Village Stories
We had several tour groups come through At-Tuwani this past week. When groups come, we take them around the village, telling them stories of the village as we point out the places where the stories took place. Usually, several people from At-Tuwani share their personal stories with the tours. I thought I would repeat some of the stories of 3 of the families’ stories…
(I know this is really long- the 3 stories are separated with dashed lines. I will post pictures soon but the connection is way too slow to do that right now.)
I'll start with Yousef*, a close friend of the team’s and our translator. One of the things that Yousef tells every group is that his story is not completely unique. “Every family has stories like this,” he says. Every family in At-Tuwani (and I would assume surrounding villages and maybe even all of Palestine?) has stories of direct abuse by Israeli settlers and soldiers. I will write a few of Yousef’s family’s stories here, but these stories are only a few of many.
Members of Yousef’s family were first attacked in 1986, around the time that most of their land was violently stolen by Israeli settlers. When Yousef shares “his story” with visitors, he usually begins by saying, “I want to tell you about my mother.”
Yousef’s mother is a strong, strong 75+ years old woman. In April 2004, while Yousef was in a meeting with a group of Israeli peace activists, he heard screaming and someone came to tell him that 8 settlers were by his mother. In this area, Israeli settlers equal violence.
Yousef ran up the hill where his mother was grazing their sheep. Eight settlers had pulled off his mother’s hair covering and were beating her with her shepherd’s staff. Blood was running from her mouth. The settlers were trying to steal her sheep. When Yousef ran towards his mother, one settler with a gun began shooting at his feet. He continued running as the settlers began beating his mother on the ground with rocks. His mother continued to struggle to get her sheep. The Israeli peace activists caught the incident on tape and brought it to the police.
Yousef’s family filed a report, but the Israeli police did nothing about the settlers beating a 75 year woman grazing her sheep.
Three weeks after his mother’s beating, Israeli soldiers came to At-Tuwani and demolished his two brothers’ homes. And in June 2004 Israeli settlers filled the family’s water cistern with dead chickens.
Israeli soldiers raided homes and terrorized village children for more than a solid month in the summer of 2004. Eventually Tay’ush, an Israeli peace organization, began sleeping in the village. They caught the soldiers’ abuse on tape and it made the Israeli news, which caused the violence to decrease. Soon after, CPT and Operation Dove began a permanent presence in At-Tuwani.
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Recently, each morning we have been going out before 7 am with Adam*, a 31 year old shepherd from At-Tuwani. We go out and sit in his family’s hills while he grazes and waters his sheep.
Adam’s family lives in a house slightly outside of At-Tuwani, very, very close to the illegal Israeli settler outpost of Havat Ma’on. Like the Yousef’s family, Adam’s family began experiencing repeated settler attacks and having their sheep stolen in 1986.
These stories are straight from the notes of another CPTer, Art Gish. Like the stories of all the families in the village, there are too many to write here. I deleted some pieces. Adam’s family has seen their children, wives, husbands, parents, and friends beaten, shot and humiliated time after time. They have sought justice only to find that it is not available to them here.
In November 1999, Adam’s family went to plow their fields. They met thirty settlers and three soldiers at their field. Adam and his cousin went to the soldiers and asked why the settlers were on his land. The settlers then attacked. They threw rocks at them and the tractor, and came and beat them. Adam was hit on the head and was unconscious for ten minutes. They were injured and bleeding. The soldiers watched and did nothing. The soldiers even shot at the family as they walked over the hill. They had to wait for one and a half hours for the soldiers to get an ambulance to take them to the hospital in Beer Sheva.
I'll start with Yousef*, a close friend of the team’s and our translator. One of the things that Yousef tells every group is that his story is not completely unique. “Every family has stories like this,” he says. Every family in At-Tuwani (and I would assume surrounding villages and maybe even all of Palestine?) has stories of direct abuse by Israeli settlers and soldiers. I will write a few of Yousef’s family’s stories here, but these stories are only a few of many.
Members of Yousef’s family were first attacked in 1986, around the time that most of their land was violently stolen by Israeli settlers. When Yousef shares “his story” with visitors, he usually begins by saying, “I want to tell you about my mother.”
Yousef’s mother is a strong, strong 75+ years old woman. In April 2004, while Yousef was in a meeting with a group of Israeli peace activists, he heard screaming and someone came to tell him that 8 settlers were by his mother. In this area, Israeli settlers equal violence.
Yousef ran up the hill where his mother was grazing their sheep. Eight settlers had pulled off his mother’s hair covering and were beating her with her shepherd’s staff. Blood was running from her mouth. The settlers were trying to steal her sheep. When Yousef ran towards his mother, one settler with a gun began shooting at his feet. He continued running as the settlers began beating his mother on the ground with rocks. His mother continued to struggle to get her sheep. The Israeli peace activists caught the incident on tape and brought it to the police.
Yousef’s family filed a report, but the Israeli police did nothing about the settlers beating a 75 year woman grazing her sheep.
Three weeks after his mother’s beating, Israeli soldiers came to At-Tuwani and demolished his two brothers’ homes. And in June 2004 Israeli settlers filled the family’s water cistern with dead chickens.
Israeli soldiers raided homes and terrorized village children for more than a solid month in the summer of 2004. Eventually Tay’ush, an Israeli peace organization, began sleeping in the village. They caught the soldiers’ abuse on tape and it made the Israeli news, which caused the violence to decrease. Soon after, CPT and Operation Dove began a permanent presence in At-Tuwani.
--------------------------------------------------------
Recently, each morning we have been going out before 7 am with Adam*, a 31 year old shepherd from At-Tuwani. We go out and sit in his family’s hills while he grazes and waters his sheep.
Adam’s family lives in a house slightly outside of At-Tuwani, very, very close to the illegal Israeli settler outpost of Havat Ma’on. Like the Yousef’s family, Adam’s family began experiencing repeated settler attacks and having their sheep stolen in 1986.
These stories are straight from the notes of another CPTer, Art Gish. Like the stories of all the families in the village, there are too many to write here. I deleted some pieces. Adam’s family has seen their children, wives, husbands, parents, and friends beaten, shot and humiliated time after time. They have sought justice only to find that it is not available to them here.
In November 1999, Adam’s family went to plow their fields. They met thirty settlers and three soldiers at their field. Adam and his cousin went to the soldiers and asked why the settlers were on his land. The settlers then attacked. They threw rocks at them and the tractor, and came and beat them. Adam was hit on the head and was unconscious for ten minutes. They were injured and bleeding. The soldiers watched and did nothing. The soldiers even shot at the family as they walked over the hill. They had to wait for one and a half hours for the soldiers to get an ambulance to take them to the hospital in Beer Sheva.
In 2001, four settlers on horses approached Adam’s father, who was old and sick, and could not walk well. One of the settlers attacked his father with a horse whip. They tried to catch Adam’s brother, who ran away, but lost one of his shoes in the flight. Settlers took the shoe and cut it into pieces.
In 2002, Adam went to plow his land. Settlers, soldiers and police came. The police confiscated his tractor, took it to Susia, and held it for more than a month. The police offered Adam a deal. They would give back his tractor if he signed a release, giving his land to the settlers. He refused, and ended up paying a 1,000 shekel fine to get the tractor back.
Later in 2002, his brother, home from the university, was sitting reading under a tree. A settler came and attacked him. His brother was arrested and fined 500 shekels.
Adam’s father was very sick in 2002. They took him to a hospital in Hebron, but the doctors said they could not help him. They released him to die at home. On the way home, four settlers stopped their car on the main road, took his father out of the car, pulled the tubes out of his body, and assaulted the others with their gun stocks. Soldiers came and did nothing. Twenty days later Adam’s father died.…
In August, 2003, the family had gone to a wedding in Yatta. When they came back, they heard shooting and saw his son was bleeding. Bullets were hitting the ground around them. The settlers then left in a settler security car. The wounds were superficial, except for one person with a head fracture.
At 2:00 that same night, soldiers came on Adam’s roof where he was sleeping, knocked him down, and asked for his identity card. They beat his brother. The soldiers took the ID cards with them and said they would be back at 7:00 in the morning. Adam called Ta’ayush. They came with an Israeli journalist before the soldiers arrived. Adam told the Israelis to hide, because if they were seen, the soldiers would act politely. When the soldiers came, they spoke very rudely to the family and tried to beat his brother. The Israelis came out of hiding, after which the soldiers quickly gave back the IDs and left.
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Fatima and Fadil* are our neighbors and the owners of the home in which CPT and Operation Dove lives. They have four young sons, ages 1-12. Like every other family in At-Tuwani, they have experienced direct attacks from Israeli settlers and soldiers. But like every other family, they continue to struggle to remain in their village and to raise their children in a healthy and peaceful environment.
Fatima is a leader in the village, maybe even the leader. She is full of life. Fatima has a great smile and a clever sense of humor. She married at age 16 and moved from Yatta, the nearby town, to the village of At-Tuwani. Fatima will tell anyone that .life as a village woman is hard. .
Fatima started a women’s co-op in the village. The women make beautiful rugs, dresses, baskets, other handicrafts, and olive oil. They sell their items in a museum next to our common patio. Tour groups come by, hear Fatima’s speech, and shop in the museum. The men of the village respect Fatima and appreciate the work of the women’s co-op. At times, the women’s co-op brings in over 40% of the village income. Basically, Fatima takes care of the village finances, as well as organizes a way for the women to gain more financial independence.
I love living so close to Fatima and Fadil’s family. Their family spends so much time together and they really seem to enjoy each other. They teach their adorable children love, hospitality, strength and wisdom. When I go to the roof to sleep at night, I often look up and see Fadil praying on their roof. When I wake up, Fatima is by the house making bread. In the afternoon, the children play on the hammock in our common patio and with toys that random tour groups leave.
The other day an army jeep drove through the village. It stopped by our house where Fatima and family were eating lunch and rolled down the window. The soldier asked, “Is everything ok here?” Fatima’s 5 year old son looked worried and said, “No… You are here.” Fatima’s children, like all of the children in the village, understand what it means to live under occupation. They recognize the occupation as evil and begin to resist it and to seek freedom at a very young age.
Amidst the chaos of violence, Fatima and Fadil have made a home of peace for their children. Amidst the despair of occupation, the women’s work is a beacon of hope for the whole village. And amidst the hatred of war, they manage to teach their children to love.
Fatima and Fadil* are our neighbors and the owners of the home in which CPT and Operation Dove lives. They have four young sons, ages 1-12. Like every other family in At-Tuwani, they have experienced direct attacks from Israeli settlers and soldiers. But like every other family, they continue to struggle to remain in their village and to raise their children in a healthy and peaceful environment.
Fatima is a leader in the village, maybe even the leader. She is full of life. Fatima has a great smile and a clever sense of humor. She married at age 16 and moved from Yatta, the nearby town, to the village of At-Tuwani. Fatima will tell anyone that .life as a village woman is hard. .
Fatima started a women’s co-op in the village. The women make beautiful rugs, dresses, baskets, other handicrafts, and olive oil. They sell their items in a museum next to our common patio. Tour groups come by, hear Fatima’s speech, and shop in the museum. The men of the village respect Fatima and appreciate the work of the women’s co-op. At times, the women’s co-op brings in over 40% of the village income. Basically, Fatima takes care of the village finances, as well as organizes a way for the women to gain more financial independence.
I love living so close to Fatima and Fadil’s family. Their family spends so much time together and they really seem to enjoy each other. They teach their adorable children love, hospitality, strength and wisdom. When I go to the roof to sleep at night, I often look up and see Fadil praying on their roof. When I wake up, Fatima is by the house making bread. In the afternoon, the children play on the hammock in our common patio and with toys that random tour groups leave.
The other day an army jeep drove through the village. It stopped by our house where Fatima and family were eating lunch and rolled down the window. The soldier asked, “Is everything ok here?” Fatima’s 5 year old son looked worried and said, “No… You are here.” Fatima’s children, like all of the children in the village, understand what it means to live under occupation. They recognize the occupation as evil and begin to resist it and to seek freedom at a very young age.
Amidst the chaos of violence, Fatima and Fadil have made a home of peace for their children. Amidst the despair of occupation, the women’s work is a beacon of hope for the whole village. And amidst the hatred of war, they manage to teach their children to love.
* not their real names
posted by Angela Davis | 1:08 PM
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