Israeli soldiers drive Palestinian shepherds off their land - video from 2005

Israeli Settlers Fire on Palestinian Shepherds, Wound flock

On 26 March, settlers from the Hill 833 outpost (called Havat Ma'on by the settlers) fired five shots into a Palestinian flock of sheep and goats late Wednesday morning, badly wounding a sheep and a large male goat. The shooting took place on Palestinian land in Khoruba valley near the village of At-Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills. A second sheep, whom shepherds believed was wounded, fled into the valley and could not be found.

Israeli police and Army personnel arrived shortly after noon and spoke with the owner of the sheep, a shepherd from the nearby village of Maghayir al Abeed. Two settlers, armed with automatic weapons, arrived at about 2:00 p.m. and spoke with the Israeli police and Army personnel. The settlers attempted to prevent CPTers from filming, threatened to take video cameras and tapes from them and have them arrested. The CPTers observed the settlers remove the written police report from the police vehicle and then return it after several minutes.

Several Palestinian shepherds from surrounding villages arrived at the scene and told Police that they heard five shots fired at about 11:00 that morning. They said they were unable to use their grazing land that day due to the violence. At roughly a 4:00 p.m., the Police left the scene, taking both injured animals with them.Palestinian shepherds in the area and CPTers report that settler violence directed at shepherds in the Tuwani Area has increased sharply in March. On multiple occasions, both settlers and military personnel have injured Palestinian-owned animals.

Report on Palestinian home demolitions in the South Hebron Hills from Amnesty International

Unlawful homes for Israeli settlers, demolitions for Palestinians
Amnesty International
31 March 2008

Mobile homes for an illegal Israeli settlement in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) got the go-ahead within a week of Israeli bulldozers demolishing Palestinian homes and property in the area. It emerged last Wednesday (26 March) that Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak has approved the transfer of five mobile homes to the Israeli settlement of Teneh Omarim in the region.

Only the week before, Israeli army bulldozers demolished nine homes and two livestock enclosures in several Palestinian villages in the southern occupied West Bank. The demolitions were carried out on 19 March in the hamlets of Qawawis, Imneizil, al-Dairat and Umm Lasafa in the South Hebron Hills. Those whose homes were demolished included fa

milies with children. In the villages of al-Dairat and Umm Lasafa, the Israeli army destroyed the homes of brothers Yasser and Jihad Mohammed al-'Adra, and Ismail al-'Adra. As a result, Yasser al-'Adra, his wife and six children, Jihad al-'Adra, his wife and their five children, and Ismail al-'Adra, his wife and their three children, were left homeless. Expansion of Teneh Omarim and other illegal settlements in the OPT continues, in violation of international law that forbids an occupying power from transferring its civilian population into the territory that it occupies.

Palestinians begin rebuilding homes in Qawawis destroyed by the Israeli military on March 19
© Christian Peacemaker Teams

The Israeli settlements include neat, modern houses with electricity and water distribution systems. Palestinians have lived in the area for generations but none of their hamlets in the area are "recognized" by the Israeli authorities. This means they do not receive any services – light, water, sewage, education or health – and the homes and other structures may be demolished at any time. Palestinian villagers are also prohibited for the most part from building new homes or building rain water harvesting cisterns to cater for a growing population or to assist development. No new structures can be built unless permits have first been obtained from the Israeli army, but such permits are invariably refused.

The South Hebron Hills, or Masafer Yatta as it is known to Palestinians, is an area in the southernmost area of the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Apart from small stone-built villages in the west of the area, many of the people live in tents and large caves. Most of the Palestinians in the area are shepherds, but, in recent years, the scarcity of rain water has reduced the availability of grazing land for their flocks and their ability to cultivate their land. In addition, the frequent attacks by Israeli settlers and the increased restrictions imposed by the Israeli army on their movements have further reduced their access to grazing land and their ability to cultivate their land. Israeli settlers, in contrast, have been allowed to appropriate more and more land. Palestinians have lived in the area since long before the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, though some Palestinians moved to the area when they were forced to leave their lands further south in 1948.When Palestinian homes are demolished, other means of livelihood such as animal pens are also destroyed. Currently, the mosque in the village of al-Tuwani is under a demolition order, as is a schoolroom in the remote village of Dqaiqa. Palestinian villagers are frequently harassed by Israeli settlers and Palestinian shepherds fear to graze their flocks near Israeli settlements.

International volunteers from the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) and Operation Dove have had a presence in al-Tuwani, the largest village in the area, since 2004 in order to help protect the villagers and to record acts of violence and harassment against them. Israeli peace activists also visit frequently. During March 2008, at least six attacks on Palestinian shepherds by Israeli settlers or police were reported, with violence and threats of arrest being used against the shepherds to force them to move them away from what they were told was a "closed military zone". Following many settler attacks on Palestinian children going to school and their international escorts, the Israeli army now sends a military jeep to escort the schoolchildren. Sometimes, however, this escort arrives too late or fails to deter attacks.

On 19 March 2008, for example, two international observers were attacked by Israeli settlers while they were attempting to monitor the military escort of Palestinian schoolchildren. On 29 March, settlers were reported to have thrown stones at children making their way to school but the military escort failed to intervene. Amnesty International is urging the Israeli authorities to cease demolishing Palestinian homes in the occupied Palestinian territories, cancel all demolition orders and take steps to prevent and punish settler attacks on Palestinians and on international observers seeking to protect them. The organisation is calling also for an immediate end to the construction or expansion of Israeli settlements in breach of international humanitarian law.

The Stations of Shaadi

13 March, 2008

The South Hebron Hills are a place of great beauty. Gazelles roam the hillsides, birds are abundant in the sky. When you look out over the hills you can see ancient Palestinian villages where people are still living a simple, subsistence lifestyle. They have flocks of sheep and goats. They market lambs, and the women make delicious cheese and butter. In springtime, the valleys are brilliant green with crops of wheat and barley.

But this beauty is marked with pain. As you look out across the horizon now, you also see the unmistakable mark of Israeli settlements*. They appear as modern suburban developments dropped down on the hilltops in this rugged terrain. Settlement outposts extend the reach of these settlements, and confiscate increasingly more Palestinian land exclusively for Israeli use. Religiously zealous, ideological and violent settlers threaten and attack anyone who dares draw near. Palestinian shepherds here find they have less and less land to graze their flocks, and must take grave risks when they do.

As we accompany these shepherds, they often speak of the stories this landscape holds for them. They speak of the land they knew as children; the places they used to roam; the valleys their fathers and grandfathers used to graze the flocks. Recently, as we accompanied one shepherd, Shaadi, he pointed out some of the landmarks in his memory along the way.

From high on a hilltop, we can see the nearby settlement and outpost. Although he does not mention it, we are looking across at a place where his children have been repeatedly attacked while walking to school. He continues to send his children to school, knowing that to do so is defiance of the violence and threats to push him and his family off of their land.

As we pause at the cistern to water the flocks, he recounts the time when three masked settlers from the outpost attacked him and his young son while they were watering the sheep. The settlers arrived in a truck and began firing stones at them with a slingshot. They broke the legs of two of his sheep. His nine year old son was also hit by the rocks. Shaadi tried to comfort his son, who would not speak after the attack.

When he called the Israeli police to report the attack, the police refused to come to the village to take his report saying they were afraid of the settlers, “We are only two police. We need a whole army to go in there. The settlers will break our windows.” Shaadi replied, “If you are afraid of the settlers, how do you think I am?”

A short walk later, we pass by the place where three years ago a settler from the illegal settlement outpost Havat Maon, stole fifteen sheep from his flock. Despite filing a police report, including video evidence of the entire incident and eyewitness testimony from an international observer, no charges were filed against the settler.

As we approach his home, he talks about the forced removal of several hundred people from this area. On April 7, 1998 over one hundred families in the area, including Shaadi’s, were served orders to abandon their homes by April 12^th. In a dark irony, the deadline given was Easter Sunday. The families refused to leave. The military confiscated their meager belongings, and offered to return them if they agreed to leave. They refused.

Shaadi’s home is a simple place, closely connected with the homes of his extended family. But even home is a place of scarred memories. Settlers have come and attacked his family. Shaadi shares the painful memory of the time when armed settlers came to the village, and started shooting. His mother was shot in the leg, and his brother was also wounded. For him and his family, there is no safe place of refuge.

As is typical in the area, they once had a toilet out-building adjacent to the house. In May of 2006, the Israeli Civil Administration issued a demolition order for the toilet. A few days later a bulldozer came and destroyed it. He has not been allowed to rebuild it. It seems even the basic human dignity and privacy of a toilet will be denied him.

Shepherds in this area continue to face violence and threats on a daily basis. In January of this year, while Shaadi was out grazing his flocks with a few other local shepherds, settlers came out from the outpost and fired six shots at them. The flocks scattered, and the shepherds fled. The Israeli police refused to respond, saying they ‘had better things to do”.

A few weeks ago, Shaadi was one of several shepherds that went to graze their flocks in a valley called Mshaha, south of the illegal settlement outpost, Havat Maon. They went together as an act of resistance to threats and violence from the settlers. They went to recover the use of their land, and find sustenance for their flocks.

On this day, Israeli soldiers arrived and demanded that the shepherds leave. The shepherds responded that this was their land, and that they wanted to appeal to the commander to decide the issue. Settlers from the outpost also came and spoke with the soldiers. The soldiers ran toward the flocks and kicked several sheep, trying to drive them away. Many of these shepherds reported injuries to their sheep, including broken teeth, and internal bleeding. Shaadi lost two lambs later that week from injured ewes.

As we were finishing up this long walk, we paused along the way as a young lamb was born. Shaadi tended gently and expertly to the newborn, and invited us back to his house for a meal. We rejoiced in the new birth, hopeful that this might be finally a sign of new life for him and his family.

* ‘Settlements’ refers to Israeli only housing built within the occupied Palestinian territories. Settlements are all illegal according to international law. Settlement outposts are illegal under international law, as well as under Israeli law.

Nonviolent Demonstration Opens Road in South Hebron Hills

Friday, 29 February, 2008 Palestinians from At-Tuwani and the South Hebron Hills gathered together to remove a roadblock that the Israeli military had placed on the main access road for the region. Women began the action by removing the earth mound first by hand, and later using small shovels. Palestinian women and children also successfully moved a large concrete block from the road entrance, clearing the way for vehicle traffic. Over sixty men from the area gathered for noon prayers at the roadblock.

Snow Days in Palestine!

Snowball Fight In Tuwani!





















Snow on the Israeli roadblocks at main intersection in Hebron



Snow on the neighborhood mosque. Israeli flag flies at the military base across the street.

A snowy day headed into the Old City in Hebron

CPTer Jessica on a grocery run in the snow

Snow on the rooftops in Hebron

Snow on the Muslim cemetery in Hebron

A few (long) days in Hebron

I just got home this evening after quite a long day. About 7pm, two of us were walking a friend home when we came upon soldiers holding a boy at a checkpoint just outside Hebron's Old City. He was standing inside a small concrete barrier, with two soldiers standing in front of him. It was getting to be a chilly night, and he was not dressed to be standing outside. The boy is 12 years old.

Often when soldiers detain men at checkpoints, it is with the pretense of “checking their ID”. Every adult Palestinian has to carry an official ID, where determines where and when they permitted to travel. Palestinians are required to carry this ID at all times. Simply not having one can be grounds for detention.

Israeli Border Police detain several men at one of the many checkpoints in Hebron’s Old City. 09 Jan 2008 CPT

The boy being held that we encountered, however, has no ID because it is not required until 16 years of age. Children under 16 years are not to be stopped or held at checkpoints.

When this boy was stopped he had been walking by himself to visit his grandmother just a few blocks away. When we happened upon him, he told us he had been there for an hour. In the time that we waited with him (another 45 minutes), we observed soldiers stopping and searching every person that passed, no matter their age or reason for needing to pass.

We did manage to get word to his mother who came down to the checkpoint. She spoke with the soldiers, and asked if he could be allowed to go. At first the soldiers stonewalled her as well, refusing to let him go or give a reason that he was being held. Finally, the commander waved his hand and the boy was allowed to leave. His mother and another family member walked with him to his grandmother's house.

In the afternoon, one young man - whom soldiers insisted was 16 years old - had just come from the soup kitchen at the mosque, was held for at least 30 minutes. Again, we came upon this incident somewhat by chance. I did not witness the entire encounter. What I did see was that when he left, he was carrying an empty jug. The soup for his family that he had received at the mosque was spilled all over the sidewalk.

An Israeli Border Policeman searches the English teacher from the local boys school, after he had already been held for nearly an hour. 10 Jan 2008 - CPT

All day today I observed soldiers holding Palestinians for long periods at checkpoints and on street corners throughout the Old City. Just after school let out, several teachers from the boys school were held for over an hour on their way home. (Teachers carry a special identification, and accordingly are not to be held coming or going from an educational institution.) Although none of these incidents were unique in the experience of living in an occupied city, today seemed a particularly difficult day for Palestinians trying to get around the city.

This is all just one side of the story. The other side of the story was out near one of the settlements in Hebron. Yesterday and today, a large group of settler youth have taken over a plot of Palestinian land, and have put up a tent and other make-shift structures on the land.

Israeli settler youth building stone structures on private Palestinian land adjacent to the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba. 09 Jan 2008 CPT

The settler youth have effectively closed the road that passes by - which was only open for Israeli vehicle traffic already, but was still used for Palestinian pedestrian traffic. Now, in this rainy season, any Palestinian needing to pass have to go down into the valley, through the muddy fields, or risk being stoned, spit at or otherwise assaulted by these rioting youth. Most of the day, the Palestinian families in this neighborhood locked themselves inside their homes to avoid such harassment and assault.

Numerous Israeli police and soldiers have been on hand throughout, but have done almost nothing to reign in this behavior. There are adult Israeli settlers also involved, but they seem to be directing the activity from a distance, coming by occasionally to bring food or other supplies. They have led the group in prayer, after which the group continues on abusing Palestinian passers-by.

Israeli settler youth invade private Palestinian land, and block road with rubble. Adult Israeli settlers (center) support this activity and speak with Israeli soldiers, who do nothing to prevent the youths’ destructive behavior. 10 Jan 2008 - CPT

Many international human rights observers, as well as several concerned Israelis, came out to document this most recent illegal takeover of private Palestinian land. The settler youth targeted anyone trying to film or photograph their activities. One teammate asked if maybe they were ashamed of what they were doing. The settlers also verbally assaulted not only the internationals, but also one of the Israeli activists that had come. She was extremely upset when the settlers called her a Nazi. She explained that she found that remark deeply offensive since a large number of her family had actually been killed by the Nazis. I continue to be impressed by courage and strength of character it must take for an Israeli to stand up for all peoples’ human rights, even across such a(n apparent) divide.

On the few occasions that the Israeli police and soldiers did try to intervene with the settlers, they were also subjected to the assault and abuse. One soldier was limping quite badly after a settler boy kicked him in the leg. In the past two days, as these settlers have rampaged, no one has been arrested or detained, even for the verbal or physical abuse they poured out on the Israeli military and police.

Since this particular plot of Palestinian land is directly adjacent to Kiryat Arba, a very large settlement near Hebron, it seems that these settlers are making an attempt to expand the existing settlement. In fact, on Wednesday, there was another similar action by settlers on Palestinian land on the other side of the settlement.

There is speculation that these actions were designed to send a message to the Israeli government, as they are hosting a visit from US President Bush, that the settlers here are committed to settlement expansion in this area, even if the politicians agree otherwise.

Pictures from the Olive harvest in the South Hebron Hills, Palestine

Empty cisterns in Tuwani, green lawns in the settlements
September 10, 2007
by Eileen Hanson

I arrived back in Tuwani after short time away and the first thing I heard about was a big meeting here this morning about water. Living on the edge of the Negev desert, water is a major concern here. Normally the winter rains fill cisterns in the area, which supply water through the dry summer months. People use cistern water for watering their flocks as well as for household cleaning and bathing. The well is the village source for drinking water. All the cisterns are empty now, and the well is very low.

Many families have already brought in a truck of water to fill their cistern. However many others probably cannot afford to do this. The men of Tuwani and a number of surrounding villages met this morning to discuss the situation.

Life in this area has never been easy. Water has always been scarce. But people have been living here for thousands of years and have developed ways of living to meet the challenges of the environment.

But things have changed in recent years. Twenty years ago the settlement of Ma'on was established on land belonging to families living in Tuwani. Many of the cisterns traditionally used by families from Tuwani and neighboring villages have been taken over by settlers. Palestinians are either physically unable to access them, or fear violence if they approach what was once their family's land and cistern.

The settlement of Ma'on with its green manicured lawns, irrigated fields and orchards, draws water from the underground aquifer that supplies this entire area. The Tuwani village well is low because the aquifer is getting lower and lower by the year.

This is not an uncommon story. Throughout the West Bank, settlements are taking the lion's share of water, leaving Palestinians with scarce resources. Some estimates of settler water usage are as high as 8 or 9 to 1 compared with Palestinians water use. Many other villages in the Hebron district are also experiencing serious water shortages. It is clear just by looking as the contrasting lifestyles of Tuwani and the settlers at Ma'on that settler use of water is completely out of tune with the environment here. Worst of all, it is destroying the possibilities for others to sustain even the simplest life here.

People in Tuwani do not want water to fill up swimming pools. They simply want enough water for their flocks and their families to have enough to drink and bathe. Local Palestinians continue to live a life close to the land and respectful of the resources. It is the settlers who refuse to admit that they are living on the edge of the desert and adapt accordingly.

The lack of water is also a real concern here in part because it presents yet another vulnerability of Palestinians to the occupying powers, the Israeli military and the Israeli settlers. Perhaps Palestinian villagers can band together and buy water to provide enough until the rains come in November or December. But water trucks are a very visible target. Other villages have had roads blocked, or trucks attacked and been unable to get water to the village. A difficult situation becomes even more complex when having to consider that your neighbors might ambush your family's water supply.


UPDATE: October 10, 2007 - Water delivery in Tuwani
This week water trucks delivered water to many of the cisterns in Tuwani. Tanker trucks with water donated by an international aid agency arrived in the village and went house to house, filling cisterns. Families now have water for household cleaning and bathing. This was a welcome sight for everyone.

Trucks came after dark several nights in order to fill all the cisterns. One night, there was a checkpoint just outside Tuwani, and the water truck was stopped for over an hour.

Night in Tuba
September 30, 2007
Eileen Hanson

Last night I spent the night in the small village of Tuba. It is one of the several villages in the South Hebron Hills for which Tuwani serves as a kind of hub.

Tuba should be just a 10 minute walk from Tuwani. But that route is no longer available. In 1980, the settlement of Ma’on was established between Tuba and Tuwani. Now, in order to get from Tuba to Tuwani it is at least a one hour hike. It’s two hours over several hills and valleys if you take the safest route. The one hour path is somewhat dangerous as you are within sight of the settlement outpost for part of the walk. Palestinians have often been attacked when using this route. Most now take the much long route.

These detours from Tuba to Tuwani are over very hilly rocky terrain. I enjoy hiking and I found it a pretty good workout. When I think that this is the path that the elementary school aged children had to take each morning and evening from school, I can’t even imagine it.*

We arrived just in time to break the Ramadan fast in the evening. Like almost everywhere I have experienced in Palestine, we received the warmest hospitality. Although we and other internationals are likeliest to go to Tuba if there have been problems with the settlers, the family was insistent that we are always welcome.

It was enlightening to visit Tuba. For one, I saw the settlement of Ma’on, and the settlement outpost Havat Ma’on, literally from a different angle. From Tuba, you can see Ma’on and the neighboring settlement of Karmil expanding toward the village. New houses and building going up. More fields taken over by settlers. The perimeter of the settlement of Ma’on now nearly meets the egde of Karmil, to the north, squeezing the village of Tuba from both sides.

From Tuba, land confiscation does not seem like an abstract problem. Nearly all the village land to the north and west, has been taken over by the settlers. What settlers have not built on, they control by means of threats and harassment. Palestinians can no longer use the land to graze the sheep. Most families now have to buy feed to supplement the limited grazing for their flocks.

Settlers have recently set up an outpost tent on a nearby hill, expanding their control of the land. New outpost buildings are not allowed under Israeli law. A few weeks ago, the Israeli military actually came to enforce this and demolished the tent. However, they also took that same bulldozer to a nearby Palestinian village and demolished a home there. Settlers have already begun rebuilding the outpost tent.

History shows that if settlers are persistent, they can establish illegal outposts, and eventually maintain a presence on stolen land. Most of the settlements in the West Bank began this way. A small group of settlers come to land and begin building. Often the Israeli government has ruled the building illegal, and ordered the settlers to leave. Rarely have the injunctions been enforced with any vigor.

* Since 2004, children from Tuba now have an Israeli Army escort each day so they can take the short path, through the middle of the settlements, to school in Tuwani. The military escort was ordered by the Israeli parliament (Knesset) after the children had been attacked on several occasions. In one attack, CPTer’s accompanying the children were seriously injured by armed, masked settlers. Following this high profile incident, the Children’s Committee of the Knesset order the Israeli military to escort the children each day. CPT, and Operation Dove, or Italian partners in Tuwani, now monitor this army escort day.
For more information on Tuwani’s history, click here.

RELEASE: Settlers enter village in the South Hebron Hills, assault Palestinians
September, 24, 2007

On September 23rd, shortly before sundown, ten Israeli settlers entered the village of Tuba in the South Hebron Hills. The settlers threw stones, hitting a woman and her adult son. Settlers remained in the village for about an hour. Israeli partners called police at 5:30pm to report the incident. Police did not arrive in Tuba until 7:30pm after the settlers had already left.

Tuba, a village of about 75 people, has experienced on-going harassment by settlers from the nearby Israeli settlement of Ma'on, and illegal outpost Havat Ma'on. School aged children from Tuba are accompanied to school in nearby At-Tuwani by an Israeli military escort because of repeated attacks on the children by settlers. In April of this year, three girls were injured when settlers attacked the children on their way home from school and stole two of the children's book bags. Two weeks ago, the Israeli military demolished an outpost tent the settlers had built illegally on Tuba land.

Ramadan reflection – “It’s like Christmas in Tuwani”
September 20, 2007
Eileen Hanson

At sundown, the call to prayer goes out. The men gather in the mosque. And soon after return home to break the fast with the evening meal, iFtar (the evening meal of breaking fast).

The first night of Ramadan we were supplied with quite a feast. Chicken and stuffed grape leaves from our neighbor. A platter of rice, and a several ketayef* from another. Fresh baked bread called taboon, made in an earthen oven, is a staple here in Tuwani and we have been blessed with a particular abundance of bread each evening of Ramadan. Dried dates are almost always part of the Ramadan evening meal. A typical Palestinian meal includes a variety of ‘salads’, which include a whole range of delights, all served in small bowls for everyone to share by dipping their bread.

I have had the chance to share a Ramadan break-fast meal with a couple of families in Tuwani and in Hebron. It is a wonderful, informal feast. Paper is spread out on the table (or the floor, which is traditionally where one sits and eats) so clean up is just rolling up all the chicken bones and date pits. After dinner is time for drinking tea and lounging around, at least for guests and the men. (Women are usually off to the kitchen to clean up.) All kinds of fruit are offered, and later after you’ve had a chance to digest, comes the ketayef. Nothing is rushed. The meal is a whole evening affair.

Morning comes early. Morning prayers are around 4:00am. Most people rise even earlier, just past 3:00am, to eat a small meal before sunrise. In Tuwani, a diesel generator supplies electricity for the whole village, so at 3am someone starts up the engine and all the lights come on (there are actually street lights in Tuwani, although all the roads are dirt).

During Ramadan, the call to prayer is much longer, as they sing portions of the Koran over the loudspeaker before the call to prayer. The men gather in the mosque for a short prayer, and as they are leaving, someone goes down to turn of the generator. The sun is up not long after. Shepherds are out very early for grazing, usually just after sunrise.

Daytime is pretty slow in Tuwani right now. Ramadan can fall at any time of the year, since Muslims follow a lunar calendar. When Ramadan falls in the height of summer, Muslims fast for 16-17 hours, during which time they do not eat or drink anything, even water. We are just at the end of summer now. The days are still quite hot, and there is very little vegetation left after the long, dry summer. Many people rest during the day, as the night has been so short. The olive harvest next month will be a very busy time.

Life in the city is noticeably different during Ramadan. In Hebron, no one is smoking or drinking tea or coffee, usually a common sight in any shop. Restaurants are closed, but the market is packed with people buying food to prepare the evening’s feast. Jerusalem is especially busy, as Muslims believe that to pray in Jerusalem (called Al Quds, “the Holy”, in Arabic), during Ramadan brings a special blessing.

Although fasting from all food and drink, allowing nothing to pass your lips during daylight may seem arduous, people are generally happy it’s Ramadan. The other day, I asked our neighbor how he was doing. (He is very good about using simple Arabic words and metaphors that we foreigners can understand.) He said with a big smile, “I’m happy. It’s Ramadan in Tuwani. It’s like, Christmas in Tuwani.”

*Ketayef is like a small pancake. Everyone is selling them in the market these days, made fresh on the griddle. At home, they are then folded in half and filled with all kinds of delightful things, sometimes cheese, sometimes apples and nuts and cinnamon. Then they are baked or fried. Delicious! Although not exclusively for Ramadan, ketayef is one of the special treats of the season.

Checkpoints: What’s the Point?
September 10, 2007
Eileen Hanson

The last two Friday nights, the Israeli army set up a ‘flying’ (temporary, mobile) checkpoint just outside Tuwani. Checkpoints on the highway beside Tuwani are a regular occurrence. One jeep, four soldiers and a string of spikes across the road constitute a checkpoint. Each time the soldiers show up, we go down to the road to monitor what is happening. We document the checkpoint, as well as any searches that take place and are present to respond in case of abuses.

Typically these temporary checkpoints last a few hours. Soldiers stop cars, check ID’s and search a few trunks. Much of the traffic in the area is actually foot traffic, people walking from villages around Tuwani to and from the nearby city of Yatta. Men, women and children, including infants in their mothers’ arms, are checked. Aside from settler traffic on the highway, which does not have to stop, soldiers mostly see a lot of tractors and sheep trailers. I wondered this Friday if they were going to search the sheep!

After seeing this countless times and failing to see the point, last night I asked one young soldier on duty what they were doing. He said they were “looking for stolen cars or weapons.” Still curious I followed up, “Do you find a lot of weapons this way?” “No. The people with the weapons see the checkpoint and make a U-turn. There’s nothing we can do.” Since I felt he understood me, and also because I was tired of standing around on a cold windy night, I pressed a bit and said, “So that makes this kind of pointless, huh?” Now were both smiling, and he said, “Yes. If it were up to me, I’d be home in bed.”

They can’t possibly find anything using this method. Not that I'm convinced there's anything to find. The soldiers and jeeps are visible from a half mile away. Anyone who might be trying to move contraband could simply wait until the soldiers leave. Everyone knows this, including the soldiers.

But there must be some point to it. Otherwise why are these soldiers ordered time and time again to set up these checkpoints?

On Saturday, soldiers again set up a flying checkpoint just outside Tuwani. This group of soldiers seemed particularly dangerous. They were wrestling with one another and pointing the laser guides of their automatic weapons at objects in the darkness. They were rude and rowdy, particularly as the evening wore on. When they turned up the American rock and roll music, I wondered if this is what the US occupation in Iraq looks like.

After waving a pick-up truck along, one soldier pointed the laser guide of his automatic weapon at the abdomen of the young boy riding in the back of the truck. The boy said something, and then the laser point moved, appearing next on the child’s face.

It was then I thought I could see the point, tragic and awful as it is. It isn’t about finding weapons or stolen cars. It’s not about finding the bad guy. It’s a display of power. Checkpoints are a way of reminding everyone, even the kids, who’s in charge. If that’s the point, then these flying checkpoints certainly do that.

RELEASE: Homes demolished in Beqa’a Valley

May 29, 2007

More photos of this demolition available at CPT Hebron Photo Gallery

On Monday, May 28^th, bulldozers arrived at two homes in the Beqa’a Valley, just outside Hebron. When CPT arrived, several units of the Israeli Army and Border Police were on hand. When asked what they were doing, one answered that they were just ‘providing security,’ as the civil administration went about the destruction.

One home was under construction and nearly finished. The young man who was building the house was away at work. His extended family watched in horror as the bulldozer, and then a wrecker, crashed into the home destroying months of labor, years of savings and the priceless hopes and dreams of this young family.

At another home just to the south, the wrecker had already destroyed the addition to one family’s home. This family has three children and the mother is two months pregnant with their fourth child. As we sat in the garden drinking tea, pondering the reason for it all, we could see the remainder of the home, against which there was no demolition order, badly damaged by the demolition.

Both families were in the process of appealing the demolition orders against their property. At the time the bulldozers arrived, their cases were in appeal to the Israeli High Court. Family members and neighbors tried to reason with the drivers of the bulldozers and speak with the soldiers. They pleaded with them to allow them just one half hour to call the lawyers, to see if the court might respond. No delay was allowed. The demolitions were carried out quickly and efficiently. One home took just eight minutes to demolish completely. All that remains is an unrecognizable pile of concrete and twisted iron. Now any decision from the High Court is moot. The bulldozers have made final the decision that these families have no right to safe and secure homes.

REFLECTION: Jerusalem – Unified or Occupied?

May 21, 2007

Today I am in Jerusalem, for a couple of days of rest. It is good to get away briefly from the work in Hebron, but there is no escape from the reality of this conflict, this occupation.

This week, Israel celebrated "Jerusalem Day”, commemorating "40 years of Reunification." There are signs and banners all over the city. It is 40 years next month since the 1967 (Six-Day) War, during which Israel conquered East Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza, the Golan Heights and Sinai Peninsula in a stunning and sweeping victory. Israel has continued to occupy East Jerusalem ever since 1967. Initially, Israel annexed East Jerusalem by simply extending the municipal boundaries for Israeli West Jerusalem. They then declared a united Jerusalem as Israel’s eternal capital. No other country has been willing to recognize this diplomatically. All countries currently maintain their official embassies in Tel Aviv, the internationally recognized capitol of Israel.

The 66,000 Arab residents of the Jerusalem who came under attack and saw the beginnings of the Israeli military occupation cannot look back with nostalgia. In the first night after taking over East Jerusalem, Israeli contractors began tearing out buildings in the Arab neighborhood just adjacent to the Western Wall. By the next day, Israeli Army bulldozers were busy demolishing the homes in the Old City's Mugrabhi Quarter to clear the area near the Western Wall. Residents of these homes were given just minutes to evacuate. At first they refused to leave. But when the bulldozer crashed into the first house, crushing the inhabitants, the others fled immediately. One hundred thirty-five families were left homeless in a matter of hours.

It is hard for me to see how to celebrate this as a 'reunification' I am glad, even grateful, that Jews can now visit the Western Wall - the last remaining part of the Second Temple. It is clearly a place of great religious significance and prayer for many. But the vast plaza that stretches out in front of it still calls out with the voices of the families whose homes were destroyed, whose neighborhood ruined without discussion or delay. I wonder how they feel about these last 40 years of 'reunification.'

In the coming weeks, Israel will continue to celebrate anniversaries of the 1967 War. In many ways, for Israelis, these events equal in importance to the celebrations of independence in 1948. The victory in the Six Day War represents Israel’s overcoming any national feelings of self-doubt or inferiority. For Palestinians, it represents the start of what has become 40 years of foreign military occupation and continual loss of territory. The armistice of the 1948 War established what is known as the Green Line, delineating between the State of Israel and the West Bank. However, since 1967 Israel has continued to seize land to build settlements on the Palestinian side of the armistice line. This is a clear violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention which specifically prohibits an occupying force from settling its own civilian population within occupied territory. The Israeli settlement enclaves within Palestinian territory, and the numerous “Israeli-only” roads that connect them, now present a major obstacle to the establishment of a viable Palestinian state along side Israel. Even now, the Separation Barrier Israel has erected continues to confiscate land deep inside the West Bank, further diminishing what territory is left to Palestinians.

I hope one day that this land heal from the scars and wounds of the conflict and this occupation. It is a terrible thing to see the walls and checkpoints and barbed wire slicing through the land, separating people. I hope one day this land will see a peace worth celebrating. That will be a real victory to commemorate.

A Dog's Life in Tuwani

09-03-07

We got a dog.

A little stray dog has adopted the CPT household, probably because we are the only ones in the village who don’t completely ignore it, or worse. Dogs are not popular in Palestine. For most Muslims, dogs are ‘haram’ – unclean. Some shepherds keep dogs chained outside, or use them near the sheep. But no one keeps dogs as pets. One rarely sees dogs in the street during the day, I think because they are routinely chased off with kicks or stones. It’s not that Palestinians are especially mean, it is just that they see dogs as signs of filth and disease, and in many cases they are probably right. So, it’s a dog’s life for a dog in Palestine.

So this little stray has found her way in a small cave-like hole in the building adjacent to our house. Although we don’t allow the dog in the house, or to hang around us so much that she seems like a pet, we do tolerate her presence more than most others in the village. So she eats a lot of food scraps that we collect in a bucket for the village donkeys. And when we want her to leave, for instance when Palestinians visit our home, all we have to do is toss a stone in her general direction. (We try NOT to hit her with the stone.) She has already learned that this means it’s time to go back in the cave. So far the relationship is working out. She keeps the cats away, and probably a few other creatures we don’t even know about.

09-05-07

I think we don’t have a dog anymore.

This morning there was dog poop in our yard. This is simply not o.k.

It’s not about being unsightly. It’s just not clean. We struggle to keep the outside from pouring in with the wind as it is. We don’t need animals using out doorstep as a bathroom. So we decided we needed to set a harder line with ‘Kelb” , (dog in Arabic). (Incidentally, to call someone a dog is a harsh insult in the Semetic world. Both Jews and Arabs use it as a strong derogatory word.)

This evening our landlord’s eldest son (13 years old) came over and quietly placed stones over the cave the dog had been living in. He said nothing to us about doing this, but it was clear his parents must have directed him to get rid of the dog for the foreigners. (I think they probably assume we are either too stupid or naïve to do this ourselves. They may be right on both counts.)

So now the dog is continuing to try to hang around. Our house is still, relatively, the safest place in town. Importantly, there are no bigger dogs to contend with here. And we throw rocks near, not at, the dog. But, still I think it’s better if kelb finds a new home.

Palestine Update 08-29-07

Eileen has been home on break for the past few weeks, and returns to work with Christian Peacemaker Teams in Palestine Septmeber 1st.