CPTnet
October 9, 2004
HEBRON URGENT ACTION: Tell Israeli government to stop settler attacks on
Palestinian schoolchildren, CPTers and other international accompaniers
For the second time in ten days, masked men from the Ma'on settlement have
attacked internationals who have accompanied Palestinians to and from
school. The September 30, 2004 attack resulted in a broken knee and arm for
CPTer Kim Lamberty and a punctured lung for CPTer Chris Brown. This
afternoon, settlers attacked CPTers Diane Janzen and Diana Zimmerman and
Amnesty International field researcher Donatella Rovera with wooden sticks
and then attacked a volunteer from Operation Dove, an Italian peace group,
breaking his arm (he was videotaping the assault.)
Settlers from Ma'on have been trying to drive out the Palestinian residents
of this remote area in the Hebron District for years, physically assaulting
them, killing their livestock and burning their crops. Because settler
harassment of Palestinian children on their way to school in al-Tuwani had
become progressively more vicious, CPT, along with Operation Dove and
Taayush, an Israeli peace group, set up an accompaniment project beginning
on September 12, 2004.
CPT is asking its supporters to fax or call the Israeli ambassadors to
Canada and the U.S., saying they are aware of the attacks on the CPTers.
(Canadians, note that Diane Janzen is a Canadian citizen.) Ask the following
questions:
*Why are the Israeli police not protecting Palestinian children traveling to
school in al-Tuwani? Note that harassment of the children has been ongoing
and that the police appear to be choosing not to prevent further settler
attacks on international volunteers
*What steps is the Israeli government taking to prevent these attacks?
*Why do the soldiers and settler security personnel prevent the children
from walking on the road near Ma'on settlement to get to school, ignoring
the permission the children have received from the Israeli District
Coordinating Officer and the Israeli police to walk on that road?
* Does the Ambassador understand how allowing settlers to attack
schoolchildren and internationals committed to nonviolence damages Israel's
reputation?
People may also choose to fax Ariel Sharon, noting that he has closely
aligned himself with settlers in the past, and asking him what steps he is
taking to prevent further attacks. Note that he has ordered one of the
Ma'on "outpost" settlements from which the attackers came demolished to
appease the Bush administration.
Contacts
[Note: The fax numbers for the Israeli embassy in Ottawa and for Prime
Minister Sharon were not picking up as of 2:00 on Saturday, possibly because
of the Jewish Sabbath. Try sending on Sunday or Monday.)
Israeli Ambassador to Canada, Haim Divon (Ottawa)
Fax: 613-237-8865
Phone: 613-567-6450
Israeli Ambassador to the United States (Washington,DC) fax: 202-364-5607
Phone:202-364-5500
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
Fax: 011-972-2-651-2631
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