A Bittersweet Memory

So, I’ve been avoiding writing one final blog entry about this summer…not sure why, but the process of putting thoughts and experiences down seemed so exhausting when I first returned two weeks ago. Now, it feels like it’s going to be a relief, like I need to get something out or I will explode!

I promised I would write about the action that happened in At Tuwani on August 2. When I think about that day, which was actually a really successful action for Palestinians in the area, the first thing that comes to mind is a young girl named Amira. She’s the same feisty girl I wrote about in June who declared that she didn’t like At Tuwani because of the incursions by Israeli soldiers and settlers. Amira is a very interesting little girl, at times really aloof and at other times extremely intense and focused.

One ridiculously hot afternoon in July, Joy and I were working on a piece of writing when Amira showed up. We were intent on finishing the document before the computer battery died and she was intent on convincing us she needed to take our bottle of bubbles to her house. I tried a million ways to tell her she had to use them at our house (as every kid in a radius of two miles would be banging down our door to do the same if we let her take them), a million ways to tell her we could talk to her after we finished writing, but she wasn’t having any of that. She tried pleading, peering over our shoulders, playing with the keyboard, staring us down, speaking loudly with another girl from the village about how unfair we were being to her; she was relentless. Joy remarked at one point, “She’s driving me crazy, but this girl is going to make a great resister.”

Well, Amira got to test out those resistance skills on August 2 as she and her neighbors tried to march from At Tuwani to villages her classmates come from, villages she has never before seen in her life though they are just a 20 minute walk from her house. The Israeli police and army refused to let us march the route on which the children and CPTers had been attacked by Israeli settlers a week earlier. In fact, they proceeded to push the marchers back, attempted to arrest others, and one soldier even went as far as choking my teammate Tarek as he pinned Tarek down on the ground. Things were at a stand still. In the end, they Palestinians negotiated with them and gained permission to march on the road between Havot Maon settlement outpost and the settlement of Maon. As I mentioned before, no Palestinian has stepped foot on that road in the past eleven years except for the children from the villages of Tuba and Maghayer el Abeed who are escorted by the Israeli military to school. The simple act of walking on this road was a miracle in and of itself.

I was one of the last people to arrive at the final agreed-upon march route, and as I reached the crest of the hill overlooking the marchers I saw Amira walking slowly towards me.

“Sarah, I’m scared,” she muttered.

“You’re scared?”

“Yes."

For some reason, I didn’t hesitate in my reply. I merely said, “Don’t be scared, Amira. We are all together, right? We are much stronger together. It will be ok.”

She nodded her head and took a hold of my hand as we made our way down toward the road. I don’t remember seeing her join the group of 150 or so Palestinians who set off with drums and banners, nor did I see her after she returned, but I know she was able to catch a glimpse of the place her classmates’ call home for the first time in her eight years of life. She was able to participate with her community in letting those who had threatened and beaten her neighbors know that this community wasn't going to run away in fear. It was such a tiny victory, but it brought me tremendous joy.

I will never forget the elation of seeing people I have come to call friends march to see their neighbors that day and I will never forget Amira’s panicked face as she said, “Sarah, I’m scared.” As a result of realities surrounding the Israeli occupation, Amira is being forced to grow up very quickly; her world is not the carefree world I knew when I was her age. So, for me, August 2, 2008 is a bittersweet memory, but one I will hold onto for a very long time.

One of my young neighbors getting ready to march.

Palestinians trying to convince the Israeli police to let them march.

March from At-Tuwani to Tuba a success

CPTnet
3 August 2008
AT-TUWANI: March from At-Tuwani to Tuba a success

On 2 August, more than one hundred children and their parents from the South Hebron Hills marched from the village of At-Tuwani to the village of Tuba, calling for an end to settler violence and settlement expansion in the area. The march was a part of the annual South Hebron Hills summer camp for children and a response to recent settler attacks on children walking to the summer camp in At-Tuwani.

The children and their parents, accompanied by a few Israelis and internationals, took the most direct path to the village of Tuba. For the past eleven years, school children escorted by the Israeli military have been the only Palestinians able to use this road. Palestinian parents organized the march to call attention to the violence faced by school children, the failure of the Israeli army to protect them and the effects of Israeli settlement expansion.

The march initially attempted to take the path that children use when unaccompanied by the Israeli military, around the settlement outpost Havat Ma’on (Hill 833)—which the Israeli government ordered dismantled in 2006. The Israeli military then declared the whole area a closed military zone and restrained the march with force, targeting leaders. Seeing a soldiers attack and try to arrest a Palestinian man, a CPTer tried to intervene. Soldiers knocked them both down and started choking the CPTer. Other participants in the demonstration then intervened nonviolently and stopped the attack. An Israeli and Kristin Anderson—who has worked both with CPT and Operation Dove (an Italian peace group that, with CPT, forms the At-Tuwani team)—were arrested.

Palestinian organizers negotiated with the soldiers, and the Israeli military agreed to accompany the children and parents on the short path, using the road between Ma’on settlement and Havat Ma’on (Hill 833).

A large group of settlers came out of Ma’on and harassed the marchers. A smaller group of settlers followed directly behind the marchers, but Israeli military and police prevented them from attacking the group. One village elder accompanying the children walked this road for the first time in years. Surprised by the settlement expansion, she shared with a soldier about how she plowed this land years ago.

Participating in the march were children from the villages of Tuba and Maghaer Al-Abeed, whom settlers have regularly attacked as they walked to primary school in At-Tuwani. The children rely on an Israeli military escort to accompany them to school and prevent Israeli settlers from attacking them, but the Israeli military has recently declined to carry out the escort for summer camp. The most recent settler attack took place on 27 July, when the Israeli military refused to escort the children. Settlers flung rocks at the children with slingshots and physically assaulted CPTer Joel Gulledge, inflicting a head wound requiring stitches.

Trying to walk the original planned route of the march where settlers have recently attacked children and CPTers.

Palestinians marching along the road between Ma'on settlement and Havot Ma'on settlement outpost. Most of the marchers hadn't stepped foot on this road for over eleven years, even though the land itself is owned by various Palestinian families.

CPTer faces possible deportation

I was at this action yesterday and will write more about it later and include photos. It was a really big success for Palestinians in the area. As far as the CPTer mentioned below, Kristin was released at 2am and her legal status is still unknown. They were trying to charge with assaulting a soldier, which is completely false and we have video footage of the event to prove it.

CPTnet2
August 2008
AT-TUWANI: CPTer faces possible deportation

The Israeli authorities detained Kristin Anderson, a U.S. citizen working with Christian Peacemaker Teams in the South Hebron Hills, today during a non-violent action in At-Tuwani. Israeli soldiers took Anderson's bag and passport, and police detained her when she stayed behind to retrieve them; they then took her to the Kiryat Arba police station. The Israeli authorities may move her to the Russian Compound in Jerusalem for a trial and possible deportation.

The public witness was a response to four attacks Israeli settlers perpetrated against Palestinian children in the last week as they walked to or from summer camp in At-Tuwani. About 300 Palestinian adults and children as well as Israelis and internationals marched from At-Tuwani to Tuba to protest the continuing violence and the expansion of the settlement outpost Havat Ma'on.

Israeli settlers attack Palestinian children, CPTers, on journey home from summer camp

CPTnet
27 July 2008
AT-TUWANI: Israeli settlers attack Palestinian children, CPTers, on journey home from summer camp.

[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.]

At 1:50 pm, on Sunday, 27 July, Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian children between the ages of six and fifteen and Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) members Joel Gulledge and Jan Benvie, who were accompanying them as they walked to their village of Tuba. The children had been attending summer camp in At-Tuwani.

As the fourteen children and two CPTers were walking in a valley south of the Havat Ma'on settlement outpost, one masked settler came down the hill, hurling stones with a slingshot. The children and Benvie ran ahead, but saw other stone-throwing settlers approaching them from the opposite side of the valley. None of the stones struck the children, however, and they were able to run to safety.

When the masked settler saw Gulledge filming the attack, he began directing his stones at Gulledge. The settler hit him in the leg with a rock, inflicting an injury that made it impossible for Gulledge to run away. The settler then wrested the camera from him, and began beating him with a rock and the camera. After that, the settler ran off with the camera. Gulledge was treated for his injuries at a hospital in Hebron and then returned to At-Tuwani.

In autumn 2004, Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian schoolchildren and At-Tuwani team members-three of whom required hospitalization for their injuries-in the same area as the attack on 27 July. Because of international media coverage of these attacks, the Israeli Knesset recommended that the Israeli military provide a daily escort for the children to go to and from school.
In the past week, the mayor of At-Tuwani has had several meetings with the District Coordination Officer (DCO)-the branch of the Israeli military that deals with civilian matters in the occupied Palestinian territories- in an attempt to arrange a military escort for the children. The DCO told him the children should walk the short, direct route to summer camp, unescorted.

On 22 July, only seven children were willing to risk walking alone to At-Tuwani. They informed the At-Tuwani team 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. Three settlers, one of whom was masked and carrying a stick, chased the children while they walked unescorted to the summer camp. After escorting the children on 24-25 July, military personnel informed the At-Tuwani team on 26 July that the army would no longer accompany the children, who were waiting for the army to arrive while four settlers from the Israeli settlement outpost of Havat 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 a CPTer explained the current, dangerous situation, the military personnel said, "I don't think the settlers will attack the children."

Photos of the children and CPTers walking the route between At-Tuwani and Tuba today and of Gulledge after the attack are available at http://cpt.org/gallery/album252.

Children and CPTers preparing to walk home from the summer camp. The trees in the background are part of the settlement outpost.

CPTer Joel Gulledge following the attack by Israeli settlers.

"Because I refuse to live in slavery"

My final day in At Tuwani was absolutely perfect. I had set my alarm for 5:30am, hoping to possibly learn from one of the women in the village how to make bread. As soon as my alarm sounded, I groaned and turned it off…what the hell was I thinking getting up at 5:30am?! About 45 minutes later, I heard a rush of feet passing by my bed (everyone sleeps outside during the summer) and a woman screaming, “Foreigners, get up! There are settlers in the valley and young shepherd boys are there with their sheep! Get up!”

I lifted my head to see a crowd of villagers running toward the valley, including a woman who was eight months pregnant. My teammates and I stumbled around to get our stuff: running shoes and cameras. I ran up the hill with Joy and when we reached the top we noticed all of the Palestinians sitting on rocks peering down into the valley, no settlers in sight. Joy and I made our way down and asked some young shepherd boys where the settlers were.

“What are you talking about? There are no settlers here,” they replied.

So, we headed back up the hill, Joy remarking about the ridiculousness of her polar bear pajama pants that had now been introduced to the entire village. We were happy it was merely a “settler drill.”

Come to find out later, one of the woman from the other side of the village thought she had seen three settlers walking down from the settlement Ma'on toward the valley. Such a sight assures harassment and possibly even a beating, so she yelled to her neighbors who immediately dropped their morning chores and ran down, getting others to join them along the way. This is what I love about this village: they refuse to be bullied. It’s common for other villages to hide when settlers come, but At Tuwani comes out in force and lets them know they will not be intimidated. My teammates and I are often just there to document and be a witness to how they are confronting the situation. Despite all they are facing, these people will not bow their heads, and this gives me hope.

That evening, I joined my friend Tala in Ramallah, a world away from At Tuwani. I often say I feel like Ramallah is Las Vegas after coming from the village, and this night was no different. We went to the premier of a new documentary on Palestinian rappers called Slingshot Hip Hop (check out the trailer at www.slingshothiphop.com/trailer). The film introduced us to six different rap/hip hop groups, Palestinians from Gaza, the West Bank, and Israel Proper using their words and beats to express not only their anger and frustration, but also their refusal to let go of hope for their future. Though sitting in Ramallah, the words of these artists transported me back to At Tuwani:

My feet are the roots of the olive tree
Keep on prospering, fathering and renewing branches
Every branch
Grown for peace
Every branch
Under the pressure of occupation
Refusing to give up
So why don’t I have freedom?
Because I refuse to live in slavery.

I Don’t Have Freedom, by Dam

Buckets and Demonstrations

CPTnet
16 July 2008
AT-TUWANI REFLECTION: Buckets and Demonstrations

by Joy Ellison

"Mumkin daloo?"

Every evening when the heat breaks and it's time to draw water from the well, the children of At-Tuwani come to our house and ask us for our bucket. Our bucket is small and gray and exactly the same as every other bucket in the village; I think it's purely the thrill of asking us crazy foreigners "mumkin daloo?" ("Can we have the bucket?") that keeps the kids coming. Usually we hand over the bucket and return to whatever we are doing. But last night, my teammate Sarah politely turned down our young neighbors.

"We're on strike today. We're having a demonstration," she explained. "I'm very sorry, but I can't give you the bucket."

The reason for our daloo (bucket) demonstration was simple. The previous evening, seven-year-old Samih never returned our bucket. He forgot it and left it to spend the night at the well; it did not make its way home until yesterday afternoon. My teammates decided to express our discontent in the firmest and most easily understandable way we could--through non-violent resistance.

The girls asking for our bucket knew immediately what we meant by "demonstration." Here in At-Tuwani the youngest child can tell you about the violence and injustice that the village is facing. Children alert us when the army sets up checkpoints and they have christened our frayed Oscar the Grouch doll "Gadalia" after the armed Israeli settler who threatens their parents routinely. But from the oldest man in the village to the young girls who asked for our bucket, everyone in At-Tuwani also understands how the village is resisting the Israeli occupation. Children observe their parents nonviolently confronting Israeli soldiers. Little boys accompany adults as they graze sheep on their land in defiance of threats made by Israeli settlers. Women clear away roadblocks knowing they might be arrested. Everyone is familiar with nonviolent demonstrations and our neighbors vigorously debate their strategies.

Recently Sarah interviewed one of my favorite little girls for a short video on life in the village. "My name is Amira," my young neighbor said. "I live in At-Tuwani. I love At-Tuwani because...no!" she declared. "I don't love At-Tuwani. There are settlers and soldiers and they always cause problems!" Amira may be well aware of the situation facing her as she grows up, but she is also learning what resistance means under the tutelage of her parents and relatives. A few months ago she sagely informed me, "Wherever they go, soldiers always cause problems. But they don't come to At-Tuwani as often now because the people here are strong." When Amira grows up, whatever challenges her village faces, I'm sure she and her neighbors will be ready to organize nonviolent actions far more powerful than a "mumkin daloo" strike.

CPT reports on the South Hebron HIlls from the last month

I just finished posting all of the CPT reports on things that have happened in the South Hebron Hills since the beginning of June, as well as a couple photos. As you'll notice, I mentioned some of these events in my own personal writing on this blog. These reports can also be found at CPT's website: www.cpt.org/news/cptnet. If you visit the website, there is a way for you to sign up to receive CPT reports via email.