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.
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.
posted by Angela Davis | 9:08 AM
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