AT-TUWANI REFLECTION: "Resistance will not be tolerated"-from Gaza to At-Tuwani
by CPT Tuwani team members
At the time of this writing, casualties in the ten-day Gaza conflict have reached approximately 699 Palestinians and ten Israelis, according to news reports. Here in at-Tuwani, in the West Bank's South Hebron district, we witness Palestinians' mourning and outrage over Israel's latest military actions. At the same time, we witness army collusion with settlers' harassment and attacks of Palestinians.
On Sunday, 4 January 2009, two team members observed a confrontation between Israeli military forces and a group of around twenty Palestinian youth outside the Palestinian town of al-Birkeh ("The Pool" in Arabic). Army and police jeeps had parked along the dirt road between at-Tuwani and Yatta, and the Palestinian youth were shouting at soldiers and police from a hillside above. A white truck with Israeli license plates approached a police jeep and two settler men got out, one armed with an automatic rifle. They spoke with the Israeli police, then drove up toward the Palestinian youth, who quickly ran off toward al-Birkeh. Some Israeli army jeeps pursued the youth up the road toward the town.
The CPTers heard the sound of gunfire and percussion grenades sporadically. Then, after twenty minutes, the Israeli settlers again spoke with the soldiers and then drove away. The following day, Palestinian residents of al-Birkeh told us they had seen armed Israeli settlers in the town the previous morning.
This event should be considered within a broader context. Popular Palestinian outcry against the killing in Gaza has resulted in heavier deployments of Israeli troops and, in central Hebron, U.S. and E.U.-sponsored Palestinian police. Both there and in the rural South Hebron Hills, Israeli settler civilians continue to demonstrate through words and actions their commitment to a Palestinian exodus from the region. The Israeli army and police institutionalize that commitment by guarding the settlers wherever they wish to move.
Even though at-Tuwani remains devoid of protests and the villagers have focused by necessity upon the basic work of survival--plowing fields, digging cisterns, educating youngsters--local army and settler behavior compound the message that from Gaza to the West Bank, "Control is ours; no resistance will be tolerated."
Showing posts with label at-tuwani. Show all posts
Showing posts with label at-tuwani. Show all posts
Friday, January 09, 2009
Friday, December 05, 2008
Do What You Will
Yesterday in Susiya, a village near at-Tuwani and one which has been razed by the Israeli army three times, Israeli settlers burned a Palestinian home to the ground. This incident was one of a long series of attacks Israeli settlers are calling a "price tag" campaign. According to the International Herald Tribune, settlers "say they're creating havoc to try to deter the Israeli security forces from future attempts to remove any of the dozens of squatter camps, or outposts, dotting West Bank hills." It seems as though the Israeli army is unwilling to take decisive action against the lawless elements of it's own society. Perhaps this "price tag" campaign has being proved successful.
According the International Solidarity Movement, during the last week alone, "settlers are attacking Palestinian residents and property around the West Bank in a coordinated outbreak of aggression following the eviction of settlers from the occupied Rajabi house in Hebron. Attacks against Palestinians have been reported from Turmas’ayya, Burin, Huwarra, Beit Iba, Azzoun, al-Funduq, Assira-al-Qabliya and Susiya, as well as the mass settler riots in Hebron."
In At-Tuwani, the same pattern has unfolded. Since the beginning of 2008, it's seemed as though the settlers of Ma'on and Havot Ma'on have been "on the move." By the middle of the year, settlers were attacking Palestinians with greater frequecy, even inside the boundaries of Palestinian villages. During almost every incident, the Israeli army stood by and watched while settlers did what they please. During one attack, an Israeli solider told a Palestinian resident of At-Tuwani that they would not step in to restrain settlers until settlers entered Palestinian homes. Now, as 2008 has drawn to a close, Palestinians, and to a much lesser extent international human rights workers like myself, undertake all of their daily activities under ever increasing threat.
According to a report prepared by an IDF consultant, much of the recent settler violence was fostered when extermist members of the settler movement saw an "opportunity" and were not met by an determined response by the Israeli army. In the South Hebron Hills, settler violence is generally met with no army response whatsoever. Even after settlers have repeted attacked Palestinian schoolchildren, ages 6 to 12, no settlers have been arrested. Perhaps even worse, the Israeli army refuses to insure the safety of these children, despite it's orders from the Israeli Knesset to do so. The message from the army to the settlers is clear - do whatever you will; no one will stop you.
Yesterday in Susiya, a village near at-Tuwani and one which has been razed by the Israeli army three times, Israeli settlers burned a Palestinian home to the ground. This incident was one of a long series of attacks Israeli settlers are calling a "price tag" campaign. According to the International Herald Tribune, settlers "say they're creating havoc to try to deter the Israeli security forces from future attempts to remove any of the dozens of squatter camps, or outposts, dotting West Bank hills." It seems as though the Israeli army is unwilling to take decisive action against the lawless elements of it's own society. Perhaps this "price tag" campaign has being proved successful.
According the International Solidarity Movement, during the last week alone, "settlers are attacking Palestinian residents and property around the West Bank in a coordinated outbreak of aggression following the eviction of settlers from the occupied Rajabi house in Hebron. Attacks against Palestinians have been reported from Turmas’ayya, Burin, Huwarra, Beit Iba, Azzoun, al-Funduq, Assira-al-Qabliya and Susiya, as well as the mass settler riots in Hebron."
In At-Tuwani, the same pattern has unfolded. Since the beginning of 2008, it's seemed as though the settlers of Ma'on and Havot Ma'on have been "on the move." By the middle of the year, settlers were attacking Palestinians with greater frequecy, even inside the boundaries of Palestinian villages. During almost every incident, the Israeli army stood by and watched while settlers did what they please. During one attack, an Israeli solider told a Palestinian resident of At-Tuwani that they would not step in to restrain settlers until settlers entered Palestinian homes. Now, as 2008 has drawn to a close, Palestinians, and to a much lesser extent international human rights workers like myself, undertake all of their daily activities under ever increasing threat.
According to a report prepared by an IDF consultant, much of the recent settler violence was fostered when extermist members of the settler movement saw an "opportunity" and were not met by an determined response by the Israeli army. In the South Hebron Hills, settler violence is generally met with no army response whatsoever. Even after settlers have repeted attacked Palestinian schoolchildren, ages 6 to 12, no settlers have been arrested. Perhaps even worse, the Israeli army refuses to insure the safety of these children, despite it's orders from the Israeli Knesset to do so. The message from the army to the settlers is clear - do whatever you will; no one will stop you.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Full account of the incident: Israeli settlers attack Palestinian shepherds, kill donkey, injure internationals
On 15 November 2008, around 9:00 a.m., approximately fifteen masked Israeli settlers from the illegal outpost of Havat Ma'on attacked three Palestinian shepherds who were grazing their flocks in a valley south of the outpost. The settlers came running down from a ridge above the shepherds, hurling rocks. The shepherds were able to get their flocks away before the rocks injured them.
During the incident, the settlers were able to steal two of the shepherds' donkeys. The settlers killed one donkey with a knife wound in the chest area. They slashed another across the throat, but the donkey survived.
Settlers also hit two internationals from Christian Peacemaker Teams—who were accompanying the shepherds—with large rocks. One CPTer sustained minor injuries.
The Israeli police were called four times before responding to the incident. They did not initially respond to reports of settlers attacking Palestinian shepherds and internationals, but only responded when they learned of the attack on the donkeys.
The assault occurred on land the shepherds graze daily and which the settlers hope to take for the expansion of Havat Ma’on. Replacing the donkey will cost around 1000 NIS, or $265. The Israeli occupation has impoverished the shepherds of the area, and they are currently dependent on outside food aid.
For additional photos, see http://cpt.org/gallery/Settlers-Kill-Donkey.
On 15 November 2008, around 9:00 a.m., approximately fifteen masked Israeli settlers from the illegal outpost of Havat Ma'on attacked three Palestinian shepherds who were grazing their flocks in a valley south of the outpost. The settlers came running down from a ridge above the shepherds, hurling rocks. The shepherds were able to get their flocks away before the rocks injured them.
During the incident, the settlers were able to steal two of the shepherds' donkeys. The settlers killed one donkey with a knife wound in the chest area. They slashed another across the throat, but the donkey survived.
Settlers also hit two internationals from Christian Peacemaker Teams—who were accompanying the shepherds—with large rocks. One CPTer sustained minor injuries.
The Israeli police were called four times before responding to the incident. They did not initially respond to reports of settlers attacking Palestinian shepherds and internationals, but only responded when they learned of the attack on the donkeys.
The assault occurred on land the shepherds graze daily and which the settlers hope to take for the expansion of Havat Ma’on. Replacing the donkey will cost around 1000 NIS, or $265. The Israeli occupation has impoverished the shepherds of the area, and they are currently dependent on outside food aid.
For additional photos, see http://cpt.org/gallery/Settlers-Kill-Donkey.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
This morning while I sipped my tea, I thought to myself, “It happens every day.”
Yesterday afternoon, October 14th, a group of six to twelve year old Palestinian children returning home from school were forced to run for their lives. Every morning and afternoon, these children must walk to past an Israeli settlement on their way to and from school in the village of at-Tuwani. Yesterday, two adult Israeli settlers waited for them near the end of the settlement, threw stones at the children and chased them towards their homes in the village of Tuba. Because these children have been attacked frequently, lately in this very location, the Israeli army is charged with escorting them each day. But yesterday, as usual, the Israeli soldiers drove away, abandoning the children while they were still in danger. “The children were very afraid when they arrived home,” said one father.
It happens every day. Serving with Christian Peacemaker Teams in At-Tuwani, I’ve born witness to more attacks on these children than I’ve been able to keep track of. The children are not attacked every day, but every day they face more danger on their walk to school than I have faced my entire life. We’ve sat together, the children, my fellow CPTers and I, and waited for the Israeli army to come for more hours that I care to recall. Sometimes we play together and manage to have a genuinely good time. One afternoon we played with my camera, the kids posing for me as they climbed trees, climbed on top of each other, giggled and danced. The next day, one of the older girls pulled on my hand and said to me, “I was so happy yesterday! Last night I woke up in the middle of the night because I had a bad dream about the settlers. But then I thought about all the fun we had and I fell back asleep.” Those words broke my heart and I can’t put it back together.
It happens every day. We all know the many ways, tiny and humongous , that our world is falling apart around us: polar bears who are losing their habitat, millions of parents who can’t feed their children, wars with no end in sight, petty meanness, decreased community, and children who are attacked on their way to school. It’s so much to bear. Too much.
It happens every day, but that’s not the end of the story. Lately my mantra has been, “It is as bad as you think it is, but that’s not all.” To paraphrase an old slogan, if your heart isn’t broken, you aren’t paying attention. But if you aren’t also filled with hope, you’re missing half of the story. In at-Tuwani, every day Palestinians are resisting a military occupation that is trying to crush them and their culture. They are grazing their sheep, building new houses, organizing nonviolent demonstrations, and sending their children to school. Now it’s time for the olive harvest and throughout Palestine, farmers will step out on to their land, sometimes risking arrest and attacks, to harvest a bounty of thousands of green, blue, and even purple hued olives. Here in my own pacific northwest, I’ve been thinking about the salmon who every year come down the river, offer themselves up to the people, and then swim back to their headwaters to spawn and die. For thousand of years, despite ever increasing odds against them, they’ve survived through this cycle. I can’t help but think there is something they are trying to tell us.
It happens every day. Horror and hope. They stand together, side by side, on the knife’s edge. And they offer us a choice, every day.
Yesterday afternoon, October 14th, a group of six to twelve year old Palestinian children returning home from school were forced to run for their lives. Every morning and afternoon, these children must walk to past an Israeli settlement on their way to and from school in the village of at-Tuwani. Yesterday, two adult Israeli settlers waited for them near the end of the settlement, threw stones at the children and chased them towards their homes in the village of Tuba. Because these children have been attacked frequently, lately in this very location, the Israeli army is charged with escorting them each day. But yesterday, as usual, the Israeli soldiers drove away, abandoning the children while they were still in danger. “The children were very afraid when they arrived home,” said one father.
It happens every day. Serving with Christian Peacemaker Teams in At-Tuwani, I’ve born witness to more attacks on these children than I’ve been able to keep track of. The children are not attacked every day, but every day they face more danger on their walk to school than I have faced my entire life. We’ve sat together, the children, my fellow CPTers and I, and waited for the Israeli army to come for more hours that I care to recall. Sometimes we play together and manage to have a genuinely good time. One afternoon we played with my camera, the kids posing for me as they climbed trees, climbed on top of each other, giggled and danced. The next day, one of the older girls pulled on my hand and said to me, “I was so happy yesterday! Last night I woke up in the middle of the night because I had a bad dream about the settlers. But then I thought about all the fun we had and I fell back asleep.” Those words broke my heart and I can’t put it back together.
It happens every day. We all know the many ways, tiny and humongous , that our world is falling apart around us: polar bears who are losing their habitat, millions of parents who can’t feed their children, wars with no end in sight, petty meanness, decreased community, and children who are attacked on their way to school. It’s so much to bear. Too much.
It happens every day, but that’s not the end of the story. Lately my mantra has been, “It is as bad as you think it is, but that’s not all.” To paraphrase an old slogan, if your heart isn’t broken, you aren’t paying attention. But if you aren’t also filled with hope, you’re missing half of the story. In at-Tuwani, every day Palestinians are resisting a military occupation that is trying to crush them and their culture. They are grazing their sheep, building new houses, organizing nonviolent demonstrations, and sending their children to school. Now it’s time for the olive harvest and throughout Palestine, farmers will step out on to their land, sometimes risking arrest and attacks, to harvest a bounty of thousands of green, blue, and even purple hued olives. Here in my own pacific northwest, I’ve been thinking about the salmon who every year come down the river, offer themselves up to the people, and then swim back to their headwaters to spawn and die. For thousand of years, despite ever increasing odds against them, they’ve survived through this cycle. I can’t help but think there is something they are trying to tell us.
It happens every day. Horror and hope. They stand together, side by side, on the knife’s edge. And they offer us a choice, every day.
Friday, September 12, 2008
“She’s Driving Me Crazy, But this Girl is Going to Make a Great Resister.”
My friend and teammate Sarah just posted a really lovely story in her very lovely blog. It's a reflection the August 2nd action that I've spoken about. That action, in which over a hundred Palestinian children and their parents walked to the village of Tuba on a road they haven't been able to use for the last eleven years, remains one of the most incredible actions I've ever been a (small) part of.
Sarah's story talks about one of our favorite Tuwani kids, Amira. Amira's showed up in this blog before precisely for the reason that Sarah gives: "She's driving me crazy, but this girl is going to make a great resister." Sarah talks about how Amira's participation and you don't want to miss it.
My friend and teammate Sarah just posted a really lovely story in her very lovely blog. It's a reflection the August 2nd action that I've spoken about. That action, in which over a hundred Palestinian children and their parents walked to the village of Tuba on a road they haven't been able to use for the last eleven years, remains one of the most incredible actions I've ever been a (small) part of.
Sarah's story talks about one of our favorite Tuwani kids, Amira. Amira's showed up in this blog before precisely for the reason that Sarah gives: "She's driving me crazy, but this girl is going to make a great resister." Sarah talks about how Amira's participation and you don't want to miss it.
Monday, August 04, 2008
Police Arresting Kristin Anderson
At-Tuwani: Urgent Action Update
3 Sunday 2008
On Sunday 3 August 2008, human rights worker Kristin Anderson was released from Israeli police custody, but the Israeli police have taken no steps to prevent setter violence in the South Hebron Hills. CPT urges you to contact the Israeli police at Kiryat Arba and demand immediate action to prevent further setter attacks on Palestinian school children. Over the last two weeks settlers have attacked Palestinian children on their way to summer camp four times. Settlers continue to yell, chase, curse, and throw rocks at the children, while Israeli police refuse to apprehend perpetrators. In November 2004 the Israeli Knesset declared that the Israeli police are responsible for apprehending violent settlers.
Please call the police and demand justice:
Kiryat Arba Contact Numbers:
972-2996-9444
972-2996-9494
972-2996-9424
(Add your applicable country code first)
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Release: Armed Settlers Enter the Village of At-Tuwani, Threaten and Insult Palestinians and Internationals: Israeli Police Refuse to Come to the Assistance of Palestinians
At-Tuwani, South Hebron Hills: On Friday 25 July at 10:30 am, three Israeli settlers, one masked and accompanied by a dog, left the Havot Ma'on settlement outpost and followed a Palestinian shepherd and his young son into the village of At-Tuwani. Over to the next hour, the settlers remained in the village shouting insults at the residents of the village and threatened to shoot them.
One settler took photographs and video of Palestinians and members of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) and Operation Dove (OD). He shouted racist insults comparing Palestinians to donkeys and made sexist comments to a female member of CPT. He also announced that he was carrying a gun and would shoot Palestinians if his fellow settlers requested it.
A volunteer with Christian Peacemaker Team called the Israeli police to ask them to come to village. The police refused to speak to her in English. An Israeli lawyer with Yesh Din then called the police, but the officers never arrived in the village.
Both Palestinian residents of At-Tuwani and members of CPT and OD reported that these three settlers had repeatedly threatened and harassed Palestinians on previous occasions. Notably, two of the three were photographed inside the village on At-Tuwani on 29 April 2008. (See Release: Israeli settlers attack and intimidate Palestinians: Israeli authorities allow twenty Israeli settlers to remain on At-Tuwani land)
At-Tuwani, South Hebron Hills: On Friday 25 July at 10:30 am, three Israeli settlers, one masked and accompanied by a dog, left the Havot Ma'on settlement outpost and followed a Palestinian shepherd and his young son into the village of At-Tuwani. Over to the next hour, the settlers remained in the village shouting insults at the residents of the village and threatened to shoot them.
One settler took photographs and video of Palestinians and members of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) and Operation Dove (OD). He shouted racist insults comparing Palestinians to donkeys and made sexist comments to a female member of CPT. He also announced that he was carrying a gun and would shoot Palestinians if his fellow settlers requested it.
A volunteer with Christian Peacemaker Team called the Israeli police to ask them to come to village. The police refused to speak to her in English. An Israeli lawyer with Yesh Din then called the police, but the officers never arrived in the village.
Both Palestinian residents of At-Tuwani and members of CPT and OD reported that these three settlers had repeatedly threatened and harassed Palestinians on previous occasions. Notably, two of the three were photographed inside the village on At-Tuwani on 29 April 2008. (See Release: Israeli settlers attack and intimidate Palestinians: Israeli authorities allow twenty Israeli settlers to remain on At-Tuwani land)
Friday, July 18, 2008
"School children threatened by Israeli settlers in South Hebron Hills"
The Right to Education Campaign, based out of Birzeit University, has just released a wonderful report on the situation facing school children in the South Hebron Hills. They explain:
The report goes on to give an example of the sort of treatment that the children regularly endure:
Thank you, Right to Education, for your wonderful work!
The Right to Education Campaign, based out of Birzeit University, has just released a wonderful report on the situation facing school children in the South Hebron Hills. They explain:
Often, on their daily route to school, the children are subjected to threats and violence by the Israeli settlers. After a series of settler attacks on the children in 2004, the Children's Committee of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, ordered a military escort to accompany the children on their route to school every day. In spite of this, the military escort often does not turn up on time or escorts the children only half the way, which makes the children vulnerable to attacks. To make the situation more complex for the children, settlers have recently installed a gate on the road, which is sometimes locked and therefore prevents the children from going to school completely - and these children are therefore being denied their right to education.
The report goes on to give an example of the sort of treatment that the children regularly endure:
...on the morning of 17th March, 2008, the children were unable to meet the regular military escort. The escort jeep stopped well short of the appointed meeting place, and despite repeated calls to the military by the international volunteers and concerned Israelis, the escort jeep never came forward to meet the children. The children could not walk towards the escort jeep because of the threatening presence of a settler. The settler was near the military escort and was speaking with the soldiers. He shouted threatening remarks at the children, and also threatened them with a rock. Eventually most of the children decided to take the long route to school, walking unescorted through the hills and arriving in At-Tuwani at about 9.00am, about an hour after school had started. Four of the children returned home and did not attend school because of the problems with the escort.
This situation is not unusual; the military escort often refuses to accompany the children for the entire route, in spite of the law ordered by the Knesset, obliging them to do so.
Thank you, Right to Education, for your wonderful work!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Dreaming of Paradise
"I had a dream last night," Shaadi told my teammates and me while we sat munching sliced tomatoes and olives one hot afternoon. Shaadi told us that in his dream he had climbed to the top of one of the pine trees at the edge of the Havot Ma'on Israeli settlement outpost. Below him, Shaadi said he could see Israeli settlers stealing the fodder that he uses to feed his sheep.
"Come down here," one of the settlers called up to Shaadi. "No, no" he said. "I'll up stay here." But the settler reached up into the tree and pulled Shaadi down to the ground. "They tried to kill me," Shaadi told us. He put his hands around his throat to show how the settlers had chocked him. "And then I woke up."
Shaadi says that his children often have nightmares like the one he described. They used to have even more, he told us, but now his village is more organized and more successful in nonviolently resisting the attacks of Israeli settlers. Still, to get to school in At-Tuwani, Shaadi's children have to walk through an Israeli settlement, along a road where adult Israeli settler have attacked them with chains and stones. Seeing Shaadi's children greet me with smiles and laughter is a delight, but also it feels strange, like a dream.
A week ago, I looked out on to Havot Ma'on from on a hillside where I had never sat before. As I saw on the settlement outpost from a new angle, I found myself filled with jealousy. Before me on the wooded outpost, in adjacent valleys, and in the neighboring houses of Ma'on settlement, settlers moved around freely, without inhibition. "They have so much space!" I thought. I envied all of room they had in which to walk without fear of attack or arrest. Certainly, the settlers of Havot Ma'on are afraid. But theirs are fears that born of prejudice and hate. And whatever their feelings, they are not enough to change the insistent reality of the South Hebron Hills – it's Palestinians, not Israelis, who run through the hills afraid for their lives.
As I sat watching dusk fall on Havot Ma'on, I thought back to another day I spent with Shaadi and his family. Shaadi asked my teammates and me to watch as he, his wife, oldest daughter, young son, and tiny baby made their way from to Magher Al Abeed. Sure enough, as Shaadi feared, as the family climbed over the hills a car left the settlement and speed after them. I called Shaadi to tell him that settlers were coming. "Thank you, thank you!" he said. Over the cell phone I could hear him calling to his family, telling them to run home. "What a nightmare," I thought.
Rarely do dreams of Israeli settlers and soldiers disturb my sleep, but I lately find it increasingly difficult to put my faith into a dream of a better future for Shaadi and his family. A taxi driver recently quipped to me, "If we have peace, we are in paradise." Sitting on a hillside watching the sunset stain the sky, I often imagine what at-Tuwani will be like when the occupation is over and Shaadi's family can walk over the hills without fear. Paradise is certainly the word for what I see. But everyday the Israeli government seems to have even less will deal with the extremist Israeli settlers who terrorize Palestinians like Shaadi. The longer that I live in Palestine the less certain a future of peace and justice feels to me.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
It Began in the Evening with Rocks
“All right, I think it’s finished.” My friend and teammate Jessica reads a press release into the phone. I grip my cell and pace back and forth as I listen.
On the morning of 29 March, twenty Israeli settlers from the illegal Israeli settlement outpost Havat Ma’on entered the village of At-Tuwani. Throughout the day, groups of four to five settlers entered the village three additional times. While in the village, settlers harassed Palestinians, twice displaying their buttocks to Palestinians and internationals in the area. Israeli authorities did nothing to move settlers away from the village. Israeli military spoke and joked with settlers when they entered the village, allowing them to stay on land owned by Palestinian residents of At-Tuwani. Palestinians report a military commander threatened to tell the settlers to attack the village after the military left the area.
“That doesn’t really convey what happened, does it?” Jessica remarks.
“No,” I say. “It doesn’t.”
It began in the evening with rocks. Several of them. Settlers hurdled them at a group of children and a woman cradling a baby in her arm. Along with the rocks, insults. “They drove into Tuwani in their car. They said bad things to me, behind the mosque,” my friend Musab Abu Jamal* tells me. I know that he wont tell me whatever terrible things they said to him so I don’t even ask.
I see the rocks flying through the air from our front yard, down the hill from the mosque and Musab’s pink house that sits beside it. Then I watch Palestine men walking up the hill. I hear shouting and knew what was happening. I run into the house to grab a video camera just as the children at the well by our door started yelling, “Mustutiniin! Mustutiniin!” Settlers.
Soon the whole village is assembled beside the pink house, home to the Abu Jamal family who have the misfortune of living closest to Havot Ma’on outpost. They bare the brunt of the settler attacks that are part of every day life in Tuwani. At the edge of the trees, which mark the beginning of the settlement outpost, we can see two men in white, their heads wrapped so that only their eyes are visible. Soon the Israeli army arrives in the village and the settlers retreat into the trees. But the Abu Jamal family sit on the porch of the pink house watching and waiting.
At the request of the Abu Jamal family, we sleep in the pink house. Musab and his family fear settlers may attack during the night. I’m too tired to worry about what may happen. I fall asleep immediately and rest undisturbed. In the morning, we wake early. My teammate tells me that during their last attack, settlers smashed in the window under which we slept. My stomach twists. We out the front door. In the morning light, the men of the Abu Jamal family sit on their porch, still waiting.
Then abruptly, at 10 o'clock, the wait is over. Fifteen Israeli settlers walk out of the trees and into the village. Five more stay closer to treeline. The Abu Jamal men have left the porch and Musab is standing beside me. My video camera is rolling, but my hand trembles.
Almost instantly, the entire village of Tuwani joins us at the top of the hill. Other members of CPT follow behind them. Under pressure from a friendly Israeli lawyer called by the Abu Jamal family, the Israeli army and the police are there to meet the settlers and, presumably, tell them to go back to the settlement. The engines of their jeeps are growling. The settlers keep advancing, confident grins on their faces.
I watch a tiny Israeli boy with brown hair follow behind an adult settler. As he approaches the jeeps, the boy bursts into tears. I watch as he cries while he runs back to the settlement. I tears well in my eyes and I can’t contain myself. “What are you doing to your children?” I shout. Two other boys, maybe 6 years old, stand with a man who must be their father. They laugh and jeer and hold their fingers up in victory signs. Next to them teenage boys strut and spit hateful words towards the elderly Palestinian woman I am standing beside.
Israeli soldiers stand between the assembled Palestinians and the settlers. They are positioned with their backs to the trespassing settlers. They are standing with them, facing us. When I receive a phone call asking if we are all right, a soldier yells at me to be quiet. Behind them, settlers laugh. Slowly, my fear abates, but nausea swells in my stomach and throat. I’m left, once again waiting. Will the soldiers send the settlers? How long will these men and boys be content to merely laugh and taunt? I look up into Juma, the eldest brother of the Abu Jamal family. He looks ashen. Beside him stands Musab. His face is tense. It looks cold without the sparkle that usually dances in his dark eyes. Suddenly, he shouts, “You! I know you!” Musab waves a figure towards a settler with a green kippa. “ That is the man who attacked me. Take his picture! Him!”
“Yes, yes, I am,” I respond. I’m not sure which attack - there have been so many recently - Musab is referring to, but I’ll ask later. I point my camera at man Musab indicates and zoom in, trying to hold my hand as steady as possible. Through the viewfinder, I watch him turn his head away from me. “Faces.” Musab says sternly. I nod and once again I pan over the group of settlers, zooming in on each one. Then I look down at my video camera and wonder who else will see this film. Who will pay attention to our careful efforts to document the indignities and violence that Juma, Musab, and the rest of the Abu Jamal family endure? And will they understand the helpless dread I feel right now?
I pace back and forth more quickly. Jessica continues reading,
Israeli settlers also harassed, intimidated, and attacked Palestinian children on their way to and from school in the village of At-Tuwani. In the morning, settlers yelled and threw stones at the children coming to school from the villages of Tuba and Maghayir Al Abeed. The military escort in the area, which is to take the children to and from school to ensure their safety, did nothing during the attack. Fearing for their safety, the children were forced to take a different path to school, doubling the walk from 20 to 45 minutes. On their way home from school, one adult Israeli settler and four children followed the Palestinian children and military escort. They were soon joined by two adult settlers, and a large group of adults and teenagers. The settlers yelled insults and threats at the school children, but the Israeli army kept them at bay.
“Yes. That’s it. Send it out.” My stomach sinks as I hang up the phone.
*Last name changed
“All right, I think it’s finished.” My friend and teammate Jessica reads a press release into the phone. I grip my cell and pace back and forth as I listen.
On the morning of 29 March, twenty Israeli settlers from the illegal Israeli settlement outpost Havat Ma’on entered the village of At-Tuwani. Throughout the day, groups of four to five settlers entered the village three additional times. While in the village, settlers harassed Palestinians, twice displaying their buttocks to Palestinians and internationals in the area. Israeli authorities did nothing to move settlers away from the village. Israeli military spoke and joked with settlers when they entered the village, allowing them to stay on land owned by Palestinian residents of At-Tuwani. Palestinians report a military commander threatened to tell the settlers to attack the village after the military left the area.
“That doesn’t really convey what happened, does it?” Jessica remarks.
“No,” I say. “It doesn’t.”
- - -
It began in the evening with rocks. Several of them. Settlers hurdled them at a group of children and a woman cradling a baby in her arm. Along with the rocks, insults. “They drove into Tuwani in their car. They said bad things to me, behind the mosque,” my friend Musab Abu Jamal* tells me. I know that he wont tell me whatever terrible things they said to him so I don’t even ask.
I see the rocks flying through the air from our front yard, down the hill from the mosque and Musab’s pink house that sits beside it. Then I watch Palestine men walking up the hill. I hear shouting and knew what was happening. I run into the house to grab a video camera just as the children at the well by our door started yelling, “Mustutiniin! Mustutiniin!” Settlers.
Soon the whole village is assembled beside the pink house, home to the Abu Jamal family who have the misfortune of living closest to Havot Ma’on outpost. They bare the brunt of the settler attacks that are part of every day life in Tuwani. At the edge of the trees, which mark the beginning of the settlement outpost, we can see two men in white, their heads wrapped so that only their eyes are visible. Soon the Israeli army arrives in the village and the settlers retreat into the trees. But the Abu Jamal family sit on the porch of the pink house watching and waiting.
At the request of the Abu Jamal family, we sleep in the pink house. Musab and his family fear settlers may attack during the night. I’m too tired to worry about what may happen. I fall asleep immediately and rest undisturbed. In the morning, we wake early. My teammate tells me that during their last attack, settlers smashed in the window under which we slept. My stomach twists. We out the front door. In the morning light, the men of the Abu Jamal family sit on their porch, still waiting.
Then abruptly, at 10 o'clock, the wait is over. Fifteen Israeli settlers walk out of the trees and into the village. Five more stay closer to treeline. The Abu Jamal men have left the porch and Musab is standing beside me. My video camera is rolling, but my hand trembles.
Almost instantly, the entire village of Tuwani joins us at the top of the hill. Other members of CPT follow behind them. Under pressure from a friendly Israeli lawyer called by the Abu Jamal family, the Israeli army and the police are there to meet the settlers and, presumably, tell them to go back to the settlement. The engines of their jeeps are growling. The settlers keep advancing, confident grins on their faces.
I watch a tiny Israeli boy with brown hair follow behind an adult settler. As he approaches the jeeps, the boy bursts into tears. I watch as he cries while he runs back to the settlement. I tears well in my eyes and I can’t contain myself. “What are you doing to your children?” I shout. Two other boys, maybe 6 years old, stand with a man who must be their father. They laugh and jeer and hold their fingers up in victory signs. Next to them teenage boys strut and spit hateful words towards the elderly Palestinian woman I am standing beside.
Israeli soldiers stand between the assembled Palestinians and the settlers. They are positioned with their backs to the trespassing settlers. They are standing with them, facing us. When I receive a phone call asking if we are all right, a soldier yells at me to be quiet. Behind them, settlers laugh. Slowly, my fear abates, but nausea swells in my stomach and throat. I’m left, once again waiting. Will the soldiers send the settlers? How long will these men and boys be content to merely laugh and taunt? I look up into Juma, the eldest brother of the Abu Jamal family. He looks ashen. Beside him stands Musab. His face is tense. It looks cold without the sparkle that usually dances in his dark eyes. Suddenly, he shouts, “You! I know you!” Musab waves a figure towards a settler with a green kippa. “ That is the man who attacked me. Take his picture! Him!”
“Yes, yes, I am,” I respond. I’m not sure which attack - there have been so many recently - Musab is referring to, but I’ll ask later. I point my camera at man Musab indicates and zoom in, trying to hold my hand as steady as possible. Through the viewfinder, I watch him turn his head away from me. “Faces.” Musab says sternly. I nod and once again I pan over the group of settlers, zooming in on each one. Then I look down at my video camera and wonder who else will see this film. Who will pay attention to our careful efforts to document the indignities and violence that Juma, Musab, and the rest of the Abu Jamal family endure? And will they understand the helpless dread I feel right now?
- - -
I pace back and forth more quickly. Jessica continues reading,
Israeli settlers also harassed, intimidated, and attacked Palestinian children on their way to and from school in the village of At-Tuwani. In the morning, settlers yelled and threw stones at the children coming to school from the villages of Tuba and Maghayir Al Abeed. The military escort in the area, which is to take the children to and from school to ensure their safety, did nothing during the attack. Fearing for their safety, the children were forced to take a different path to school, doubling the walk from 20 to 45 minutes. On their way home from school, one adult Israeli settler and four children followed the Palestinian children and military escort. They were soon joined by two adult settlers, and a large group of adults and teenagers. The settlers yelled insults and threats at the school children, but the Israeli army kept them at bay.
“Yes. That’s it. Send it out.” My stomach sinks as I hang up the phone.
*Last name changed
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Video: "This is Not a Game: Palestinian Nonviolent Resistance in the South Hebron Hills"
This 8 minute video gives a raw look at how Palestinians in the South Hebron Hills are using nonviolent resistance to respond to harassment, attacks, and land confiscation at the hands of Israeli soldiers and settlers.
It's also my baby- I did the editing. It's been degraded by being uploaded to google video - I strongly recommend listening with good speakers or headphones. If you'd like to see a version in higher quality, I'd be happy to send you a CD.
PS: There are lots of sheep in this film, as well as one donkey.
This 8 minute video gives a raw look at how Palestinians in the South Hebron Hills are using nonviolent resistance to respond to harassment, attacks, and land confiscation at the hands of Israeli soldiers and settlers.
It's also my baby- I did the editing. It's been degraded by being uploaded to google video - I strongly recommend listening with good speakers or headphones. If you'd like to see a version in higher quality, I'd be happy to send you a CD.
PS: There are lots of sheep in this film, as well as one donkey.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
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.
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.
More to come soon.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
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.
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.
Friday, February 01, 2008
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.
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.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
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.
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.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Tuwani's MosqueRELEASE: Demolition Order Issued for Mosque in at-Tuwani
November 26, 2007
On November 26th, at 2:30pm, an Israeli army jeep and a white pickup truck, belonging to the Israeli District Coordination Office* (DCO), drove into the village of at-Tuwani and left an order for the demolition of the village mosque.
Israeli officials did not speak with anyone from the village. They placed the written order under a stone near the mosque and then drove out of the village. The demolition order gives the villagers five days to either demolish the building themselves or obtain an Israeli court ruling to suspend the order.
The villagers built a mosque in 1987, but the Israeli military demolished it that same year. Although they were unable to obtain building permission from the Israeli authorities, the villagers decided to rebuild their mosque at the end of 2006. In May 2007 the Israeli authorities issued a 'stop building order' for the mosque. This order generally precedes a demolition order.
At the time of this writing the villagers have not decided on their response to the demolition order.
Demolitions orders have also recently been issued for two homes in the village of Imneizil, close to the Green Line and the route of the southern section of the separation barrier.
* The DCO is part of the Civil Administration, the section of the Israeli army that deals with Palestinian civilian affairs in areas of the occupied Palestinian territories under Israeli control.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Saturday, November 03, 2007
Olive Harvest 2007
“This is insane,” I said to my teammate Laura. We were sitting on a tarp under an olive tree not more than 20 feet away from an Israeli settlement. The Palestinian olive harvest had just begun and Laura and I were working in Susiya, a village that is surrounded by ideological Israeli settlers. Tension hung in the air and I was anxious to begin harvesting as soon as possible. Our hosts, however, had different plans. The Palestinian family that owned the land on which we sat was spreading out lunch - hummus, tomatoes and cucumbers, olive oil, tea and large round slabs of soft homemade bread. They were happily eating and chatting away, seeming to pay no mind to the dangerous area where they had decided to picnic. “Koli!” said the grandmother. Eat! I looked at Laura, dipped some bread into oil and did what I was told.
Over the last two days, Palestinians living in at-Tuwani and the nearby village of Susiya decided to harvest their olives in areas close to Israeli settlements and an Israeli army base, where Israeli settlers might attack or Israeli soldiers were likely to tell Palestinian landowners to leave. As the harvest began, we knew that harassment from settlers or soldiers was not only possible, but likely.
But the difficulties we expected never materialized. Instead, we peacefully harvested thousands of tiny olives. Over the two days of harvesting, about 200 Israeli peace activists, and five CPTers, helped Palestinian families harvest on their land. In the village of at-Tuwani, settlers came out of their settlement to watch the harvesters. The settlement “security” guard, a man who regularly harasses Palestinians and CPTers, drove his pick-up on the road for everyone to see. But the shear number of people, especially Israelis who were willing to stand up for the rights of Palestinians to use their own land, deterred an attack. For two days, ploughshares won out over swords.
In Susiya village, neither Israeli settlers nor soldiers arrived to disrupt our lunch. Instead, the grandfather with whom we sat told us about his family history as his wife thrust more and more food in our direction. We ate quietly, in the shadow of the settlement, and then began harvesting. It was utterly insane and completely miraculous.
Recently, one of CPT’s friends told us that he's planning a demonstration. He wants to have Israelis, Palestinians, and CPTers gather in an area that is normally too dangerous for Palestinians to use. On one hand, this idea is ridiculous. But I’m learning that this sort of insanity isn’t so crazy after all.
“This is insane,” I said to my teammate Laura. We were sitting on a tarp under an olive tree not more than 20 feet away from an Israeli settlement. The Palestinian olive harvest had just begun and Laura and I were working in Susiya, a village that is surrounded by ideological Israeli settlers. Tension hung in the air and I was anxious to begin harvesting as soon as possible. Our hosts, however, had different plans. The Palestinian family that owned the land on which we sat was spreading out lunch - hummus, tomatoes and cucumbers, olive oil, tea and large round slabs of soft homemade bread. They were happily eating and chatting away, seeming to pay no mind to the dangerous area where they had decided to picnic. “Koli!” said the grandmother. Eat! I looked at Laura, dipped some bread into oil and did what I was told.
Over the last two days, Palestinians living in at-Tuwani and the nearby village of Susiya decided to harvest their olives in areas close to Israeli settlements and an Israeli army base, where Israeli settlers might attack or Israeli soldiers were likely to tell Palestinian landowners to leave. As the harvest began, we knew that harassment from settlers or soldiers was not only possible, but likely.
But the difficulties we expected never materialized. Instead, we peacefully harvested thousands of tiny olives. Over the two days of harvesting, about 200 Israeli peace activists, and five CPTers, helped Palestinian families harvest on their land. In the village of at-Tuwani, settlers came out of their settlement to watch the harvesters. The settlement “security” guard, a man who regularly harasses Palestinians and CPTers, drove his pick-up on the road for everyone to see. But the shear number of people, especially Israelis who were willing to stand up for the rights of Palestinians to use their own land, deterred an attack. For two days, ploughshares won out over swords.
In Susiya village, neither Israeli settlers nor soldiers arrived to disrupt our lunch. Instead, the grandfather with whom we sat told us about his family history as his wife thrust more and more food in our direction. We ate quietly, in the shadow of the settlement, and then began harvesting. It was utterly insane and completely miraculous.
Recently, one of CPT’s friends told us that he's planning a demonstration. He wants to have Israelis, Palestinians, and CPTers gather in an area that is normally too dangerous for Palestinians to use. On one hand, this idea is ridiculous. But I’m learning that this sort of insanity isn’t so crazy after all.
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