, we can see the nearby settlement and outpost.
Although he does not mention it, we are looking across at a place
where his children have been repeatedly attacked while walking to
school. He continues to send his children to school, knowing that to
do so is defiance of the violence and threats to push him and his
family off of their land.

As we pause at the cistern to water the flocks, he recounts the time
when three masked settlers from the outpost attacked him and his young
son while they were watering the sheep. The settlers arrived in a
truck and began firing stones at them with a slingshot. They broke the
legs of two of his sheep. His nine year old son was also hit by the
rocks. Shaadi tried to comfort his son, who would not speak after the
attack.

When he called the Israeli police to report the attack, the police
refused to come to the village to take his report saying they were
afraid of the settlers, "We are only two police. We need a whole army
to go in there. The settlers will break our windows." Shaadi replied,
"If you are afraid of the settlers, how do you think I am?"

A short walk later, we pass by the place where three years ago a
settler from the illegal settlement outpost Havat Maon, stole fifteen
sheep from his flock. Despite filing a police report, including video
evidence of the entire incident and eyewitness testimony from an
international observer, no charges were filed against the settler.

As we approach his home, he talks about the forced removal of several
hundred people from this area. On April 7, 1998 over one hundred
families in the area, including Shaadi's, were served orders to
abandon their homes by April 12th. In a dark irony, the deadline
given was Easter Sunday. The families refused to leave. The military
confiscated their meager belongings, and offered to return them if
they agreed to leave. They refused.

Shaadi's home is a simple place, closely connected with the homes of
his extended family. But even home is a place of scarred memories.
Settlers have come and attacked his family. Shaadi shares the painful
memory of the time when armed settlers came to the village, and
started shooting. His mother was shot in the leg, and his brother was
also wounded. For him and his family, there is no safe place of refuge.

As is typical in the area, they once had a toilet out-building
adjacent to the house. In May of 2006, the Israeli Civil
Administration issued a demolition order for the toilet. A few days
later a bulldozer came and destroyed it. He has not been allowed to
rebuild it. It seems even the basic human dignity and privacy of a
toilet will be denied him.

Shepherds in this area continue to face violence and threats on a
daily basis. In January of this year, while Shaadi was out grazing his
flocks with a few other local shepherds, settlers came out from the
outpost and fired six shots at them. The flocks scattered, and the
shepherds fled. The Israeli police refused to respond, saying they
`had better things to do".

A few weeks ago, Shaadi was one of several shepherds that went to
graze their flocks in a valley called Mshaha, south of the illegal
settlement outpost, Havat Maon. They went together as an act of
resistance to threats and violence from the settlers. They went to
recover the use of their land, and find sustenance for their flocks.
On this day, Israeli soldiers arrived and demanded that the shepherds
leave. The shepherds responded that this was their land, and that they
wanted to appeal to the commander to decide the issue. Settlers from
the outpost also came and spoke with the soldiers. The soldiers ran
toward the flocks and kicked several sheep, trying to drive them away.
Many of these shepherds reported injuries to their sheep, including
broken teeth, and internal bleeding. Shaadi lost two lambs later that
week from injured ewes.

As we were finishing up this long walk, we paused along the way as a
young lamb was born. Shaadi tended gently and expertly to the newborn,
and invited us back to his house for a meal. We rejoiced in the new
birth, hopeful that this might be finally a sign of new life for him
and his family.


i:`Settlements' refers to Israeli only housing built within the
occupied Palestinian territories. Settlements are all illegal
according to international law. Settlement outposts are illegal under
international law, as well as under Israeli law.

Israeli settlers threaten Palestinian school children, attack CPTers in South Hebron Hills

On 17 March 2008, an Israeli settler yelled and threatened to throw a rock at Palestinian children on the way to elementary school in the village of At-Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills. Two days later, masked settlers attacked CPTers Cassandra Dixon and Eileen Hanson who were monitoring the school patrol from a new location.

About twenty children from the villages of Tuba and Maghayir Al Abeed walk to school in At-Tuwani each day. The Israeli military, under orders from the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) Committee for the Rights of the Child, have accompanied the children past the Hill 833 settlement outpost since 2004 because of settler attacks on the children.

On the morning of 17 March 2008, the children were unable to meet the regular military escort, because it stopped short of the appointed meeting place, and despite repeated calls to the military by international volunteers and concerned Israelis, the escort jeep never came forward to meet the children. The children could not go toward the escort jeep because of the presence of the settler, who was speaking with soldiers and threatening the children with a rock.

Most of the children eventually decided to take the long path to school, walking unescorted through the hills and arriving in At-Tuwani about 9:00 a.m., an hour after school had started. Four children decided not to attend school that day and went home.

On the morning of 19 March, two settlers with their faces covered used slingshots to fire stones at CPTers Cassandra Dixon and Eileen Hanson and chased them as they attempted to monitor the escort. Dixon and Hanson were attempting to observe the children from a new location since soldiers were leaving them unaccompanied for half the route.

The recent problems with the escort arose after settlers installed a gate in the road. Because the jeep stops short of the gate, the children cannot see whether it is waiting for them. Often a few children go ahead, in order to check for the presence of the escort. This reconnaissance is dangerous for the children, because settlers are often in close proximity. One house in the outpost lies only fifty meters away from the road, and often a settler is working around the nearby chicken barns at this time.

In the afternoon, the escort jeep again stops short of the gate; the children go on ahead, and the escort jeep leaves the area before the children are out of sight. This negligence leaves the children unaccompanied for the last half of their walk past the settlement outpost, within reach of people who have previously attacked them.

The new gate on the road represents yet another expansion in the Hill 833 settlement outpost, called by the settlers Havat Ma'on. Despite orders issued by the Israeli government calling for the removal of this outpost, to date it has taken no action to remove it.

Well, it's been over a month since I've managed to update this, which should tell you something about my life here. It's been busy, busy, busy. A few days ago, the Israeli army demolished 9 homes in surrounding villages. We spent the day in front of the mosque in Tuwani, hoping that bulldozers wouldn't come for it. Rather stressful, as you might think.

More to come soon.

The Talj of '08

Tuwani had its first snow accumulation in ten years - and the largest snow ball in recorded history. I'll put up more when I have a better internet connection, but for now, enjoy!

Heroes of the South Hebron Hills

No one will call the shepherds from Tuba and Magher Al Abeed heroes. You wont see these Palestinian men in red kafiyas and mud-stained boots on the evening news. But while Israeli politicians turn a blind eye to the activities of extremist Israeli settlers, these farmers from the South Hebron Hills are successfully nonviolently resisting settlement expansion.

“I haven’t been to this valley in three years,” Issa* told me as we stood over looking Havot Ma’on settlement outpost. Over the past month, Issa and other shepherds have brought their sheep to pieces of Palestinian land they have not been able to graze since the establishment of the illegal Israeli settlement outpost. By doing so, they are showing the Israeli army and Israeli settlers that they plan to continue grazing on their land. Using this strategy, Palestinians in the South Hebron Hills have successfully regained access to land previously stolen by Israeli settlement. Right now, the shepherds of Tuba and Magher Al Abeed are at the forefront this dynamic nonviolent movement.

“The people of Tuba and Magher Al Abeed are strong. The army has to bring three jeeps for you!” my teammates and I joke. “Yes, yes, we’re strong,” the shepherds laugh. Since they began this campaign the shepherds have proven their strength over and over. The Israeli army has brought out jeeps and ask the shepherds for their IDs. Soldiers have kicked the sheep and threatened to arrest the shepherds. Soldiers have pulled off their pants and “mooned” us. Settlers have approached the shepherds carrying clubs. They have fired on the shepherds and their flocks and thrown stones at them. Just to graze their sheep on land they have farmed for generations, Issa and the other shepherds risk arrest and violent attack.

But day after day the shepherds keep coming back to their land and showing their determination. When angry soldiers ordered two young shepherds to leave, the boys responded by sitting down. When a group of settlers came out of the settlement and threw stones at the shepherds and the volunteers accompanying them, the shepherds simply stood their ground. Soon, their lack of fear drove the settlers away.

Everyday the shepherds of Tuba and Magher Al Abeed prove that their nonviolent resistance is stronger the might of the Israeli army or the hatred of extremist Israeli settlers. They are the heroes of the South Hebron Hills.

*Not his real name.

Why Can't You Bring Us Our Donkey?

When I saw Heba* talking to the Ma'on settlement guard, I went running towards her with my video camera poised. In At-Tuwani, Israeli settlers have attacked Palestinian children walking to school, as well as Palestinian adults working on their own land. But as I hurried towards Heba, I realized this seven-year-old was about to teach me a lesson in nonviolent resistance.

Her hands clasped behind her back, Heba looked up into the face of the settlement guard. With her usual composure, she spoke to him. This particular settler is notorious for harassing Palestinians; I’ve seen adult Palestinians take off running when he approached. But he was looking down at Heba and listening. Before I could reach where she stood, Heba turned and calmly walked away.

“What did you say to him, Heba?” I asked. A small, shy girl, Heba didn’t reply at first. But soon my teammates coaxed an answer from her.

"I asked him why he couldn't bring back our donkey.”

Recently, Israeli settlers beat a Palestinian man from the village of Tuba and stole his donkey. (See 4 December 2007 CPTnet release, " AT-TUWANI: Demonstrators walk from At-Tuwani to Tuba, protesting settler harassment.") Palestinians living in the South Hebron hills have had their livestock stolen before. From experience, they know the Israeli police are unlikely to do anything to help them recover their property or prosecute settlers who attack them. Perhaps the entreaties of a little girl could succeed where the Israeli police fail.

About a half an hour before I watched Heba make her case to an armed settler, Israeli soldiers drove up to where Palestinians were plowing. Palestinians asked CPT to film as they worked their land. Neighbors came to see what was happening. Soon a crowd of children joined them. Heba’s mother passed out tiny cups of Arabic coffee. As soon as the settlement guard arrived, Heba’s grandmother, the oldest woman in At-Tuwani, walked up to him. She greeted him without a trace of fear and asked him where the donkey was.

Armed with nothing but their human rights, the people of at-Tuwani remained on their land. The farmers convinced the soldiers to allow them to work, and the settlement guard assured Heba and her grandmother that he would do his best to bring back the donkey. I don’t have much hope that the donkey will be returned, but I’m sure that Heba will grow up knowing how to resist injustice. And that gives me hope for the villages of the South Hebron Hills.

*Not her real name.

Israeli News Outlet Y-Net Covers Soldiers Mooning Palestinians

"Abu Ghraib prison (in Iraq), IDF-style… the soldiers of any occupation are immoral by definition, but the IDF soldiers who exposed themselves have long been stripped of their humane values."
--- Member of the Knesset Ahmad Tibi (United Arab List-Ta'al) describing CPT footage of Israeli soldiers exposing their bottoms to Palestinian shepherds

According to Y-net, the incident that we caught on tape is being investigated by IDF Central Command. It saddens and sickens me that all of the more terrible incidents we've filmed, like our friend and At-Tuwani nonviolent resistance leader being beaten by Israeli soldiers simply for demonstrating, haven't been worth investigating. It's not just the Israeli army who have exposed themselves - Israeli society is demonstrating that they are more interested in butts than human rights violations.

I almost forgot one of the most important pieces of news that I wanted to share: my teammate and friend Jessica was attacked in Hebron by Israeli settlers, along with a wonderful CPT reservist named Paulette. The settlers took their camera, beat them, tore Jess's pants and broke her glasses, all while an Israeli soldier talked on the telephone a few feet a way. Eventually, he did intervene. Jess is alright and she's gotten new glasses, thank God.

Beit Ummar

Beit Ummar, a village north of Hebron, is living through a nightmare. Today was another day of tear gas, rubber-coated bullets, and soldiers everywhere. I don't have the details yet, but I can share what happened a few days ago. In short, a close friend of the team went sent to the hospital, with shrapnel wounds to the face. More details here

AT-TUWANI: Christian Peacemaker Teams Releases Video of Settlers Firing on Palestinian Shepherds in South Hebron Hills

Late Saturday morning, 12 January 2008, settlers from the Hill 833 outpost (called Havat Ma'on by Israeli settlers) fired six shots at shepherds grazing their sheep in a nearby valley. Shepherds and international volunteers with them quickly moved to lower ground and sustained no injuries.

The incident was part of ongoing problems in the area as shepherds from the nearby villages of Tuba and Maghayir al Abeed have attempted to graze their sheep in valleys to the south of the outpost. The recent problems began on Friday, 11 January when settlers called soldiers to force the shepherds off land to the south of the outpost of which they hope to take control. The outpost is undergoing consistent expansion.

Soldiers arrived and told international volunteers from Christian Peacemaker Teams and Operation Dove that the shepherds must stay off the land.

Saturday morning, 12 January, the shepherds returned to the land to graze, despite the previous day’s intimidation. Five settlers were seen walking through the nearby village of Mufaqara on their way to Khoruba valley, south of the Hill 833 outpost. Another settler from the outpost the joined the five, at which time they pointed towards the shepherds in the valley, accompanied by international volunteers, as well as to internationals nearby monitoring. At that point, they fired six shots at the shepherds in the valley and ran back into the outpost.

Volunteers accompanying the shepherds called the police. They briefly came to the outpost, and immediately left. After internationals called them again, they replied that they “have better things to do.”

For a video of the incident, see,
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=5369538579313697940&hl=en-GB

AT-TUWANI: Christian Peacemaker Teams releases video of soldiers exposing buttocks to Palestinian shepherd and international volunteers.

Friday, 11 January 2008, soldiers from the Israeli Army displayed their buttocks in a gesture known colloquially as “mooning” to a Palestinian shepherd and two international volunteers from Christian Peacemaker Teams.

The incident occurred immediately after settlers from the Hill 833 settlement outpost, accompanied by Israeli soldiers, pushed the shepherd and his flock off the land. The shepherd from the Palestinian village of Tuba in the South Hebron Hills was grazing his flock in fields several hundred meters south of the outpost when settlers from the outpost approached in a white car. (Settlers from the outpost are well known in the area for their attacks on local Palestinian shepherds, farmers, and schoolchildren.) More settlers arrived, along with Israeli soldiers, causing the shepherd to move back to a safer location. The soldiers informed the international volunteers accompanying the shepherd that the shepherd was not permitted to graze on the land, despite the fact Israeli courts have recognized Palestinian ownership of the land, and the Israeli Army itself had previously issued a demolition order, never carried out, for the Hill 833 outpost.

Even after the shepherd moved farther down the valley, the soldiers and a settler security guard followed him. Not content at having pushed the shepherd back, before leaving, two soldiers dropped their pants and displayed their buttocks to the shepherd and the international volunteers in a lewd, insulting manner.

It feels wonderful to be back in at-Tuwani after a month away. When I left, the ground was brown and bare, but now the hills are covered with tiny, miraculous green shoots. The winter rain has come (though not nearly enough of it has arrived) and the brush that was picked clean once again has thistles enough for shepherds to return to grazing their sheep. I’ve spent the last few days catching up on all that I have missed while I’ve been away - and trying to keep up with all that’s been going here. We have been extremely busy. Settlers have been harassing and threatening Palestinians with a vengeance, probably in hopes of showing Palestinians that they will be attacked if they graze “too close” to the settlement. But Palestinians shepherds have been pushing back by grazing their sheep on hills and in valleys that the settlement is trying to annex, or rather, steal. As usual, I’m amazed by the bravery these shepherds. And I’m pretty well sick of running after jeeps and settlers. But I’m have been enjoying a precious, rare feeling of hope - the villages of the South Hebron Hills are resisting and they aren’t allowing themselves to be pushed around.

There is simply no way that I can recount the events of the last ten days, so here are some links to the press releases that we’ve sent out:

Settlers fire on Palestinians in the South Hebron Hills VIDEO COMING SOON

Cistern contaminated in Humra Valley

Additionally, olive trees have been destroyed (probably by settlers), soldier have threatened Palestinian shepherds with arrest just for grazing their sheep, settlers have approached shepherds with clubs, though they turned back, thank God, and settlers stole a donkey from a Palestinian farmer living in Tuba. Oh, and I almost forget, Israeli soldiers "mooned" (exposed their bums) to Palestinians and CPTers. We happen to have an excellent video of their display, which we hope to post soon. Yes, we've laughed about this a lot, but it's really not funny. Palestinians in the area were rather horrified, as in an Islamic context it's shameful to see someone else's nudity. But our neighbors have asked us to share our video with as many people as possible. And so we will.

Adventures in Wonderland

On 25 October, the army left demolition orders under stones at the entrances to homes in the village. On 29 October, soldiers in jeeps and bulldozers began to demolish the tents and caves without giving the residents leave to remove their possessions. According to testimonies villagers gave to B`Tselem, soldiers beat a villager who tried to protect his flock, which he kept in one of the caves. Only after an officer intervened was he allowed to evacuate his livestock.
B'Tselem, Army demolishes village housing over 200 Palestinians,
west of the Barrier.

Recently, a jeep left a demolition order for the at-Tuwani mosque under a rock in the village. I guess the village is not alone in this indignity. The occupation is alway strange, but it's surprising to me what elements of it aren't just random, but actually planned - at least to some degree.