Autotune the Occupation Launch: Rickroll the Settlements

In honor of Israel's announcement on Monday that they are (still) expanding settlements in East Jerusalem, I'm pleased launch a youtube channel called "Autotune the Occupation." Here's the first video, "Rickroll the Settlements."



Enjoy and spread widely.

Member of Jewish Terrorist Organization KACH Threaten to Attack At-Tuwani

I keep planning a big "I'm home" blog post. Apparently, this is it.

I've been home for nearly two weeks now and for the first time in three years, I'm not sure when I'm returning. (More on that and the future of this blog later). Since I left, the situation in Tuwani has terrible. Last Friday I called one of my best friends in the village. "I heard what happened," I said, refering to this incident. "How are you?"

"Oh, more or less," he answered. With this guy, that's code for "not good." My friend then went on to explain how settlers kept coming to their house every night and how they hadn't gotten much sleep for a week. "But how are you?" my friend asked.

I didn't know what to say. I spent my first week home sick in bed feeling very sorry for myself. An especially boring week in a life that's nothing like the one I lead in Tuwani. I told my friend I'd been sick and he was sympathetic. Then he said, "We think they'll come back."

Well, they did. Here's the latest from Tuwani:

Ten days after the attack by masked settlers of the illegal oupost of Havat Ma'on to the village of At-Tuwani, settlers from Havat Ma'on still threaten At-Tuwani. Since last attack (link to the press release snipurl.com/xluyo) every night a group of settlers have carried out "patrols" outside the outpost. Israeli police and soldiers also patrolled the area.

Last night settlers approached the house located closest to the outpost screaming and carrying a message from the ideological leader of the outpost, Josaphat Thor, a member of the hard-line Israeli militant terrorist group KACH. They warned the village that they would soon return to attack At-Tuwani.

It was not possible to recognize the settlers because they pointed flashlights in the faces of Palestinians, blinding them.

This story wont be ending soon.

Israeli Settler Hits Sheep with Assault Rifle

I'm just playing catch up. Here's another video you'll want to watch. A detailed story about this event (and it's a little funny) is here.

250,000 Palestinians are vulnerable to Israeli settler violence. Meet two of them.

The United Nations has warned if Israeli authorities dismantle settlement outposts, 250,000 Palestinians are vulnerable to settler violence, including Palestinians living in the South Hebron Hills. "The concern about the possible outbreak of waves of settler violence and their impact on the Palestinian population stems ... from the inadequate level of law enforcement by the Israeli authorities," says a recent UN OCHA report. "[T]he main concern is the frequent failure of the Israeli security forces to intervene and stop settler attacks in real time, including the failure to arrest suspected settlers on the spot."

Tarek and Miriam are two of these vulnerable people. They already face settler violence daily as they travel to and from school. Here is their description of what happened when settlers attacked them recently:



Tarek and Miriam can't go to school safely because the Israeli government premits Israeli settlers to continue living illegally in the West Bank even after there is overwheleming evidence of their criminal activity. According to the UN's recent report, "Among the main reasons behind this failure is the ambiguous message delivered by the Government of Israel and the IDF top officials to the security forces in the field regarding their authority and responsibility to enforce the law on Israeli settlers." But for Tarek and Miriam one thing is clear: they wont be able to go to school safely as long as Israeli settlers continue to live illegally in Havot Ma'on and Ma'on.

The Top Ten Reasons that Havot Ma'on and Ma'on have Got to Go:
Reason Number Four: Havot Ma'on and Ma'on are on Palestinian Land

"Our family used to live in those trees," our partners in Tuba tell us. For some reason, very few people are willing to say this loudly and clearly, but Ma'on and Havot Ma'on are on land that belongs to Palestinians.

According to Israeli organization Peace Now, 16% of Ma'on and Havot Ma'on land is privately owned by Palestinians. 26% of the land is survey land - land seized by the state of Israel for "military purposes", on which it is illegal for anyone to build. (Apparently, that law doesn't apply, in practice, to settlers.) However, 0% of the land is actually privately-owned by Israelis.

Now, to best understand these statistics, you need to understand land registration for Palestinians. Excuse me while this becomes dense and nerdy. I promise it will be over soon: Peace Now defines Privately owned Palestinian land as "A. Land that was registered and recognized as private property before 1968, at a time when the process of land registration was still open and available to Palestinians, or B. Cultivated land which is recognized by Israel as private land according to the Ottoman law." Israel has exploited the fact that under Ottoman rule, only very small parts of the West Bank were actually registered to specific owners. Under British mandate, a process of land registration began. Then in 1968, Israel halted all registration claims , leaving thousands of square kilometers of agricultural land unregistered. Then, Israel claimed this land as state land. So, do these statistics accurately show how much of Ma'on and Havot Ma'on land is actually owned by Palestinians? No. But they do boslter the case of Palestinian families who have farmed and lived on that land for generations.

According to Peace Now, in the West Bank 130 settlements are constructed either entirely or partially on private Palestinian land. Around 51 thousand dunams (quarter acres) of the land used by the settlements is actually private Palestinian land. Privately owned Palestinian land accounts for nearly 40% of land used for settlements. Much of the rest of that land, however, is Palestinian land that has been claimed by the Israeli state. As with Ma'on and Havot Ma'on, the more telling statistic is the percentage of settlement land privately held by Israelis: 1.26%.

Whether it's appropriated by the state or just plain stolen, it's still Palestinian land.

The Top Ten Reason Ma'on and Havot Ma'on Have Got to Go:
Reason Number Three: Settlers Harass and Attack Palestinians on a Daily Basis

The settlers of Havot Ma’on and Ma’on are waging a campaign of intimidation and violence aimed at driving Palestinians off of their land. In addition to attacking school children, settlers have insulted and threatened Palestinian farmers, as well as throwing stones, beating, and shooting them. This violence makes the daily tasks of living – everything from agricultural work to walking home through the hills – dangerous and terrifying for Palestinians. Here is an incomplete list of acts of violence settlers have perpetrated against Palestinians over the last two years:

- The Ma’on settlement security guard pushed a pregnant woman to the ground and stole the herbs she was gathering.

- Settlers attacked school children 14 times during the 2007-2008 school year and beat a CPT volunteer in the head with a rock.

- Settlers shot at Palestinians on four different occasions: January 13, 2008, March 26 2008, March 25 2009, and April 5th 2009.

- The Israeli army took three Palestinian boys, ages 10, 11, and 14, and delivered them to Ma’on settlement, where a group of masked adult settlers beat them.

Stop the Settlement, From Ordinary People:

Follow the Link!

We are just ordinary people. Sometimes it feels like we are powerless, voiceless, and helpless to change the movements of the Powers that Be.

I don't believe it. I believe that the Powers that Be know the masses have power, but if we feel silenced, unheard, then maybe we won't do anything in our despair.

Below is a way to stick it to 'em! It is a petition calling for the end to the settlements, which a big obstacle to the way to peace. Settlements cut through Palestine, making it more like Swiss cheese than contiguous land.

A couple of months ago I had the great pleasure of watching Palestinians successfully graze their sheep near Avigail settlement, on land where they are regularly attacked and harassed. The joy I felt in seeing my friends and partners grazing on their land was overwhelming. Sitting on the hill and eating lunch together felt like having a party.

As the day drew to an end, one of the Palestinian leaders excitedly explained to me the strategy he had used in dealing with the army and settlers that morning. Mahmoud told me how, even though the army had declared the area a closed military zone, he firmly stood up for his rights. He explained how he pretended to slowly begin to comply with the military order, all the while challenging the soldiers and insisting on his right to graze his sheep. Eventually, he said, the army lost control of the situation and gave in. When he finished his description, Mahmoud turned to me and grinned. "I read in a book that this is called nonviolence," he said, laughing.

When President Obama called on Palestinians to practice nonviolence, I laughed just like Mahmoud. Palestinians like Mahmoud have never needed to be told about nonviolence. The English word may be unfamiliar but the steadfast, daily acts of resistance known as nonviolence are nothing new. In the South Hebron hills, Palestinians face Israeli soldiers and violent Israeli settlers who are illegally expanding their settlements and attacking Palestinians, including children walking to school. In response to this profound injustice, Palestinians are organizing demonstrations, refusing to comply with military orders, filing complaints against settlers, and courageously working their land despite the risk of arrest and attack. They don't need President Obama to tell them to practice nonviolence.

From the British Mandate to the first intifada, to the loose-knit but powerful community-based movement of today, Palestinians have practiced nonviolent resistance for the last 60 years. Certainly, it's inaccurate to omit armed resistance from Palestinian history, but it is equally false to claim that Palestinians are unfamiliar with nonviolence. President Obama missed the point in his Ciaro speech - Palestinians do not need to admonished towards peacefulness. It's radical settlers and Israel's government who do.

Instead of preaching to Palestinians, Obama should insist emphatically on the dismantlement of illegal Israeli settlements and law enforcement against violent settlers, like those living in the South Hebron Hills. After decades of Israeli military occupation, it is time for a US president to call on Israel to stop its violence towards Palestinians.

Ten Reasons that Havot Ma'on Outpost and Ma'on Settlement Have Got to Go;

As I said last week, I'm complying a list of ten reasons why Havot Ma'on Outpost and Ma'on Settlement should be dismantled. And since this is a urgent situation, without further ado, her's reason number two.

Reason Two: As long as Havot Ma'on and Ma'on remain, Palestinians in the village of Tuba have no usable road to their village.

Israeli settlers have built Ma'on settlement and Havot Ma'on outpost on both sides of the only road to the village of Tuba.

The Ma'on Settlement, Havot Ma'on Settlement Outpost, and road that runs between them.

This road, which you can see in the center of the photograph between the settlement and the outpost, was built by Palestinians. It is the most efficient way for residents of Tuba to travel to At-Tuwani and is the only way that vehicles can access the village. As you might imagine, this road is incredibly important to the village's quality of life.

However, since the establishment of Havot Ma'on and Ma'on, Palestinians have been unable to use this road. Settlers have threatened and beaten Palestinians who have tried to use it so frequently with such complete impunity that currently the only Palestinians able to use it are school children - and they require a Israeli army escort to do so.

Because Tuba residents have no road, when a woman is pregnant, she must decide if she will walk to the city of Yatta through the hills - where she could be beaten by settlers - well before her due date or stay in the village and give birth in her home. Because they have no road, accessing health care is difficult for everyone in the village. Because they have no road, Palestinians are unable to bring water to their village during the summer time. In other words, because the residents of Tuba are unable to access the only road to their village, they are denied their basic human rights. As long as Havot Ma'on and Ma'on remain, it's difficult to imagine this situation changing.

But don't think for a moment that Palestinians are passively accepting this situation. In August 2009, Palestinians children and their parents held a demonstration to highlight the importance of this road. Though they were harassed by the army and followed by settlers, they walked all the way to Tuba and home via this road. This photo below shows the march, one of the most moving sights I've ever been privileged to witness.

The August 2nd 2008 Children's March to Tuba walking along Tuba's only road

At the time, a friend of ours told me that march was the first time in eleven years that Palestinians had used that road.

How can you help this situation? That's not an easy question to answer. First, you can let people know about this situation. Write about it. Link to this article. Tell your government representatives and demand that they do something. Write an editoral. Tell your friends. But I also believe that they best way to support Palestinian access to Tuba's road is to support the one group of Palestians who are currently using it: the school children. I wrote about there situation only last week and they still need your support. Take some time to contact the Israeli army and pressure them escort the children properly. All of the details you need to do so are right here.

That's reason number two. Eight more on the way.

Today was another one of those days that can't be adequately described. When I arrived in Mashaha valley, I found a friend of ours absolutely beside himself. His field of wheat had been completely destroyed. Settlers grazed their sheep in the middle of his field and now it's destroyed and now his wheat crop is decimated.

The day went down hill from there. Soldiers drove up clearly intending the declare the area a closed military zone, which always a very troubling development in this area since access to land is so important and so tenuous. You can read more information about what happened in the release below, but that's not what stood out to me.

I was struck deeply by how easily the hard work of a Palestinian farmer is destroyed. In November, Palestinians plowed that field in Mashaha in an impressive act of resistance. That day, the army premited them to work and kept the settlers at bay. But a week ago, I watched as a jeep accompanied a settler has he grazed his sheep in the Mashaha and today, the soldiers confered with the settlers and allowed them to stay in the area. Moreover, they acted as though Palestinians had no right to be there whatsoever. How quickly things change.

It's hard to believe that daily acts of nonviolent resistance - that plowing fields, grazing sheep, and harvesting olives - will be enough to build a just peace against an oppresive, violent state. But what else is there to do?






AT-TUWANI: Israeli settlers destroy crops near At-Tuwani village; soldiers declare area a Closed Military Zone

[Note: According to the Geneva Conventions, the International Court of Justice in the Hague, and numerous United Nations resolutions, all Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal. Most settlement outposts are considered illegal under Israeli law.]


On 18 April 2009, Palestinians in the South Hebron Hills reported that Israeli settlers had destroyed a large, privately owned Palestinian wheat field by allowing a flock of goats and sheep to graze on it. Palestinian owners discovered the destruction when they arrived to harvest the crops on the morning of 18 April. The field, located in Meshaha Valley, is the property of a family living in the nearby village of At Tuwani.

Also that morning, Israeli soldiers declared a large area of land east of At-Tuwani to be a closed military zone and forced Palestinian shepherds and their flocks to leave their land. Landowners and internationals were told they would be subject to arrest if they remained. The soldiers also ordered Palestinian landowners to advise the military every time they intend to access their own land within the zone. Israeli soldiers refused to provide Palestinian landowners with copies of the map of the military zone boundaries and would not tell them how long the closure would last. Throughout the morning, a group of at least ten Israeli settlers conferred with the soldiers.

The Palestinian owners of the land said the cultivated area destroyed was approximately forty dunum (approximately ten acres). Palestinians from At-Tuwani and nearby villages have repeatedly observed settlers from the outpost of Havot Ma’on with a flock of sheep and goats grazing on Palestinian land east of the outpost in recent months. Israeli settlers with the flock have threatened Palestinian shepherds and disrupted the grazing of Palestinian flocks on several occasions this spring, prompting Palestinians to file legal complaints against them.

The crop destruction represents a severe economic loss, as the area is experiencing an extremely dry spring and the field was one of the few near At-Tuwani that produced a spring wheat crop. Spring crops and the raising of sheep and goats are central to the economy and way of life in At-Tuwani and the surrounding small villages of the South Hebron Hills. Disruption by the Israeli military or settlers of agricultural work at this time of year represents a substantial threat to the villagers’ livelihoods.

Ten Reasons that Havot Ma'on Outpost and Ma'on Settlement Have Got to Go

I've been trying to figure out what to say about the last ten days in Tuwani. It's hard to summarize what's been going on over here. There's just too much to say. It's springtime which means that Palestinians are working their land more and more and the weather's pleasant, so Israeli settlers don't mind coming out to harass them. Every day it's a struggle. Grazing sheep is risky. Harvesting crops is risking. Walking home through the hills is risky. Palestinians are even attacked in their own homes.

And this is intolerable. This situation is immoral, and it's illegal too. But the law isn't really the point here. The point is a simple one. We, as human beings, all of us deserve to live in safety and security and we should have the ability to shape our future. There is only one way that Palestinians in the South Hebron Hills are going to have that freedom - Havot Ma'on and Ma'on must be dismantled.

So, over the next few days, I'm going to give you ten reasons why Ma'on and Havot Ma'on have got to go, and should have gone yesterday. In no particular order, here's your first reason:

Reason one: As long as Havot Ma'on and Ma'on remain, school children from Tuba and Mayger Al Abeed can't get to school in a safe and timely fashion.

A Palestinian child injured by Israeli settlers last year (CPT photo)

Adult settlers continue to harass, attack and beat 6-12 year old Palestinian children going to and from school in Tuwani. The Israeli army has proven, time and time again, that they are not willing to ensure the safety of these children. The army is supposed to escort these children to and from school, but for the last year, they haven't been abandoning the children for a third of the appointed escort. These leaves the children alone while they are still in danger. And the children are still being attacked in this area.

IMEMC (say that five times fast) published a great article about the way that the Israeli army has been failing to ensure the safety the school kids military escort. Read it. And I challenge you to post on your blog or send email to your friends or write to your newspaper and political reps and tell them that you know that this is happening. And that you know the only way that's it's ever going to stop if the Israeli government demolished Ma'on and Havot Ma'on.

And while you're at it, write the Israeli Army and tell them that they've got to escort these children properly. That's a band-aid, for sure, but it's a very important one.

There's reason number one. Nine more coming at you.

Interesting Article on Tuwani:

"I couldn't run. My pregnancy was too far advanced and there was nowhere to hide," said Amna Salman Rabaye, 31, as she recalled the terrifying incident several months ago.Rabaye from the Palestinian Bedouin village of At Tuwani in the southern West Bank was grazing her sheep when she was assaulted by a security guard from the adjacent illegal Israeli settlement of Ma'on.


Note, Tuwani is not a Bedouin village. It's Palestinian.

Well, when I arrived in At-Tuwani, it started right a way. I set down my bag and started to admire the improvements that my teammates made to our house while I was away and then the phone rang. While the 19 Palestinians standing with them were detained for 45 minutes, two teammates of mine were arrested as they video tapped a bulldozer expanding an illegal settlement. Funny, getting arrested for recording someone else breaking the law. Thankfully, they were released the next day. Here's the story:


8 March 2009
AT-TUWANI: Israeli police detain Palestinian landowners asserting their rights, arrest two members of Christian Peacemaker Team members

At 11:30 a.m., 8 March, Israeli police detained nineteen Palestinians who were trying to access their land near the village of Um al-Kheir. The police also arrested two Christian Peacemaker Teams members (CPTers) and charged them with obstruction and trespass, even though the owners had invited them to their land.

Palestinians from the village observed workers using road building equipment on Palestinian-owned land near the Israeli settlement of Karmel which is adjacent to Um al-Kheir. When the Palestinians and CPTers approached the work area, an Israeli settlement security guard began demanding they leave. When they remained on the land, he contacted the Israeli army and police. At 12:00 p.m., Israeli police detained the Palestinians for forty-five minutes at the scene. They arrested the CPTers and transported them to Kiryat Arba Police Station outside Hebron, where they charged them with trespassing and obstructing the building work. The CPTers were at least ten meters away from the construction vehicles and were simply standing with the Palestinian landowners.

Neither the army nor police asked the Palestinians for papers to ascertain the true ownership of the land.


Here's the follow up:

9 March 2009
AT-TUWANI RELEASE: Israeli court releases CPTers arrested for accompanying Palestinian landowners


At 2:30 pm, on Monday, 9 March, a Jerusalem court released two Christian Peacemaker Teams members (CPTers) whom Israeli police arrested while the CPTers accompanied nineteen Palestinians trying to access their land near the Bedouin village of Um al-Kheir. The CPTers were charged with trespass and obstruction of construction work, despite the fact that they were at least ten meters away from the work zone and the Palestinian landowners had invited them to their lands.

Israeli police arrested the CPTers on Sunday, 8 March, at 11:30 a.m., when Palestinian landowners from Um al-Kheir asserted their right to visit their land. The villagers observed workers using road-building equipment on Palestinian-owned land near the adjacent Israeli settlement of Karmel. When the Palestinians and CPTers approached the work area, an Israeli settlement security guard began to shout, demanding that they leave. When they remained on their land, the guard contacted the Israeli army and police. At 12:00 p.m., Israeli police detained the Palestinians at the scene for forty-five minutes. They arrested the CPTers and transported them to Kiryat Arba Police Station outside Hebron. Neither the army nor police asked the Palestinians for papers to ascertain the true ownership of the land. Um al-Kheir villagers report that the work they observed is expanding Karmel settlement and stealing their land and livelihood.

Tony Blair in Tuwani!

I know it's bad form, but I'm pasting this article in wholesale:

Bethlehem – Ma’an – Palestinians living in Area C of the West Bank are denied basic rights afforded to Israeli settlers said Quartet Envoy Tony Blair during a visit to a West Bank village on Thursday.

“The reason for coming here today is to draw attention to the fact that without a new and different system applying in Area C, it is very hard for Palestinians to enjoy a standard of living so that they can enjoy and develop their land as they should be able to develop it,” said Blair during a visit to the village of At-Tuwani, in the hills south of the city of Hebron.

Area C is the some 60% of the West Bank that is under full Israeli military control. In the Oslo peace accords, Israel was allowed to maintain control of the land, until a final status agreement is reached.

Blair noted that Palestinians in Area C are “obviously denied the right to live decent lives,” while “around there are outposts where people do have a decent standard of living,” he said, referring to Israeli settlements built on Palestinian land.

Blair also said the Quartet had raised the issue of Israeli house demolitions in Jerusalem, where more than 1,000 Palestinians are facing displacement in just one neighborhood, Bustan.

“People feel there is no justice and equality in the way these rules are applied,” he said.

Blair also said that enough money had been raised to rebuild the Gaza Strip, which is struggling to recover from Israel’s offensive in December and January which killed more than 1,400 Palestinians. He said however that political steps would have to be taken to ensure that reconstruction takes place.

He said, “The danger is that we reconstruct Gaza and then it is destroyed again.”

Blair is the representative of the international Quartet, a grouping of the US, UN, EU, and Russia, tasked with facilitating the Middle East peace process.

I really hope this gives settlers in the area pause.

A Dangerous Journey: Settler Violence Against Palestinian Children Under Israeli Military Escort. This report also includes ideas for advocacy on behave of these children and is well worth reading. (Please, please, please, please, read it and post it.)

Right Wing Settler Rampage Through Hebron, Other West Bank Cities

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.

My heart fell to read this. Especially since the headline is "Israeli settlers in south Hebron Hills kill donkey." Apparently it is so common for Palestinians in this area to be beaten by settlers that it takes a dead donkey to make the news.

From the PNN:

Ten settlers living in settlements built atop southern Mount Hebron assaulted a number of Palestinians on Saturday.

Farmers were near the southern West Bank town of Yatta this afternoon working on their land. Several activists from the Israeli left were accompanying the Palestinians as the settlers who imposed outposts nearby have a history of extreme violence.

Sources on the scene said that settlers from the Maon Settlement threw stones at the farmers and their supporters while screaming provocative phrases. The settlers referred to the Israeli activists as traitors and spies.

The Israeli settlers also stole a donkey from the farmers and shot him. His lifeless body was found nearby by Israeli soldiers to whom the leftists had filed a complaint against the settlers.

430,000 Breaches of International Law

It's been hard to believe, but since the beginning of this year the situation in Tuwani has gotten much worse. The settlers of Ma'on and Havot Ma'on have attacked the Palestinians in tharea more frequently and more severely and no one knows just what accounts for the change. I still can't sayt hat I do, but recently an article published by the BBC at least managed to verify my own experiences.

Israeli officials have reported 429 incidents of settler violence against Palestinians in the first half of 2008, up from a total of 551 attacks in all of 2007. It should be said that these statistics are undoubtedly nowhere near comprehensive. In July CPT documented 7 settler attacks in Tuwani, only one of which was reported to the police. You'll see why Palestinians aren't making police reports in a moment.

According to Yesh Din (a wonderful Israeli organization), 9 out of 10 police investigations don't lead to anyone being charged. Yesh Din looked at 163 cases and found only 13 which ended with the attackers being indicted.

We found that even with overwhelming evidence - like videotapes of the crimes of settlers - Israeli police still refuse to take action. Going to the police is a nightmare, especially for Palestinians. My neighbors have told me stories of making police reports, only to be told that they would be arrested or fined. Why would you bother?

And here's my favorite part of the situation. Now that settler attacks are on the rise, the Israeli government has "postponed"the dismantlement of Migron, the largest unauthorized settlement in the West Bank. There are 430,000 Israeli settlers living in the West Bank in contravention of the Geneva Convention. Even when some of these citizens attack children, the Israeli government has shown it will do nothing.

RELEASE: Israeli Settlers Attack Palestinian Children, Internationals on
Journey Home from Summer Camp


AT-TUWANI – At 1:50 pm, on Sunday, 27 July at least three Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian children and two internationals as they walked to their village of Tuba. The children had been attending summer camp in the village of At-Tuwani. As the fourteen children and two internationals, from Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), were walking in a valley south of the illegal settlement outpost of Havot Ma'on, one masked settler came down the hill, throwing stones with a slingshot. The children and CPTer Jan Benvie ran ahead, but other settlers were approaching them from the opposite side of the valley. None of the stones thrown by the settlers struck the children, aged between 6 and 15 years old, and they were able to run to safety.

CPTer Joel Gulledge was filming the attack. When the masked settler saw Gulledge with the video camera, he began directing his stones at Gulledge. The settler hit Gulledge in the leg with a rock and he was unable to run. The settler then ran to him, wrested the camera from him, and began beating him with a rock and the camera. After that, the settler ran off with the camera.

On 22 July, the military did not escort the children. Only sev en children were willing to risk walking alone to At-Tuwani. The children informed CPT that at least eight other children did not attend the summer camp because they were too afraid to walk without a military escort. On the morning of 23 July, the army again refused to escort the children. The children were chased by three settlers, one of whom was masked and carrying a stick, while they walked unescorted to the summer camp. On 26 July, a military personnel informed internationals that the army would no longer provide an escort for the children, who were waiting for the army to arrive while four settlers from the illegal Israeli settlement outpost of Havot Ma'on shouted at the children. The personnel would not give the name and brigade of the commander refusing to provide the escort. When the international explained the dangerous situation for the children, the military personnel said, "I don't think the settlers will attack the children."

In October 2004, Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian schoolchildren and internationals in the same area as the attack on the 27th. Two internationals were hospitalized and, after international media coverage of the attack, the Israeli Knesset recommended that the Israeli military provide a daily escort for the children to go to and from school.