Maintaining Normal Life

As Israel’s wars in Lebanon and Gaza rage, people in At-Tuwani attempt to maintain “normal” life.

(picture of a man and his son waiting for a donkey to come get their bags that they carried off their tractor. The man and his son were coming back from Yatta on the day that the soldiers placed blocks along the road, trapping his tractor on the other side of the wall from At-Tuwani.)

We asked one of the leaders in the village what the village wants to do in response to the concrete blocks that the army recently placed blocking At-Tuwani’s access to much of the West Bank. The villager replied, “Nothing. There are many things going on in the village right now… Like, people are getting married.”
(picture= groom giving the bride jewelry at a pre-wedding party for the women of the families.)

He went on to say that the village is also a little wary of protesting the wall right now because the Israeli’s army’s response may be very violent. Because all of the media is focused on the north, the army and settlers have a bit more freedom to terrorize Palestinians right now without the world watching. Also, he said, many phone calls and letters to the commander about the blocks will just get lost among the many responses to Israel’s current wars. So… the village is trying to “lay low” and avoid the wrath of Israel at this point in time.

The villager’s reply that “people are getting married” contains so much wisdom. “Normal” life for Palestinians here is resistance. There have been 3 weddings over the past 3 weeks. Each wedding is a weeklong party. Basically, we have been partying for the past 3 weeks- dancing & drinking tea until the wee hours of the night. The last 2 weddings occurred after the army blocked the road to Yatta. Both of these weddings were between men from At-Tuwani and women from Yatta. The brides had to ride in cars over large dirt mounds that the army has placed in the road between Yatta and At-Tuwani. Then the cars from Yatta dropped the brides off by the concrete blocks. They got out in their wedding dresses and squeezed between the blocks. The rest of the wedding parties walked up the hill to At-Tuwani and other cars came to pick up the brides on the At-Tuwani side of the blocks. This lack of freedom of movement is ridiculous. But people find ways to maintain some type of normalcy despite it.
(picture 1= bride and party entering a home in At-Tuwani for the final wedding party, picture 2= a child in At-Tuwani with henna on her head. Many of the women dyed their hair with henna for the weddings. They sleep with henna on under a plastic bag or scarf. In the morning, one's hair is red.)

Last week one of the men of the village was driving on the Israeli bypass road 317, the only way to get to Yatta and much of the West Bank now that At-Tuwani’s road is blocked. The police followed the villager back to At-Tuwani, took his license plate and took the villager to the police station. The police claimed that the license plate was an illegal Israeli tag. However, we have the tag on video tape. It is a Palestinian tag. Also, there is no other way for the man to travel now that the army blocked the road. Another man from the village traveled by foot and public taxi in the midday sun (which is very hot) to the police station to pay bail. When he arrived at the police station, the police said bail was 2000 shekels. The villager refused saying, “That is too much. I’ll pay 1000.” The police agreed to 1000 shekels. This sounds to me like there was no legal process going on? There was no official bail set, no paperwork- only a Palestinian man illegally detained and 1000 shekels handed over to the Israeli police.

So… the village of At-Tuwani and the nearby villages in the South Hebron Hills are cut off from their main market town and from most of the West Bank by a low wall. When the soldiers placed the blocks in the road, they said that Palestinians would now have to go down the settler road (which is very dangerous because of potential attacks by Israeli settlers) and around to a checkpoint before reaching Yatta. An At-Tuwani man was caught using the road, like the soldiers told him to do, and the police unofficially “arrested” him and made him pay 1000 shekels (a little over $200). At-Tuwani is a village of 150 people, no running water, electricity for 4 hours a day by a generator. They are suffering a severe drought and have very limited crops. Along with their livestock, they depend on buying and selling in Yatta.

The low wall and blocks do nothing for security. It makes one wonder if they are only meant to make life so difficult for Palestinian villagers that they eventually leave.

Thursday we were out on Khoruba Hill with a Palestinian shepherd. Israeli settlers got angry and called the army to come tell the shepherd to leave. The army came and we spoke with them for about 45 minutes (long enough to distract them from harassing the shepherd and to give the shepherd time to finish watering his sheep). One CPTer told the soldiers, “But this is Palestinian land.” The soldier said, “Yes, I guess it is… but the problem is that those people (the settlers) are very violent… they do not want the Palestinians here. Today they called us (the army), tomorrow they may call us… but eventually they will take matters into their own hands and be very violent… and the army and police will arrive too late.” Conversations almost identical to this one occur regularly. Soldiers regularly chase (or attempt to chase) Palestinians off Palestinian land. Then the soldiers tell us that they know it is Palestinian land but the settlers are "crazy" or "violent."

There is no law here. Well, on paper there is law. There is Israeli law, military law, international law… but when it comes down to it, Israel does what it likes. It has more weapons and billions of dollars from the U.S. It does not matter if the land is legally Palestinian or Israeli. Israeli settlers decide to steal land from Palestinians and the Israeli army often protects them while they do it. It is illegal under every law and people recognize its illegality, but lawlessness continues...

Woe to those who make unjust laws,
to those who issue oppressive decrees,
to deprive the poor of their rights
and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people,
making widows their prey and robbing the parentless.
What will you do on the day of reckoning,
when disaster comes from afar?
To whom will you run for help?
Where will you leave your riches? (Isaiah 10:1-3)

Israel's "Lack of Resources" Close in At-Tuwani

While we are out of the line of bombs and rockets from Israel, Gaza, and Hizbollah, the dangers of daily life for villagers in At-Tuwani and the surrounding areas remain the same. In some ways they have even increased with these wars.

There are 2 settlement areas very, very close to At-Tuwani. One is called Ma’on and one is called Havat Ma’on. I think all Israeli settlements are illegal under international law as the Fourth Geneva Convention, article 49, paragraph 6, states that The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies. Some settlements are both illegal under international law and illegal under Israeli law.

Havat Ma’on is one such settlement. Israel has issued a demolition order for the illegal settler outpost of Havat Ma’on. It was scheduled for several weeks ago. Then Israel began attacking Gaza so they put off the evacuation of “violent, illegal settlements” for 1 week. More than 1 week passed and Israel said it will evacuate Havat Ma’on and other “violent, illegal settlements” when things in Gaza calm down. Supposedly, as long as Israel is fighting in Gaza and Lebanon, they lack the needed resources to perform and evacuation of this small illegal outpost.

Last week (July 13) I went to Jerusalem for a one-day conference on Israeli Law. As I returned to At-Tuwani I noticed a military jeep and a large flatbed truck placing concrete blocks across the one opening in the road in front of At-Tuwani. (In June 2006, the Israeli military built an eighty cm high "security" wall along the north side of bypass road 317. This construction took place despite the fact that a legal case appealing the military's decision to build the wall is still in court. At-Tuwani was one of the “fortunate” villages- When the military constructed the low “Security” wall that prevents many Palestinians from reaching Yatta, their market town, an At-Tuwani resident parked his truck in the way and the construction crew agreed to leave an opening approximately 5 meters wide in front of At-Tuwani. For almost a month, people have been able to reach Yatta by going through this opening.) This closure cuts off At-Tuwani and the surrounding villages' access to Yatta and the vast majority of the West Bank.

I arrived just in time to see the last block drop. I asked the soldiers why they were doing this. They said, "Because bad people use this road." I pointed out to them that "the wall is only 80cm high, it does not run where there are ditches by the road, and I just squeezed through the blocks. How exactly are these blocks going to keep 'bad' people from using the road?" (Plus, when I asked them, the soldiers knew nothing about any 'bad' people actually using the road. He just said, "I know they are here." ummm... ok.)

By 1pm that afternoon, we received a call saying there were problems at the road. Several Palestinians with their tractors were stuck behind the newly placed blocks. A person can fit through the blocks, but a tractor cannot. Even a donkey loaded with anything cannot fit. We waited at the road for 3 hours.

More and more police and army came and more and more Palestinians arrived from Yatta and were stuck on the other side of the blocks. The soldiers told the Palestinians that they would have to take a 15 km detour and pass through a checkpoint at Zif. Keep in mind that this is 15 km on a tractor and that the Palestinians would have to pass several Israeli settlements on the way. None of the Palestinians were willing to take this risk so eventually they parked their tractors there in the valley (behind the hills so that Israeli settlers could not see the tractors and damage them). Ironically, the war with Hizbollah was used as a reason for all of this military activity by the At-Tuwani road.

While Israel claims it does not have the resources to evacuate Havat Ma’on, they continuously find the resources to attack Gaza and Lebanon and to harrass farmers and shepherds in At-Tuwani.

The main effects on At-Tuwani and the South Hebron Hills of Israel's wars are that the people here are ignored by people other than settlers and military. All of the media is focused on the north (and rightly so), which allows the military to more freely harass Palestinians in the West Bank (in the name of "security") without the rest of the world noticing or caring.

Cycles of Violence

We are safe here in At-Tuwani. Thank you very much for your concern and especially your prayers, but do not worry about us- I am in the South Hebron Hills. I am not near the bombs or rockets. In fact, a few days ago one of the villagers suggested that his house could be used as a place of refuge for some who are fleeing their homes in the north.

We get very limited news while in Tuwani. We get random messages from our neighbors like “Israel bombed the Beirut airport,” “An apartment in Haifa was hit,” and “Israel is bombing the roads and bridges in Lebanon.” Yesterday, in Yatta, I began reading the news online. I read for 10 hours, until 5am. It sickens and saddens and angers me. I am worried for my friends, Palestinian and Israeli, not to mention the entire country of Lebanon.

We are already seeing the effects of this war in the West Bank. Israel has tightened its grip on Palestinians in the name of “security.” I worry about my Israeli friends who are reservists in the army. Military service is not optional here. When an Israeli turns 18, he or she is part of the military for 3 years (sometimes 2 for women). Those (men at least) who finish their service are automatically reservists.

(picture= As they chase a Palestinian shepherd off the shepherd's land, young Israeli soldiers near At-Tuwani explain to CPT and Operation Dove, on tape, that they wish the Israeli settlers would leave because they think the settlers are crazy. They also explain to us that they have to be here if they do not want to go to prison.)

Many Israeli soldiers think what they are being forced to do is wrong. Soldiers near At-Tuwani tell us this often. It is not uncommon for Israeli soldiers to refer to the settlers as “crazy” or to tell us that they do not like what they are doing but they must do it to avoid prison. There are organizations in Israel for soldiers who are speaking out against the military and Israel’s actions in and against Palestine. “Breaking the Silence” is an organization specifically for soldiers in Hebron- it is one of the worst places to have to serve because the soldiers feel they “have” to do such horrible things to people and the settlers are incredibly violent, even against the military. Although the soldiers do have an option out of the military, it is not an easy choice. I have a lot of sympathy for the soldiers. A lot. The average soldier that we encounter is between 18-22 years old and has to be in the army or spend time in prison. All Israelis are required to serve in the military whether they agree with it or not (unless they have special circumstances) They must go to the army at age 18, postponing university and any other plans for their lives. A good Israeli friend of mine told me that the only way he stayed sane and kept from being brainwashed in the army was to begin meditating. He does not ever want to serve in the military again and yet, like most Israeli guys his age, he is a reservist. His 2 younger brothers are still in their mandatory 3 years of service. If he is called out, his parents will have all of their 3 children off at war, a war which no one in their family supports. To think of friends potentially going to war breaks my heart. It keeps me up at night and restless during the day. It is so so sad… much like the U.S., Israel is destroying its own society, as well as other societies, with enormous violence.

This cycle of violence that continues to spiral out of control reminds me of Judges 19-21. In Judges 19 a Levite and his unnamed concubine stay at a house in Gibeah while traveling on their way home. In the middle of the night, “wicked men” come to the house and demand to have sex with the Levite man (22). The owner of the home is too hospitable to allow the male Levite to be harmed by these wicked men. So, the owner of the home suggests that rather than harm the man, the wicked men take his “virgin daughter and his concubine…and… use them and do whatever [they] wish to them” (23-24). “So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go” (25). The Levite, who allowed this to happen to his concubine in the first place, is so angry at what the wicked men have done that he takes the dead body of his concubine home, chops her into 12 pieces and sends her throughout Israel demanding that everyone, “Consider, take counsel and speak out” (30).

The Israelites respond to this hideous crime by gathering “four hundred thousand soldiers armed with swords” (20:2). Together, all of the men decide to take revenge on Gibeah for the crime of these wicked men against the concubine (or, maybe they consider it a crime against the male Levite? A destruction of the Levite’s property, his concubine?) The men say they will “give [Gibeah in Benjamin] what they deserve for all this vileness done in Israel” (10). In the course of the battles, tens of thousands of Israelites and Benjamites die. After Israel finally defeats Benjamin, “Israel went back to the towns of Benjamin and put all the towns to the sword, including the animals and everything else that they found” (48). Over 65,000 “valiant fighters” (46) dies, but also all of the civilians of Benjamin are put to the sword for no apparent reasons? Only 600 Benjamite warriors escape.

The generous Israelite men decide that the 600 Benjamites who escaped need wives, but “the men of Israel had taken an oath at Mizpah: ‘Not one of us will give his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite” (21:1). The men decide that it is a good idea for the 600 Benjamites to have wives from Jabesh Gilead, since that tribe failed to gather at Mizpah when they made the oath. “So the assembly sent 12,000 fighting men with instructions to go to Jabesh Gilead and put to the sword those living there, including women and children” (21:10). They killed every “male and every woman who [was] not a virgin” (11). But, there was a problem- the 12,000 “fighting men” only found 400 women who “had never slept with a man” (12). The assembly sent the 400 women as an offer of peace to the 600 Benjamites, but “there were not enough for all of them” (14). However, the men of Israel come up with another plan- Knowing that the annual festival of the LORD at Shiloh is approaching, “they instructed the Benjamites, saying, ‘Go and hide in the vineyards and watch. When the girls of Shiloh come out to join in the dancing, then rush from the vineyards and each of you seize a wife from the girls of Shiloh and go to the land of Banjamin” (20-21).

“So that is what the Benjamites did” (23). They accept 400 virgins from Jabesh Gilead, after the other members of the virgins’ families were slaughtered, and they seized 200 young dancing girls from a festival in Shiloh. This was all a result of "wicked men" from Gibeah raping and torturing the unnamed concubine in Chapter 19. Men went to war, killing tens of thousands of soldiers, wiping out entire villages, and torturing more and more innocent people, namely women.

Like the suffering in Judges, the innocent still suffer today because of the actions of “wicked men” and poor decisions and actions by assemblies of the powerful with their own interests in mind. Lebanese, Israeli, Palestinian, Iraqi and U.S. civilians, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, young soldiers, orphans and widows all suffer because they are considered “collateral damage,” when wartime decisions are being made.. For the Israelites and Benjamites, for Israelis and Hizbollah, Palestinians and Israelis, the U.S. and Iraq, Sunnis and Shi’as, violence begets violence. It spirals out of control and does not bring peace.

Streams of tears flow from my eyes

because my people are destroyed.
My eyes will flow unceasingly,

without relief, until the LORD looks

down from heaven and sees.
What I see brings grief to my soul
Because of all the women of my city
. .(Lam 3:48-51).

(picture that a child in Iraq drew last summer. It is a picture of a US tank shooting a baby while a mother watches helplessly. Above the tank are two soldiers shooting another child. I am not sure what the other people in the picture are doing. This is the violence that this child witnesses.)

At-Tuwani Update June 28 - July 7

DAILY ROUTINE
Each day the team accompanied local shepherds as they grazed and wateredtheir flocks in the early morning. Water cisterns throughout the region aredry, except the cisterns nearest to Israeli settlements and military bases.In addition to members of Operation Dove ( called Doves), CPT's partnerorganization in At-Tuwani, CPT members during this period were Angela Davis,Rich Meyer, Heidi Schramm, and Diana Zimmerman.

Wednesday 28 June
Davis and Zimmerman accompanied the shepherds to Bier Jabareen, just belowthe Israeli outpost settlement of Avigail. An Israeli soldier at thesettlement watched. About halfway through the watering process, two settlerboys with a flock of goats approached the cistern but stayed above it,closer to the settlement.

A Palestinian shepherd told the team that recently the High Court inJerusalem ruled that Israeli soldiers must make sure that Palestinians aresafe on their land. (For details of this ruling of 26 June, seewww.acri.org.il.)

Thursday 29 June
Zimmerman and a Dove accompanied Palestinian shepherds to Bier Jabareen. Two settler boys and their goats came near to the cistern but did not interferewith the watering. As the Palestinians headed home, Israeli soldiersapproached the Palestinian shepherds. The soldiers claimed that in thefuture the Palestinians needed a permit to water their flocks at thecistern. The soldiers left after ten minutes.

At 3:45 p.m., a Palestinian from At-Tuwani called and said that settlerswere by his house. By the time Davis, Zimmerman and a Dove arrived, thesettlers were gone. The Palestinian reported that two settlers came fromTel Abu Jundiya (Hill 833) to within about fifty meters of his house andthen returned to the trees. He said that in the morning the same thing hadhappened around 9:00 a.m..

At 5:00 p.m. a Dove saw groups of settlers in several locations in andaround Tel Abu Jundiya (Hill 833). An Israeli friend of the team said thata settler organization had conducted a solidarity tour of the outpost.

Friday 30 June
At 9:15 a.m. Davis and two Doves filmed a settler polluting acistern--between Khoruba and Humra, below Hill 833--by bathing in it.

In the early afternoon, a delegation from Rabbis from Human Rights andTa'ayush came to the nearby village of Qawawis to replace hay bales burnedby settlers. Israeli military and police observed the gathering but did notinterfere.Saturday

1 July 2006
At 7:45 a.m. a Palestinian from At-Tuwani called to say settlers were nearhis house. By the time CPTers and Doves arrived, the settlers had left.The family said two settlers had come close to the home.

At 5:30 p.m. internationals and Palestinians observed settlers walkingaround Hill 833 outpost but the settlers did not approach the village.Sunday

2 July 2006
Davis and two Doves accompanied Palestinian shepherds to Bier Jabareen. AnIsraeli soldier watched from the outpost. At 9:25 a.m., two soldiers camefrom the outpost and spoke with the first soldier. The soldiers then cameto the cistern and spoke in Hebrew with the Palestinian men that werewatering the sheep at that moment. The Palestinian shepherds said thatthe soldiers claimed that the land and the cistern were off-limits toPalestinians. The Palestinians disagreed.

The soldiers made some phone calls then spoke with Palestinians again beforeleaving. The shepherds reported that after checking, soldiers said that thePalestinian shepherds are allowed to water their sheep there but only oneflock at a time may be at the cistern.

Monday3 July 2006
Meyer and a Dove went to Bier Jabareen with Palestinian shepherds to watertheir sheep and goats. After about half the flocks received water, threesoldiers walked down from Avigail and ordered all the shepherds to leave.The Dove talked to the soldiers while Meyer called Israeli advocates, thenMeyer and the Dove waited with the shepherds a hundred meters east of thecistern. An hour later one Israeli soldier returned and said the shepherdscould water their flocks at the cistern, only they should approach frombeside or below, and not cross the ridge to the east any higher than thecistern. By this time the flocks had dispersed, and none returned to thecistern.

Tuesday 4 July 2006
Davis, Meyer and a Dove went to Bier Jabareen in the morning. A settlementsecurity officer and one soldier watched. Once when a herd of sheep waitingtheir turn at the cistern grazed above the cistern, the soldier went to talkto the shepherd. All the flocks received water without further incident.

Around 5:00 p.m. three settlers attacked a Palestinian shepherd from MagaerAl-Abeed, his son and their sheep. The three settlers drove up in a truckthen attacked them with rocks hurled from slingshots. The settlers broketwo sheep's legs and hit the nine-year-old Palestinian boy in his left leg.Meyer called the Israeli police. After thirty minutes, a police jeep withtwo officers arrived in At-Tuwani. When Meyer told the police that thevictims of the attack were in Magaer Al Abeed, not At-Tuwani, the policesaid they are afraid to drive to Magaer Al Abeed. One police officer saidthat the Havot Ma'on settlers are supposed to be evacuated and he "will beglad when they are gone." He said, "We are only two police. We need awhole army to go in there. The settlers will break our windows." They saidthat the victims of the attack needed to come to At-Tuwani to make thereport. Later, the team learned that the police told the victim of theattack the same thing--that they are afraid of the settlers. The victim ofthe attack asked the police, "If you are afraid of the settlers, how do youthink I feel?"

Wednesday 5 July, 2006
Twelve flocks came for water at Bier Jabareen. The settlement soldierwatched from a distance, but no incidents occurred.

At 9:35 a.m. the team received a report that a settler set fire to aPalestinian home near Susiya. Meyer and a Dove went to Susiya. Theyarrived as a police jeep left, and found that the tarp roof had been burnedoff of a stone house. The team learned that the police had arrested theIsraeli settler suspected of lighting the fire.

At 12:20 p.m. two Israeli soldiers delivered an order for a closed militaryzone. The area affected is twenty-four dunams (six acres) at the junction ofthe road from Yatta and route 317. One soldier said the military needed touse some land for forty-five days because they have a "big operation."

Friday 7 July 2006
At 4:45 p.m., Zimmerman, Schramm and a Dove saw Israeli soldiers stoppingPalestinian tractors and vehicles coming from Yatta. These includedvehicles coming to At-Tuwani for a wedding ceremony. The soldiers weredemanding that some drivers take the license plates off their cars.Zimmerman approached the soldiers to ask them to allow the wedding party topass, and a few minutes later the wedding party drove into At-Tuwani,including a few vehicles without license plates. The Israeli soldiers laterallowed the wedding party to return to Yatta without hindrance.

"If I can't dance...

... I don't want to be in your revolution." (Emma Goldman)

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I fell in love with At-Tuwani Wednesday night. There was a wedding party, one of like 5 or 6 before the actual wedding. At these parties, the men and women split and do separate things. The women had fun drinking tea and dancing. The men sat around, smoked and watched television.

As the women gathered, I looked around the room at all of those beautiful, beautiful mothers and daughters as they shed their hijabs (head coverings) and I thought, "yes... i could love this place..." I realized that this was my first time to be with only women since I arrived in Palestine. Life is different in a room full of only women. I like it. There is more freedom- more room to dance.

ana min amerca

Since I began working with CPT, the same question has nagged me- By walking with people through injustice do we succeed in undoing oppression or in maintaining systems of oppression?

In Hebron we walk with children through checkpoints each day. An international presence often, though not always, prevents soldiers from detaining students for too too long.

CPT and other international groups regularly accompany farmers in their fields in order to prevent settler violence against the Palestinians and to prevent the military from chasing Palestinians off their farmland. This works- if one’s goal is simply to use the land for that one day. Or in Hebron, to go to school that one day.

It puts a bandaid on the situation. But what about long-term? Israeli settlers still have the power to abuse Palestinians. The Israeli government still receives billions of dollars from the U.S., much of which it uses for military operations against Palestinians. Israel still practices land confiscation and home demolitions. Gaza is still one large prison in which children and adults fight and die. Palestinians are still prevented from reaching their jobs, families, and land. The system does not change just because we walk one child through a checkpoint or sit in a field with one farmer. If anything, I wonder if an unjust system is strengthened by the fact that we as internationals use our unearned privilege to put bandaids on unjust situations.

While sitting in the field with Mahmoud (not his real name), he told us “The soldiers beat my sheep when you don’t come with me.” A few weeks ago teammates said that Mahmoud was so frustrated with this that he wanted CPTers and Operation Dove to hide behind a tree in the settler outpost and wait for the soldiers to come beat his sheep and catch the soldiers on video tape. He says that every time he is alone, the soldiers beat his sheep. For several days we sat with Mahmoud while his sheep grazed. Everyday settlers came out of their house and everyday the military came and told Mahmoud that he had to leave (but they did not beat his sheep). The military was wrong. Mahmoud did not have to leave. The land belongs to a family in a nearby village. Eventually, the soldiers chased Mahmoud away from that land. The day that they finally made him leave, they let us (the internationals) stay on the land (we were debating the law with the soldiers so it took a second for us to realize the absurdity of what was happening). The land definitely does not belong to me. Why was I allowed to remain while Mahmoud had to leave?

Another villager told us “The soldiers are just waiting until the minute you leave… then…” & he just shook his head...

A child in the village once told a soldier who was detaining his father, “be nice or my father will call the internationals.” What does this dynamic teach children?! They see their fathers detained by Israeli soldiers and beat by Israeli settlers. They know that Israelis can use certain roads and go certain places that Palestinians are forbidden. They know that the settlement next door to them has electricity and water while they do not. They know Israeli children can go to school without being beaten. Then they see these random internationals walk into their village with the power to alter certain situations. For some reason, Israeli soldiers can beat Palestinians on public streets but they cannot beat them in front of me? Who am I that soldiers think twice about what they do in front of me and my video camera? Why are they not held to the same accountability in front of Palestinians? Frequently when soldiers are detaining Palestinians they let the Palestinians go when internationals simply come into view. We have some power, but why? Where does it come from? Skin color? Passport?

By relying on these unearned and unjust privileges to put temporary “bandaids” on immediate physical problems, do we encourage a system that privileges citizens of certain countries? I cannot find a way to answer “no” to this question. I think our presence reinforces our privilege and in that way disempowers Palestinians.

Yet, Palestinians in the South Hebron Hills invited us here and want us to stay. Many say that our presence empowers them to go where they may not go otherwise, etc. i.e. our privilege allows them access to what would otherwise be Jewish-only… so what do we do?

In our last meeting, another CPTer raised a similar question to the one with which I have been struggling- Are we reinforcing systems of oppression by exploiting our privilege? We came up with no real answers except that CPT’s work on the ground here in Palestine is part of a larger movement. Being in Palestine is often just putting a bandaid on the immediate abuse. We write about the situation and work with other groups who take a more active role in changing policies and systems.

I do not know how to live in right relationship with my neighbors here and around the world. How do we live justly with Palestinian sisters and brothers? Is it by staying in the U.S. and working to change the U.S.’s unjust policies toward Palestine? Or is there some better way to live and work with Palestinians here in Palestine? A way that does not use or depend upon privilege? Is there a such thing as solidarity?

Our work is based on a belief that the nonviolent ways of Jesus actually work- that nonviolence is more powerful than violence, that good overcomes evil, love hate, and peace war. But when everything is entangled with different systems of privilege, I find it hard to know if it is the power of nonviolence or the power of passport that is at work in different situations here.

Stop Attacks in Gaza

As many of you have seen in the news, there is a huge humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Israel is targeting civilians and civilan infrastructure. "The EU condemns the loss of lives caused by disproportionate use of force by the Israeli Defence Forces and the humanitarian crisis it has aggravated," said Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen. Israeli Prime Minister Olmert told his cabinet, "I take personal responsibility for what is happening in Gaza. I want no one in Gaza to sleep at night. I want them to know what it feels like." What exactly does Olmert want people in Gaza to know??? “Sonic booms shatter the night skies, making sleep all but impossible. Waking in the morning, mothers cannot prepare breakfasts, nor children shower and wash - there is so little water. Leaving home, children find the streets and alleys en route to schools strewn with sewage. Delivery of water and maintenance of sewage disposal is dependent upon electricity – a sporadic commodity these days," says the UN Relief and Work Agency.

This action alert was sent out on June 30 by the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation. I really suggest taking some action to try to stop the targeting of civilians by Israel. This alert offers 4 suggestions.

ACTION ALERT: Stop Israel’s Attacks on Gaza June 30th, 2006

BACKGROUND: Israel is using weapons supplied by the United States to target Palestinian civilians and civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip in violation of the US Arms Export Control Act and the Geneva Conventions.

* On June 9th, Israel shelled a beach in Beit Lahiya killing 8 civilians and injuring 32. At the site of the killing, Human Rights Watch found evidence of a 155mm artillery shell consistent with those fired from an Israeli M-109 Self-Propelled Artillery. Between 2000-2005, the United States licensed to Israel $69,163 worth of M-109 spare parts and 155mm artillery shells.*

* On June 13th, Israeli aircraft fired missiles at a van in an extrajudicial assassination of two Palestinians in Gaza City. A second barrage of missiles fired shortly afterward killed nine Palestinian bystanders.

* On June 20th, Israeli aircraft fired at least one missile at a car in an extrajudicial assassination attempt on a road between Jabalya and Gaza City. The missile missed its intended target and killed three Palestinian children and wounded 15.

* On June 27th, Israel launched a massive invasion of the Gaza Strip. Israeli aircraft fired missiles targeting civilian infrastructure. In illegal acts of collective punishment, Israel demolished three key bridges, the Gaza Strip’s only electricity generation plant, and part of a university, thereby endangering Palestinian human rights to food, water, health, electricity, education, and freedom of movement. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert admitted that the purpose of these measures is to “apply pressure” to the civilian population of the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli air force fighter squadrons are composed of Lockheed Martin F-16I Fighting Falcons and Boeing F-15Is, which fire US-manufactured AMRAAM, Sidewinder, and Sparrow missiles. Between 2005-2005, the United States licensed to Israel at least $1.062 billion of spare parts, engines, and missiles for its F-15 and F-16 fighter planes.*

Israel’s month of killing civilians and destroying civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip is a clear reminder that Israel remains the occupying power of the Gaza Strip despite last year’s “unilateral disengagement”. Living under military occupation, the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip are “protected persons” under the terms of the Geneva Conventions. Israel’s targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip is a violation of the Geneva Conventions and constitutes war crimes.

In addition, by using US-supplied weapons to commit these atrocities, Israel is violating the terms of the US Arms Export Control Act and Foreign Assistance Act. The Arms Export Control Act restricts the use of US weapons to legitimate self-defense and internal policing; US weapons cannot be used to attack civilians in offensive operations. The Foreign Assistance Act prohibits US aid of any kind to a country with a pattern of gross human rights violations.

TAKE ACTION: Hold Israel to account for its killing of civilians and destruction of civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.

1. This extended holiday weekend, organize a protest or vigil in your community. Distribute flyers at your community’s July 4th celebration to educate people that Palestinians are not free to enjoy independence and self-determination because of US support for Israel’s denial of human rights to Palestinians. Post your event on our on-line calendar at: http://www.endtheoccupation.org/calendar_input.php

2. Contact the White House, State Department, and your Members of Congress to demand that Israel is held accountable for its violations of the US Arms Export Control Act and Foreign Assistance Act and urge that military aid to Israel be cut off as required by law. Click here to send an email: http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/uscampaign/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=4460

3. Write a letter to the editor or op-ed for your local newspaper and call your local talk radio stations to protest Israel’s atrocities in the Gaza Strip and highlight US support for these actions. For contact information for your local media, click here: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/media/

4. Make a donation to support humanitarian efforts to reprovision the Gaza Strip with much-needed medical supplies for Palestinian children. The Middle East Children’s Alliance, a member organization of the US Campaign, is accepting tax-deductible donations to send medical supplies. Click here to donate: http://www.mecaforpeace.org/GazaMeds.html

* Statistics for US weapons licensed to Israel are compiled from the State Department’s annual report to Congress pursuant to Sec. 655 of the Foreign Assistance Act. For more information, click here: http://pmddtc.state.gov/

About At-Tuwani...

I think I already mentioned this… Tuwani is a gorgeous village. (More pictures from At-Tuwani are at http://www.flickr.com/photos/angelapalestine/ in the "Tuwani" set.) At-Tuwani is a Palestinian village of a little more than 150 people in the South Hebron Hills. Many Palestinian families have been dwelling in caves in the South Hebron Hills for hundreds of years. There are 4 or 5 main families here. Almost everyone is related to everyone else and everyone knows everyone. While Hebron is more inner-city and a pretty rough place, At-Tuwani is very rural and friendly. There is no crime within the village (of which I’m aware). Our door is wide open, even at night & most of us sleep outside. I sleep on our neighbor’s roof, under the stars and wake to the sunrise each morning. Every morning I open my eyes, sit up, & think, “God, this is amazing...” &... then I crawl back under my blanket, cover my eyes & go back to sleep for another hour or so :) I think living like this is good for the soul. In many ways, Tuwani is a little paradise.

But then there is occupation. Most mornings we go out around 7am and sit in the hills with shepherds until 11 or 12 while their sheep graze. Every day that I have been here we've encountered Israeli settlers, police, soldiers or all three. These encounters are not pleasant. Occupation is not nice.

People in At-Tuwani and surrounding Palestinian villages suffer a lot of abuse at the hands of Israeli settlers, soldiers, and police. The first Israeli settlers came to At-Tuwani in the 1980s. Settlers began attacking Palestinian shepherds with clubs in 1984. More recently, settlers have filled an At-Tuwani water cistern with dead chickens, contaminating all of the water and making it undrinkable (April 2004). Settlers also put rat poison in the fields, poisoning At-Tuwani sheep and goats (Spring 2005). They have also poisoned drinking water, stolen livestock, and beat and harassed people. The history of abuse by settlers and soldiers to Palestinians in At-Tuwani alone is ridiculously long, not to mention the abuse all over Palestine. Every family in At-Tuwani has suffered direct abuse. (Lots of details in CPT-Tuwani's media packet at http://www.cpt.org/hebron/documents/Tuwani_media_packet.doc)

CPT joined Operation Dove, an Italian organization, and began a permanent presence in At-Tuwani last spring. Before then CPT had a temporary presence beginning in September 2004. Both CPT and Operation Dove try to keep at least 2 members in At-Tuwani at all times. We share a 1-room house and work together as 1 team. During the school year, CPTers and Operation Dove used to walk with children from the nearby village Tuba to the school in At-Tuwani. The Tuba children have to walk past the settlement of Ma’on and the illegal settler outpost of Havat Ma’on.

On September 29, 2004 5 masked settlers came out of the illegal Havat Ma’on settler outpost to attack during the walk to school. The settlers beat two CPTers with chains. They broke one woman’s arm and leg and punctured a man’s lung. The settlers also stole the woman’s money, passport, and cell phone. Then on October 9, 8 masked Israeli settlers attacked CPTers, Operation Dove, a villager from At-Tuwani, 2 people from Tuba, and 2 members of British Amnesty International with sticks and slingshots. In Febreuary 2005, CPTers and Operation Dove were attacked by settlers as they walked with a shepherd grazing his sheep. This time several volunteers obtained bruises. One member of Operation Dove was severely beaten. He sustained a broken jaw, permanent eye damage, and memory loss. After the October 2004 attack, the army and police decided that internationals could no longer accompany the Tuba school children. The military recognizes that the Israeli settlers are extremely violent and pose a significant threat to children going to school and decide that that all accompanipent would be done by the military and police.

Sometimes the police escort works well for the children- there was once a group of soldiers that the children called "the good soldiers." & sometimes there are problems with the police escort. Sometimes it does not show up, sometimes it is very late, and sometimes Israeli settlers attack the Israeli police and soldiers. One time when settlers attacked the police escort, the Tuba school children jumped in the Hummer to hide. The military and the school children sat in the hummer while settlers attacked the vehicle. Supposedly one of the children asked a soldier, “Are you afraid of the settlers too?” The military escort protects the children at times, but often the military and police are powerless in the face of Israeli settlers. At other times, the military looks on while settlers abuse the children. And, sometimes the soldiers are the ones abusing the children. Sometimes the escort drives so fast that the children cannot keep up even while running. Once a settler woman tried to take a small Palestinian child- the military watched and did nothing. Other children had to grab the child to keep her from taking him.

Other than direct violence by settlers, soldiers, and police, the villages in the south Hebron hills are currently enduring a severe drought and protesting a low “security” wall that hinders normal trade and travel.

The low wall is 80 cm high and runs along Route 317, the highway that separates At-Tuwani and neighboring villages from Yatta, their main market town. Before the low wall, villagers could walk across the highway and bring their flocks and products to Yatta to sell. Some people work in Yatta and some go to school there. Others need to drive cars and tractors to Yatta. The wall is low enough for a healthy person to climb, but livestock and vehicles cannot pass the wall. There is an opening in front of At-Tuwani. So as of now Tuwani villagers can still go on the road to Yatta. But people from several nearby villagers must walk down Route 317, passing Jewish settlements, in order to find an opening in the low wall. This is very dangerous for Palestinians. The risk of Israeli settler violence against them is high. Plus, I'm not sure how an 80 cm wall helps security? The only purpose it seems to serve is to restrict and inconvenience Palestinians in hopes that life will become so hard for Palestinians that one by one Palestinian families will leave the area.

Lack of water is a HUGE issue here. While the Israeli settlements have running water, the Palestinian villages have almost-dry wells. When a village is very low on water, they take their sheep and goats to nearby wells to water the flocks. Two cisterns that still have water happen to be very close to Israeli settlements (but still on Palestinian land). Lately we have been going with shepherds from a village called Mfakara to a large well near the illegal settlement of Avi Gail. The first day that the Palestinian shepherds tried to use this well, soldiers chased them off. The next day we went with the shepherds. For several days, soldiers would appear and tell the Palestinians that they could not be at the well. But the soldiers have not actually made anyone leave the well since we have been going. Finally one soldier came to correct the other soldiers. He said that actually the Palestinians can use this well. The settlement of Avi Gail is illegal even under Israeli law. The well is not in the settlement and is on Palestinian land. There is no reason why the well would belong to an illegal Israeli settlement. Some settlers in Israel have swimming pools, bath tubs, and access to the sea. Our neigbor in Tuwani puts her 1 year old in a bucket with an inch of "gray" (re-used) water so he can "swim." I'm not sure that there is a total lack of water. I think perhaps there is enough water (despite the drought)- the water just needs to be shared more equally. There are regular demonstrations around villages in the South Hebron Hills in attempts to get water.

CPT At-Tuwani Update June 16-27

This is an update that CPT-Tuwani sent out to our Palestine list serve. It's a shortened version of our daily log-

Daily routine:
Each day the team accompanied local shepherds in nearby areas; because of the warmer weather, the shepherds tended to go out in the early morning and then again in the late afternoon. In addition to Operation Dove (Doves), CPT’s partner organization in At-Tuwani, CPT team members during this period were Angela Davis, Diane Janzen, Heidi Schramm and Diana Zimmerman.

Friday 16 June
Davis, Schramm and a Dove accompanied shepherds in Khoruba valley. After an hour of grazing, soldiers arrived and threatened to make the area a closed military zone if the sheep grazed on a hill close to an area claimed by settlers. The shepherd continued to graze his sheep and the soldiers observed.
In the evening, the team helped water and tend the olive tree in the garden that the village dedicated to Tom Fox.

Saturday 17 June
In the morning while accompanying shepherds in Khoruba, Schramm and two Doves noticed people running from the village of Tuba. They called a friend who lives in Tuba who said that settlers had just come into the village and stolen the family donkey. Schramm and a Dove walked to Tuba and remained with the family until the police arrived, after more than ten phone calls, to investigate the crime. The police refused to go into the outpost to look for the stolen donkey.
Soldiers again approached the shepherds grazing in Khoruba and told them they could not graze their sheep in the area. The team saw the soldiers speaking with some settlers and settler security before approaching the flocks. The areas that these soldiers said were closed, were areas that soldiers of the previous day said were open for Palestinian use. When questioned about his orders, one of the soldiers said, nodding his head toward the settlers observing from a hill, “I know they are a little crazy, but they don’t want you here, so you must leave. After all they are still Israelis.” The shepherds decided to leave rather than risk arrest.
In the afternoon, the army and border police set up a checkpoint along 317 outside At-Tuwani. Soldiers and border police officers assaulted one of the men from the village. The man told the team that he was assaulted when did not approach the correct soldier. He said the soldiers and border police said different things to him, and then hit him when he obeyed one over another.

Sunday 18 June
An Israeli settler vehicle drove through the village but did not stop.

Monday 19 June
While on Khoruba hill accompanying shepherds, Israeli police officers approached Schramm and a Dove and demanded to see their passports. One of the police officers told the two that when they are present with the Palestinians it makes it impossible for him to do his job.

Thursday 22 June
Schramm and Davis observed a temporary Israeli checkpoint along route 317. The soldiers operated the checkpoint for about 90 minutes before leaving. They allowed the Palestinians to pass after cursory checks of cars and ID’s.
Davis and a Dove along with a Palestinian friend visited a family in Karmil, a nearby town. One child from the family was killed and three were injured last year when they found unexploded ordinance near the village of Jinba. The father requested that in the future members from CPT accompany him to the site of the explosion to see if any pieces remain. The family believes it was an Israeli bomb but needs evidence for proof. The father said that he is not ready to return yet.

Friday 23 June
A friend of the team reported that two days earlier settlers prevented shepherds from watering their sheep near the Palestinian village of Susiya.
In the evening soldiers set up a checkpoint along route 317 outside At-Tuwani. Soldiers allowed most cars to pass with minimal searching. Soldiers stopped one Palestinian car for about 40 minutes because one of the men in the car did not have his ID. Eventually the soldiers allowed the car to pass.

Saturday 24 June
Davis and two Doves attended a demonstration in the village of Imneizil. The people of Imneizil do not have an opening in the low “security” wall that runs along route 317. Without an opening in the wall, it is very difficult for them to travel north to Yatta and the rest of the West Bank. During the demonstration an officer from the District Coordinating Office (DCO) in Hebron (the civilian affairs branch of the Israeli military) verbally promised that an opening will be made in the wall.
In the afternoon the Israeli army again placed a temporary checkpoint along route 317 outside At-Tuwani. Zimmerman and two Doves observed the checkpoint for an hour until the soldiers left.

Sunday 25 June
A Reuters television crew interviewed Schramm about CPT’s work in At-Tuwani and the effects of having the settlement of Ma’on and outpost of Havot Ma’on so close to the village.

Monday 26 June
Two Doves accompanied shepherds from the village of Mufakara as they watered their sheep. On Sunday three soldiers prevented one of the women from watering her sheep from Beir Jabareen, a large cistern near the Israeli settler outpost of Avi Gail. The people of Mufakara are taking their sheep to this cistern because the water level in Mufakara cisterns is critically low and used only for human consumption.
The morning grazing and watering occurred without incident, but on the journey back to Mufakara two settlers approached the shepherds and told them the land was forbidden to them. The shepherds continued home. Twenty minutes later a police vehicle, with the two settlers inside, approached the group and told them they were leaving a forbidden area. The police stated that an officer from the DCO would come to Mufakara to tell them the same thing. The DCO officer never came.
In the afternoon, Zimmerman and a Dove accompanied the same shepherds from the morning. The shepherds grazed their sheep in the previously declared forbidden area without incident
The team learned that settlers set thirteen large bales of animal feed on fire the night before near the village of Qawawis.

Tuesday 27 June
Zimmerman and two Doves accompanied the shepherds from Mufakara back to the Beir Jabareen cistern to water their sheep. A settler boy with some goats herded his flock near the well and a soldier from the outpost of Avi Gail observed the activity; no one approached the group or halted the process.