Reading and Writing, Dignity and Resistance


“They said there are twenty-one kids,” said my teammate Jessica. Jessica and I were sitting on the top of Khourbah hill, waiting to finish what we call school patrol. She had finished speaking with our fellow CPTers in the village of At-Tuwani. They were waiting for the Palestinian school children to be dismissed from school and gather to to walk to their homes in the villages of Tuba and Maghaer al Abeed. Our teammates had called to let us know that the Israeli military had arrived to escort the school children past the Israeli settlement of Ma'on and Havat Ma'on settlement outpost and we could expect to see the children soon – all twenty-one of them.

“Twenty-one kids?” I asked, dumbfounded. “Where on earth did they come from?”

“They say that Mohammed* brought them,” Jessica replied. I shook my head disbelievingly, still a bit stunned. “Wow,” I said. Then we looked at each other and grinned.

That morning, my teammates and I had observed only five children arrive at school. A larger group of children had gathered at the appointed location and waited for the Israeli military to arrive to escort them to At-Tuwani. Every school day, these children walk between Ma'on settlement and Havat Ma'on settlement outpost and are regularly attacked by adult Israeli settlers. “Settlers sometimes catch us, hit us with rocks, and knock us down,” described one child. Because these attacks on the children have come to the attention of Israeli and international media, the Israeli military escorts the children and is supposed to ensure their safety. My teammates and I monitor the escort. Usually that means calling the military and asking, entreating, and cajoling them to escort the children in a timely fashion. All too often, the army refuses to respond and the children are left to face the setters on their own. It's a maddening situation.

This morning after my teammates made several calls to the military, the children were still waiting. It was 8:10. School had began and the children would be late. My teammates watched them walk from the appointed meeting place to the village of Tuba. Most of the children returned home, and a very small group started to walk through the hills unescorted. The path they took was very dangerous. Settlers frequently attack and harass the children when they walk this way, when the military fails to escort them. Thankfully, no settlers approached the children, but my teammates and I felt deflated. Only five kids, it seemed, would make it to school on this day.

But while we trudged back to the village of At-Tuwani, Mohammed, the father of some of the children, gathered the fourteen remaining kids together. Abandoning his own plans for the morning, Mohammed walked with them along through the hills along a safer path, out of sight of the settlement. It must have taken them over an hour to reach the At-Tuwani, but they did. Thanks to Mohammed, fourteen more children had the opportunity to learn that day.

The bravery and determination of the school children of Tuba and Magher Al Abeed and their parents always impresses me. But as I watched all twenty-one the kids make their way home that day, I realized just how highly these families value education. When these children go to school, they're learning more than reading, writing, and math. They are learning what they will have to do to live with dignity. They are learning the meaning of resistance.

*Name changed

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!

When I told my mother what that our friend Musab was attacked by soldiers and then tortured for four hours, she started to cry. When she stopped, she asked me, “Is there someone where that he can go? To have a break and rest?”

“Mom,” I said, “He's Palestinian. Where could he go?”

Today, Musab was attacked again. Settler came out of the Havot Ma'on settlement outpost and threw rocks at him. They threatened him and tried to provoke him, to no avail. Attacks like these are terrifying. They're dangerous. And they happen so frequently that I can't summon up the energy to write a press release about it and even if I did, no journalist would care. The Israeli police certainly don't care. In the end it's a simple story. Musab is Palestinian. He has no where to go.

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. :-)

Mona's Party

“This morning,” my neighbor Mona* explained to me, “I told my husband that since the kids are out of school and he didn’t need to go into town, I would cook something special and we would have a party.” Mona has a wry sense of humor and I started to wonder what the punch line would be. “We were going to invite you, but instead we had a little party with the soldiers and the settlers.” Mona cocked her head to one side and shrugged, smiling ironically.

The “party” we had in At-Tuwani wasn’t nearly as fun as the party that Mona had planned. At about 9 am on the 26th of January, a settler from the Havot Ma’on settlement outpost entered the village of At-Tuwani, accompanied by the Israeli army and the Ma’on settlement security guard. The settler then entered the homes of my neighbors and searched in their animal pens. “What is he looking for?” my neighbors asked the soldiers. “If he thinks we’ve stolen something, bring the police and conduct a normal search. Where’s the rule of law?”

Between 15 and 20 settlers then joined the first, along with more soldiers. Mona’s husband tried to convince the soldiers to make the settlers leave the village. “We’ll go back instead our houses if they leave,” he said. But then the settlers started throwing stones at a group of Palestinian women and children. The next thing I knew, the soldiers were pointing their guns at my neighbors. One of them drew back his fist and punched someone in the face. It was Mfadi, the quietest, least imposing man in the village. His nose bleeding. Another soldier raised his gun and fired. For a moment I was stunned and dumbly wondered why no one seemed to be shot. Then I realized that it was a sound bomb and that the soldiers were likely to start using tear gas next. I saw the same soldier pull out another canister. “Don’t do it,” I started screaming. “There are women and children here. Don’t shoot that!”

Later, when the soldiers and settlers had left the village, Mona told me that Mfadi’s nose was broken and he would need an operation. She also said that the soldiers told her and the women that if they did not leave the area, they would arrest all of the men of the village and kill at least one. “We didn’t leave,” said Mona. “One of the girls told them they could take her whole family to jail if they wanted to. She said that there was no food in her house. At least there’s food in prison!” Mona laughed.

Then Mona told me about the party she had wanted to have, until the settlers and soldiers had prevented it. I started to wonder how many other parties were canceled because of the occupation that day. But then Mona smiled. “Maybe we’ll have our party tomorrow,” she said. Sure enough, the next afternoon I sat on Mona’s front porch laughing and sipping tea. As we ate the special food that Mona had promised, I imagined the celebration she will throw when the occupation finally over. Soldiers and settlers can’t cancel that party – only postpone it.

*Name changed.

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:

Opps...finally posting details on Musab's arrest and torture

I could have sworn that I had posted details about Musab's arrest, but I guess I didn't. Here it is:

On 7 January 2010, soldiers detained Musab Musa Raba’i after attacking him and members of his family as they were complying with the soldiers' order to move their flocks off their family-owned land.(See 8 January 2010 release, AT-TUWANI: Israeli soldiers attack and injure Palestinian shepherds and CPTers; arrest Musa Raba’i)

The same eight soldiers who arrested Raba’i and attacked his family took him to a military base at the nearby Suseya settlement. For four hours, soldiers struck him in the back, in the face, and slammed him into walls. The soldiers questioned him about his brothers. Raba’i refused to give any information and refused to speak Hebrew with the soldiers, which infuriated them. The soldiers told him that they would come to his house in the following days and beat or kill him and his brothers. They tried to force him to say that they were the best soldiers in the IDF and beat him when he would not. Raba’i told CPTers the soldiers tied his hands and feet, blindfolded him, and sat him on a chair. Raba’i put his head in his lap, in an attempt to protect his head and his genitals, and refused to lift it. He said that at one point, a soldier cocked his rifle and told him to lift his head or he would shoot him. Raba’i refused. When another soldier tried to bring him food and water, as the military is legally obligated to do in such situations, the soldiers who were torturing him swore at the soldier and told him to leave. The soldiers also refused to allow Raba’i to pray.

After four hours of this interrogation and torture, they took Raba’i to Israeli police station in Kiryat Arba settlement. The Israeli police told him that they usually offer detainees food and water, but were giving him nothing because they wanted to punish him. They said that if they ever saw his face again, they would kill him. After thirty minutes, the police tied his hands and feet, blindfolded him, drove him to a location unknown to him and threw him out of the jeep. Fearing that soldiers, police or settlers might see him, he hid in a bush until he saw his family's car.

Raba'i was able to call his family, who, accompanied by CPTers, found him and brought him home.

For photos of Raba'i’s injuries click 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.

Left in the Dark: Video on the Ongoing Campaign to Bring Electricity to At-Tuwani



Take a look at this video and stay tuned for further updates about the ongoing efforts to bring electricity to At-Tuwani.

Rooted

This morning, I got up while the morning midst still hung in the air and accompanied our friend Jamal* as he and his sons plowed their land near Avigail settlement. Fancy terms aside, that meant sitting on the hillside, my video camera in hand, and hoping settlers would leave the farmers in peace. This was the third day that they had been plowing their land and so far neither Israeli settlers nor the the Israeli army had attacked or threatened the farmers or tried to stop the work. I didn’t know if the lack of violence should make me feel confident or worried that today would be the day.

“It’s amazing how those prickly bushes stay put, isn’t it?” said my teammate. She gestured towards one of the small zatar bushes that dot the hillside. We watched as Jamal’s sons ran the plow over the scrub. Sure enough, the bush didn’t move an inch. It stay rooted to the ground.

Yesterday, I visited the village of Susiya. A of the group for whom I was translating asked our host to explain what his land meant to him. “We eat from our land. We drink from our land. We live from our land,” he answered. “This is where our ancestors lived. Our land is very, very important to us.”

The Palestinian people of South Hebron Hills are like zatar bushes. Their roots run deep. Whatever the Israeli army or Israeli settlers may do to them, they plan to stay put.

*Name changed

B'tSelem Campaign Video: Reminds me of Yesterday here in Tuwani

Breaking News: Musab is home

Just wanted to let you know that Musab has been released, but was beaten while we was in Israeli custody. That's all I know right now. I'll give you more details when I have them.

Details of Israelis soldiers attack on the Raba'i family and arrest of Musab Raba'i:

This morning, Thursday 7 January, 2010, Israeli soldiers attacked and injured Palestinian shepherds from the Musa Raba’i family, as they grazed their sheep in Humra valley, near the village of At-Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills. The soldiers also attacked the two CPTers accompanying the shepherds and broke a video camera. Before leaving the area the soldiers arrested one of the shepherds, Musab Musa Raba’i.

At around 10:30am Palestinian shepherds were grazing their sheep on privately owned Palestinian land when they saw Israeli settlers observing them from the outpost of Havat Ma’on. A short time later an Israeli army jeep came to the area. After stopping to speak with one of the settlers, three Israeli soldiers approached the shepherds and ordered them to leave the area. The shepherds explained that it was their land, but agreed to move further down into the valley. The soldiers followed them and grabbed at one of the shepherds, so they all tried to quickly leave the area with their sheep. A second army jeep came to the area and a further three soldiers joined in the attack escalating the violence. Soldiers hit the shepherds with their rifle butts, pushed them and while some soldiers forcibly held them to the ground others kicked them.

Other members of the family came to the area, and the women tried to intervene, hoping to deescalate the situation. However, the women were also forcefully pushed to the ground. CPTers trying to video tape the violent attack were roughly pushed and a soldier grabbed at and broke one of the video cameras.

Other villagers came to the area and tried to calm the situation by talking with the soldiers, but the soldiers ignored all pleas for calm and instead fired percussion grenades and tear gas into the small group of women and children gathered nearby on the hillside.

Israeli police reported to the scene after receiving numerous calls from internationals, but arrived as the soldiers were leaving the area. The police told CPTers that there would be a military investigation into the actions of the soldiers.

During the incident a spokeperson from an Israeli Human Right Organization called the local Israeli Army Brigade Operations Room and the Israeli Army Coordination Office to find out what was happening. She told CPT “I called several time and they had no information and no idea that something was going on in At Tuwani.”

Additional information: At the time of writing Moussab Mussa Raba’i is still detained at Kiryat Arba police station. One elderly woman, Umm Juma’ Raba’i, and a young woman, Umm Ribhi Raba’i, who is 2 months pregnant, had to be taken to hospital, suffering from the effects of tear gas inhalation. Three of the shepherds, Kamaal Raba’i, Majde Raba’i and Juma’ Raba’i were hospitalized for their injuries, and a young boy, Ramze Jamaal Raba’i, had his tooth broken.