Israeli military issues demolition orders and again blocks main access road in South Hebron Hills

CPTnet
30 June 2008
AT-TUWANI: Israeli military issues demolition orders and again blocks main access road in South Hebron Hills

On 26 June 2008, the Israeli military issued a demolition order on the partially constructed water cistern in the village of At-Tuwani, built with financial support from a Spanish NGO. If completed, the cistern will provide a vital additional water source in the arid region of the South Hebron Hills.

Also on 26 June, the Israeli military issued a demolition order on a home in At-Tuwani and on four homes in the nearby village of Umm Faggarah.

The following day, 27 June 2008, at 9:00 a.m., the Israeli military returned to the area and blocked the road between At-Tuwani and Yatta. A bulldozer massed a four-foot-high mound spanning the width of the road using boulders and earth. The roadblock not only prevents vehicular access, but also makes movement by foot and donkey extremely difficult. The same bulldozer also closed several tracks used by tractors and trucks to access nearby small dwellings.
Besides being the main economic hub for the region, Yatta is also the principal provider of critical services such as hospitals, secondary schools, and public administration offices.

Several communities in the South Hebron Hills are again cut off from basic supplies such as water and animal feed, because road is the main artery for the supply of water to the South Hebron Hills, which is currently experiencing a severe drought. According to Palestinian residents of the area, roadblocks have doubled the commercial price of water. A UN worker reported that roadblocks on this thoroughfare will increase by thirty percent the cost of transporting essential water aid to the area.

The new roadblock is the latest in a series of roadblocks erected by the Israeli army. The most recent, on the same site of today's roadblock, was removed by the army on 12 June. The local population removed previous roadblocks through nonviolent direct actions.

One of the homes in Umm Faggarah that the Israeli army delivered a demolition order to.

Israeli settlers inflict injuries requiring hospitalization on shepherds in South Hebron Hills

CPTnet
30 June 2008
AT-TUWANI: Israeli settlers inflict injuries requiring hospitalization on shepherds in South Hebron Hills

On 24 June 2008, around 6:30 p.m., two Israeli settlers beat two unarmed Palestinian shepherds from Mantiquat Shi'bal Butum. The settlers came down from the nearby Israeli settlement outpost of Mitzpe Yair to an area where the shepherds, aged fifty-five and twenty, routinely graze their sheep. Armed with stones from the hillside, the settlers injured the ribs of the older shepherd and the eye of the younger. A Palestinian in the area called the Israeli police and ambulance, both of which arrived fifteen minutes after the beating.

The police spoke with the two settlers identified by the Palestinians as the attackers. They took the settlers' ID numbers and issued police reports to the Palestinians present. However, the police took neither settler into custody.

At 7:30 p.m., the ambulance took both shepherds to the hospital in the nearby town of Yatta. Both have since returned home.

This incident marks the second violent attack on Palestinians in the South Hebron Hills in the last month. On 8 June, four masked Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian family of four in Susiya, beating the sixty-year-old matriarch of the family unconscious. The family videotaped the beating. Currently, a court case is pending against the two settlers from Suseya.

A Difficult Week

So, it has been a difficult past week. I wanted to write about something funny, something cute, but unfortunately these things have not been so much on my mind as of late. The marathon day I had on Monday really took its toll on me. While out with Palestinian shepherds in the morning, grazing in an area pretty far from the illegal Israeli settlement outpost of Havot Ma'on, a car from the outpost started to drive towards us. The shepherds took off to another hill out of sight of the settlement and we stayed to film the car coming.

When the car arrived, my teammate Laura and I were further down the original hill; though we couldn't see the settlers, we could see a couple rocks being thrown over the side of the hill. One of the shepherds asked us if we could move up a bit and get photos of them throwing rocks, and as we moved up we saw two settlers, one of whom was masked. Laura, tired of running from these guys (this is almost a daily occurrence) decided to walk to meet them and I followed with the camera.

The two Israeli settlers seemed almost caught off guard. The one who was unmasked reached up to put his hand over the camera lense, but promptly removed it and a conversation ensued. I had seen him before, and so had the Palestinian shepherd who was watching us from the other hill. This settler had been responsible for killing five of the shepherd's sheep, with no charges placed against him. The settler told my teammate that this land, all of this land, belonged to him and his fellow Jews as it was given to their fathers and mothers by God. Laura said that even if that was true, why should they harrass and beat Palestinians who are living there as well. He replied very frankly that the Arabs were the ones trying to kill them and that she should read the truth written in the Torah. She replied by saying it is also written in the Torah that one should seek justice as well as truth. He called her stupid and began to walk away.

As they walked back to their car, I could see another settler car approaching. We decided to make our way towards the Palestinian shepherds. As I looked over my shoulder, I noticed the second car arrive and a settler armed with a gun step out of the driver's side. I knew he probably wouldn't shoot at that time since we were there and cameras were rolling. Once we arrived where the shepherds were waiting, they greeted us as if we had come back from the dead. One of them told me he had had his phone ready with the number of the Israeli police (they have jurisdiction in this area), just in case something happened. I smiled, knowing we had each other's back. After the settlers left, the Israeli army arrived (most likely called by the settlers). They didn't approach us, though, and we headed back to the shepherd's cave for a nap and lunch.

This event was only part of that day; the other part included responding to a call about two Israeli settlers from a different settlement outpost beating two Palestinian shepherds. We got the information out in a media release the next day. And then yesterday, the Israeli army built a massive roadblock of stones, blocking people in the villages of the South Hebron Hills from the nearby town of Yatta. I am so tired...but people here keep living and pushing on and I sometimes wonder how they do it without going insane.

I would appreciate thoughts and prayers for people here and for me and my teammates. Not all is gloom and doom, but the systematic oppression in this place has its way of creeping up on you and overwhelming you at times, at least this is what I've been feeling the last few days.

To a Palestinian Child--Instructions for Living in the South Hebron Hills

CPTnet
21 June 2008
AT-TUWANI REFLECTION: To a Palestinian Child--Instructions for Living in the South Hebron Hills

by Laura Ciaghi

Do not go into nearby orchards to steal cherries. Twenty-five heavily armed adults from the neighboring Israeli settlement may attack your village, screaming, pushing and threatening your parents while soldiers and police stand and watch.

Make sure to have unarmed internationals with you on your way to school. When adult settlers attack you, the internationals might end up as battered as you, but their injuries will give you your only chance to have the media tell your story.

Do not get sick (or try to be born) at inappropriate times such as nights, Jewish holidays, U.S. presidential visits-or when the local military commander has planned a checkpoint between your house and the hospital for no particular reason. You will make the soldiers feel uncomfortable when, following mandatory security policies, they refuse to let you pass by foot or in your parent's arms, because they suspect you may have swallowed a bomb. If you cough, vomit or look sad, you might confirm their suspicions.

Learn by heart some good invocations to chase away bad dreams. When soldiers come to your house in the middle of the night, aim their rifles at your elder brothers whom they have pushed against the wall, and then detonate sounds grenades as a way of saying "goodbye," you will fall asleep again afterwards and wake to be a cute, joyful, polite child the following morning.

Through the Eyes of a Child

So, unfortunately (or maybe fortunately for you) this post is going to be short. I have been lounging around on my break soaking up sitting on couches in my friend Tala's house in Ramallah and time has just flown by. It's funny how a couch can feel like a luxury after living in At Tuwani for almost two weeks. I love the village, but they don't have couches:)

Anyway, there's so much to write about...but I'm just going to choose one short story. In goofing around with the video camera one quiet afternoon, I asked one of the little girls in the village to tell me her name, where she lives, and why she likes living in At Tuwani. Other children had done so and I expected to hear answers about liking the people, enjoying the summer camp, etc. When she got to the part about why she liked the village, it went like this:

"I love Tuwani because...no, I don't like Tuwani because there are the settlers and the army that come to the village."

She said this very matter of factly. A few days before, Israeli soldiers had shown up with two jeeps. My teammate Joy and I went to meet them. They said they had received a call that two sound grenades were found in the village, which was true. These grenades had been used and left after the Israeli army entered the village late one night in May, pulling everyone out of their beds at 1am, lining the men (and some CPTers) against a wall and searching them, while setting off flares and sound grenades during the entire ordeal. We called one of the Palestinians in the village and he helped direct the soldiers to where the two sound grenades were: one in a field where shepherds graze and wheat has been harvested recently, and the other just below the elementary school. The soldiers seemed a bit nervous as they went around, with their guns up and ready to shoot anyone that maybe hiding to ambush them. Children watched as the soldiers successfully removed the used sound grenades and left the village.

Children here are learning a lot from the army incursions and settler attacks that happen in the very place they call home. Fortunately, they are learning more from their parents as far as standing firmly and creatively in the face of such powerful forces. One such lesson came after a shepherd from a nearby village lost three sheep to the gun of a settler a couple months ago. The very next day, every shepherd in the immediate area was out in the same valley with their sheep. They were sending a message that they would not be terrified by such violence. Instead they would respond to it with courage and solidarity.

The little girl's answer to why she liked At Tuwani was very honest, and I am glad to know that despite the bleakness of the situation here people have still not lost their gusto. These are the lessons that will be passed onto the next generation.

Showing one of the girls in Tuwani her interview. The photo was taken by her little sister who apparently wasn't too concerned with getting our heads in the picture.

Video on At-Tuwani

Sorry I have been out of communication for a while. I will write something soon about my last week and a half in At-Tuwani and the surrounding villages, but in the meantime please view this video that was put together on nonviolent struggle in the area:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=NsesMjWkAl8

Celebration and Mourning

Just wanted to let everyone know I arrived and am heading down from Jerusalem to At Tuwani today. Don't have much time to write anything substantial. There have been so many tourists here the last few days, which I'm guessing is due to celebrations of Israel's 60th anniversary. Israeli flags line the streets of Jerusalem and many Israeli Jewish homes have flags hanging our their windows. There have been fireworks displays every night this past week as well as other events in the city. Palestinian Jerusalemites (Palestinians who live in Eastern Jerusalem and have residence IDs in Israel but are not citizens) seem happy for the business so much tourism brings, but less than ecstatic about the celebrations. Though the celebration of Israel as a state is a happy occassion for many, for Palestinians it is a reminder of 60 years of dispossession. One people's joy is another's pain. I'm interested to go into the West Bank today and see what Palestinians have been doing to commemorate what Israelis call the War of Independence and what Palestinians call the Catastrophe.