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.
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.
posted by Angela Davis | 3:56 AM
1 Comments:
I think Luke 2:19 might give you a valid perspective.
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