The Israeli authorities detained Kristin Anderson, a U.S. citizen working with Christian Peacemaker Teams in the South Hebron Hills, today during a non-violent action in At-Tuwani and may deport her. Israeli soldiers took Anderson's bag and passport, and police detained her when she stayed behind to retrieve them; they then took her to the Kiryat Arba police station. The Israeli authorities may move her to the Russian Compound in Jerusalem for a trial and possible deportation.

At-Tuwani and neighboring villages are in the worst drought-affected area of the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). Only 13% of the expected rainfall came in the Hebron area in the winter of 2007-08. Two weeks ago, At-Tuwani villagers told Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) that only around one week's supply of water was left in the village's wells and cisterns.

After a half hour at the checkpoint, where Kurdish military guards examined our identification papers and wrote down key information, we continued on the windy mountain roads. Our driver, four CPTers, and our interpreter passed flocks of sheep and goats and small towns and villages nestled on dry, rocky mountainsides through the foothills of the higher Qandil slopes. We were in northwestern Suleimaniya Govenorate not far from the Iranian border.