As seen on Israel Channel One? Palestinian Shepherd Films Israeli Settler Stealing Sheep

It's another day of waking up, turning on my computer, and finding the same old story coming out of Tuba. On the 22nd, an Israeli settler came out of the settlement and calmly stole a sheep owned by one of the shepherds from Tuba. But this time, Ahmed, the shepherd in question, caught the whole thing on tape.



Here's what my friend Diane, who is in Palestine right now, has to say:

Last week Wednesday Ahmed was shepherding and several settlers came and stole one of his family's sheep. As a result of the video that Achmed took of the incident the Israeli police were able to identify the settlers and Achmed's father went with the police to retrieve the sheep from the settlement. While Ahmed and his father Omar were at the Israeli police station filing a complaint against the settlers (Ahmed for 5 hours), one of the settlers came in and filled a counter complaint against Omar (which is bogus as Omar wasn't even at the incident). At first the police didn't want to give Ahmed a copy of his complaint, but the B'tselem field worker who accompanied Ahmed insisted on a copy as if the case goes to court and Palestinians don't have a copy of the complaint that they filed the Israeli police have sometimes claimed that none was filed. And then the complaint of the settler is the only one for which there is paperwork for and the case would go badly for the Palestinians. In instances such as this with both the Palestinians and the settler filing complaints the case will mostly likely be thrown out by a judge – and the settlers will not be prosecuted for stealing a sheep.

Check out the rest of her blog entry here. And more details here.

Like I said, this is kind of a case of same-old, same-old. I've been working hard on a graphic novel about the Tuwani area and feeling a little defeated. I feel like I'm telling one story, over and over. But the truth is, that one story contains in it a lot of hope. For example, take Ahmed. Ahmed is an amazing videographer - probably the best activist filmmaker I know. Filming a settler stealing your sheep is a risky thing to do, but this is far from the first time that Ahmed's taken that risk and kept filming. I'm told that this footage actually made it on to Israeli TV. That's pretty incredible. And then there's the larger context - Ahmed is simply one of those people who shine. He's hella smart and his family (and a few random foreigners) are hoping that he'll be able to go to college or do anything else that he wants to do. Being the sort of person that brings that kind of hope into a group of people's lives is pretty fantastic. It's resistance, for sure, but it's also just life. Also just Ahmed. So, hey - thumbs up for Ahmed. Tongues stuck out at stupid settlers and the stupid Israeli system that creates and sustains them. Let's get back to resisting the Israeli colonialism. Or, I at least should get out of bed.

New video about the Tuba, Susiya, and Um El Khair from the New York Times

Nicholas D. Kristof just put together another piece on the the Tuwani-area for the New York times. This one is a video and as always, it's very powerful to *see* the situation. Kristof is becoming very good at finding a way to clearly and un-apologetically say the occupation is morally wrong. Props to him for that - I mean, telling the truth about our experiences ought to be one of the things we as people do, but the truth threatens the powerful and people with power, especially journalists, risk something when they say it.

But Kristof sure missed the mark at the very end of his piece. He says that settler attack Palestinians because they're scared. He says that a number of settlers have been killed by Palestinians living in the area. Well, as far as I know, that number is two. Two. Let's be honest, while settlers certainly use fear to marshal their supporters, they attack Palestinians because they want to drive them off of the land. That's what their own statements indicate.

Nonetheless, I was glad to take look at what Kristof says and how he says it. There are a couple of arguments he makes that I think are worth using.

The BDS World Cup: Penguins vs. Ostriches



From the U.S. Campaign for the Cultural and Academic Boycott of Israel:

"It’s the Penguins vs. the Ostriches in this Boycott Israel summer match — a showdown between artists like Elvis Costello and the Pixies who cancelled their Israel concerts in respect of the boycott, vs. Metallica, Rihanna and Elton John who are going forward with theirs, despite growing criticism."

All right, I just don't get the obsession with vuvuzelas, but this video is fun. It makes me stupidly happy. But, damn do we have a lot of work to do on BDS. Artists are feeling the pressure not to perform in Israel, but the media's not covering. It's up to us to get information out.

New Video about the situation faced up kids coming to school from Tuba. Enjoy

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.

Israeli Police Ransack Palestinian homes in Tuba

I'm trying to catch up on some of the events on the last couple of months that I haven't been able to blog about. Here's one video

Interview with Tamer of DAM on Democracy Now



I'll admit it, I'm being a lazy blogger. The truth is, the last couple of days have been overwhelming and I don't know what to say about them. But Tamer has some good comments, as per usual.

Um...here's that video without typos!



Yeah, thought it would be best just to be direct about that. Cheers!

Video of the Attack on the Raba'i family



By this point, I feel like I've said everything that I can say about this attack. I edited this video as well and it was one of the more difficult things I've done here. So I'm going to stop writing. Just watch the video. :-)

Settlers invade Tuwani and Soldier break the Nose of a Palestinian Farmer (video).

I just finished 13 days in Tuwani as half of a two-person CPT team. In case you were wondering what that's like, I can tell you it's fairly exhausting. But I have a day off now and am catching up on the blog...and my laundry.

Here's a video of the most significant thing to happen in Tuwani over the last two weeks: 15-20 settlers came into At-Tuwani, accompanied by soldiers. The settlers threw stones at Palestinians while a soldier punch a Palestinian farmer in the face. His nose is now broken and he needs an operation - the sort of expense that no one in this area can afford. But at least for once the news media has picked up the story. Take a look:

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.

Protesting Olmert at U of C, part two: Inside with Ehud

Have I mentioned my love for Electronic Intifada? They managed to get a camera into the auditorium with Olmert. Take a look:

The Bluff of "Natural Growth"



This piece from Israel Channel Two shows dramatically how "natural growth" is simply a nice way of saying "settlement expansion." They visit a settlement that growing "naturally" while many of its existing homes are empty. There's no easier way to show the lie of Israel's policies. I only want to add two things:

1. They could have gone anywhere in the West Bank for this piece. Every settlement I know of is half-empty but still growing.

2. It needs to be said that the essence of a settlement is that it is a Jewish-only community...on Palestinian land. Is anyone else wiling to call that simply racist, or am I the only one?

Gaza's Children "will be terrorists in about 20 years anyway."

The video documents Israeli army harassment of local Palestinians as well as the soldiers' dismaying attitude toward the widespread killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza. A soldier says, in full view of the camera, that the children killed in Gaza "will be terrorists in about 20 years anyway."



This video documents an incident of Israeli army harassment in the village of Mufaqara. (see At-Tuwani Release: Soldiers Kill Palestinian Migrant Worker, Increase Harassment of Villagers in South Hebron Hills, February 12, 2009). Mufaqara is a Palestinian village in the South Hebron Hills in the occupied West Bank. I'll stop here - I know the people in this video and it's very difficult to watch.

Obama, Take away the Pain in my Belly
An Open Letter from an Israeli Peace Activist



I should be going to bed, but this one of the most moving letters I've ever come across. The author is a member of Machsom (Checkpoint) Watch, an Israeli human rights monitoring organization. Enjoy.

Sami Awad on Anger and Nonviolence:

Family Unification:

I've started doing some research about family unification for a project I'm working on and thought that I might as well share what I've been finding with all of you.



Here's how B'Tselem describes this video:

Since the beginning of the second intifada, Israel has frozen family unification in these cases. In addition, Israel has ceased issuing visitor's permits, which enabled families to live together legally in the West Bank and Gaza . As a result of the freeze policy, the foreign spouses of Palestinians, mostly women, have faced a cruel choice: leave the Occupied Territories and not be allowed to return to their spouses and children, or stay illegally and not be able to see their parents, siblings, and other relatives living in their native land. Many chose to remain in the West Bank and Gaza, and have thus been sentenced to a life of fear and constant threat of deportation; the problems inherent in moving in the West Bank without any valid identity document virtually makes them prisoners in their own

I will only add that's it's a great video for practicing Arabic. And it's unbelievably sad.

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.

At-Tuwani: The Ongoing Struggle



The best video about the situation here yet produced. (Just ignore me. No, really, please ignore me.) But a warning - it begins with a fairly graphic scene of Palestinians beating beaten at a nonviolent demonstration.

Susiya Attacks Follow-Up

Thanks to everyone whose sent links to articles about Susiya. We're happily baffled - we can't figure out why this has gotten so much coverage. You can see video of the attack here and video testimony here. Here are a few of the article that have come out in English language papers:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/24/world/middleeast/24settlers.html?_r=1&ref=world&oref=slogin

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7458926.stm

There's a crucial follow-up story to this incident, however, that's gone unreported. Our friend Nassar who works for B'tselem, an Israeli human rights organization, was filming with a B'tselem camera a soldier struck him in the face and then commenced to destroy his tape. You'll have to forgive me, I really don't remember the date of this attack and I'm not near anyone whom I can ask.

Attacks like this seem to increase when settlers are feeling the sting of being held responsible for their actions. 2 people, I understand, have been arrested now for the attack in Susiya. Since then, we've been seeing more harassment from the Israeli army and settlers than usual. A shepherd from Magher Al Abeed have been has had a string of close-calls over the last week. It just breaks my heart and, honestly, makes me angry.

That's all for now.