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.
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.
posted by Angela Davis | 8:21 AM
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