Artillery shelling, helicopter strafing, and rocket attacks initiated a month ago by Iran in the mountainous regions of its border with Iraq have steadily intensified over the past two weeks.  Four civilians are dead, twelve injured, and more than 800 families have been displaced from their village homes.  These attacks not only violate international law and combat zone limitations but also destroy Kurdish communal life and harvests from recently planted fields and gardens.

CPTnet
29 July 2011
AT-TUWANI: Settlers harass Palestinian shepherds and assault international observers.

 At approximately 9:15 a.m. on 27 July 2011, masked settlers from the Havat Ma'on outpost, armed with stones and an iron bar, harassed three Palestinian shepherds and attacked two international observers.

 The shepherds were out with their flocks on Palestinian land near Meshaha hill when the four masked settlers attacked them.  They were able to getaway, but the settlers then hit a CPTer in the head with an iron bar and destroyed his camera.  He went to the hospital in Yatta and received eight stitches.

PRAYERS FOR PEACEMAKERS, Jul. 27, 2011

Give thanks that Cartier Resources Inc. has suspended its copper mining project on the territory of the Algonquin First Nation of Barriere Lake in north-western Quebec, Canada, in response to the community’s opposition to this exploration work.

Doug Pritchard

Christian Peacemaker Teams

Toronto, Canada

CAMPAIGN AGAINST DEPLETED URANIUM WEAPONS (Jonesborough, Tennessee, USA)
DATES: 21-30 October, 2011

ABORIGINAL JUSTICE DELEGATION to Treaty #3 Territory (Northwestern Ontario)
DATES: 24 September-5 October, 2011.

COLOMBIA
DATES: International delegations:  22 September - 5 October, 2011; November 2011 (special for Latin American church leaders—tentative); 24 May - 6 June,  12-25 July,  20 September - 3 October, 2012; National delegation (for Colombians)*: 31 March - 7 April, 2012

IRAQ (Kurdish North)
DATES: 13-26 October, 2011; 12-25 April and 4-17 October, 2012

PALESTINE / ISRAEL
DATES:  6-19 September (German language delegation), and 15-28 November, 2011; 10-23 January, 13-26 March, 22 May- 4 June, 4-16 July, 2-15 October, and 6-19 November, 2012.

For background information on the struggle of people on Jeju Island to prevent a U.S./South Korean naval base from being constructed there, go to http://signon.org/sign/save-jeju-island-no-naval?source=c.url&r_by=362758Thanks and sign the petition.  Below is an update and request for further action.

Dear friend,
As you read this, 1,200 police in riot gear are descending upon Gangjeong village, the site of resistance to the US/ROK naval base; 500 are from the mainland peninsula and 700 from Jeju… ttp://signon.org/sign/save-jeju-island-no-naval?source=s.em.cr&r_by=367997

 In the last month, a new brigade of Israeli soldiers has arrived in Hebron and Palestinians have reported an increase in the number of home invasions.  Raheb, mother of five young girls, told CPTers about the hour-long raid of her home, describing how they first searched the roof, then entered their home where her girls were asleep.  Soldiers proceeded to empty drawers, pull apart bedding and search the kitchen. 

Raheb asked the soldiers, "Why are you here?"  The only answer she received was,  "Where are your men?"  As it happened, soldiers were detaining the men of the household outside on the street.  Two of Raheb's five daughters slept through the raid, while the other three watched in terror.

On 10 July 2011, law enforcement personnel issued violation notices to four humanitarian aid workers, including CPT reservist John Heid at the Buenos Aires Wildlife Refuge (BANWAR).  They charged the four with “non-permitted activity” because they resupplied water and food sites along an active migrant trail twelve miles from the U.S.-Mexico border.

PRAYERS FOR PEACEMAKERS, Jul. 20, 2011

In 2005, Palestinian civil society issued a call for a campaign of boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel until it complies with international law and Palestinian rights. Pray for success in this campaign despite Israel’s increasingly punitive responses.

Doug Pritchard

Christian Peacemaker Teams

Toronto, Canada

 On 18 July 2011 around 6:35 p.m. three settlers attacked two members of Operation Dove and one member of the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) with clubs and stones in the Meshakha valley outside of At-Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills. The settlers came out of the Havat Ma'on outpost, covering their faces with scarves and then ran with clubs toward two Palestinian shepherds who were grazing their sheep in a valley nearby. 
 The masked settlers could not catch the shepherds who, alerted to the approaching danger, left the vicinity.  The attackers then turned and ran toward the internationals, who had entered the valley to intervene and document the attack.  The settlers then made threats and attempted to strike the internationals as they filmed the settlers’ actions.  When the internationals retreated, the settlers begin throwing stones, narrowly missing their targets.

 The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) has recently released the results of an independent audit of the Whiskey Jack Forest, identifying numerous areas of concern in the forest's management. The audit is part of a regular monitoring process that tracks how logging companies are abiding by regulations and produces action plans to rectify bad practices and poor results. The Ministry of Natural Resources is engaged in land-use negotiations with Grassy Narrows First Nation (GNFN), whose traditional territory largely coincides with the Whiskey Jack Forest.

 The report reiterates many of GNFN's concerns over the destruction of their territory.  Since 2002, the community has blockaded a road used by logging trucks. CPT was invited to accompany the blockade, which supports a moratorium on clear-cut logging on traditional territory. The report, which covers much of the negotiation period, finds 'significant issues with management of the Whiskey Jack Forest, both in planning and in on-the-ground implementation of the plan' (page ii).  Its primary message is that the MNR has not done enough to repair the damage caused by industrial logging or to help the forest heal.