CPTnet 11 February 2005 AT-TUWANI: Update 22 January - 5 February 2005
Saturday, 22 January
CPT member Art Gish returned from spending the night
in the village of Tuba. His host in Tuba had showed
him an Israeli police order from July, 2004 to stop
him from farming five acres of his land.
Six people from Ta'ayush, an Israeli-Palestinian peace
group, arrived in At-Tuwani to talk with Israelis
about an order to spray herbicides on farms in Jinba.
The herbicides would kill the Palestinian communities'
crops. Israelis have been ordering the crops to be
sprayed, yearly, to discourage Palestinians from
farming land near the 'green line.'
Sunday, 23 January
The bulldozer that had been sitting in At-Tuwani for
the past three weeks was removed after the Israeli
military prohibited repair work on the road to Jinba.
Local Palestinian leaders had hired the bulldozer for
road-improvement work between the communities of
At-Tuwani and Jinba (see CPTnet release Bulldozers
and Bumpy Roads, 31 January)
Gish and an operation Dove member spent the night in
Jinba.
Saturday, 24 January
Two team members visited Jawaya, a village across the
road from the Israeli Ma'on settlement. The villagers
had not heard about Christian Peacemaker Teams,
previously, and asked for accompaniment for their
sheep. A shepherd from Mafakara came to the
team and asked that CPT accompany shepherds from his village.
The team discussed CPT's role in accompanying
shepherds, asking the following questions: Do CPT
members run with the shepherds when they see danger or do they stay and face
settlers or soldiers? How will CPT members respond to settlers? What is
the larger purpose of the accompaniment?
Tuesday, 25 January
Two Operation Dove members accompanied shepherds near
the road across from the entrance to the Ma'on
settlement. There was a stand off when settlers and
soldiers arrived. Settlers demanded that two
Palestinian shepherds be arrested for grazing their
flocks near the settlement. Police came and decided
not to arrest anyone. Team members talked with
Israeli authorities about Palestinians grazing sheep
on land they own. Team members then went to the
village of Jawaya for food and conversation.
Wednesday, 26 January
Six members of the Irish Parliament came to At-Tuwani
to observe the situation in the area and report back to parliament.
Team members accompanied shepherds in three areas.
During two accompaniments the shepherds ran away with
their flocks when settlers arrived. During one of the
accompaniments, CPT members followed the shepherds.
A husband and wife from At-Tuwani returned to
welcoming-home celebrations from their pilgrimage to
Mecca.
CPT members heard the sounds of tank shell explosions
and fighter jets and helicopters in the air as the
Israeli military continued its training south of At-Tuwani near Jinba.
Thursday, 27 January
Two Operation Dove members accompanied shepherds from
Jawaya. Settlers arrived on foot. One passed the OD
members and chased a shepherd and his flock. A
settler became angry when he saw an OD member was
recording him with a video camera. The settler picked
up a rock, held it close to the OD member's head, and
said, "When I come back in five minutes I will kill
you." Police arrived, watched the video, and were
alarmed. They took the OD members to the Kiryat Arba
police station to file a report. Two shepherds were
slightly hurt while running from the settlers. (See
CPTnet release AT-TUWANI: Settler attacks shepherd,
threatens volunteers, police not interested* 4 February)
Gish accompanied shepherds close to a settler outpost.
When the soldiers saw the shepherds, the shepherds
fled, but Gish walked toward the soldiers. When a
soldier asked Gish what he wanted, Gish replied, "I
want shalom." Again, a soldier asked Gish what he
wanted. Again he replied, "I want peace." The
soldiers said they also wanted peace, but that
Palestinians only wanted to kill Israelis.
Friday, 28 January
Gish accompanied shepherds near a settlement outpost.
Settlers drove past the shepherds. The shepherds did
not run. They explained that they are more afraid
when grazing their sheep on disputed land. The area
of disputed land forbidden to shepherds is now so vast
that there is not enough grazing land for their flocks.
Saturday, 29 January
It was the first day of school after a three-week
vacation. Three soldiers on foot and personnel in a
military jeep accompanied nine children to school.
Gish accompanied shepherds with whom he had spent time
the last few days.
CPT members Barbara Martens and Kathy Kapenga visited
with At-Tuwani women and discussed the women's
cooperative and women's self development projects.
Sunday, 30 January
In both the morning and the afternoon, soldiers used
jeeps to transport school children because of threats from settlers.
Two settler security men approached two OD members
after the school patrol and warned them about their
safety, referring to Chris and Kim by name. The
settler security men said they could not be
responsible for the safety of internationals in the
area. Chris and Kim were beaten by settlers last fall.
Monday, 31 January
Soldiers moved the school children quickly past the
settler outpost in the afternoon. Kapenga and OD
members observed two settlers and a dog above the road where children
walked.
Tuesday, 1 February
About a dozen people from Ta'ayush, including Arik
Asherman from Rabbis for Human Rights, planted olive
trees in the village of Ma'in where settlers had
recently destroyed 200 olive trees. OD members
participated in the action.
One young Israeli who helped plant the trees said that
the last time he was in Palestine he was in uniform
and had a gun and was afraid. "Now," he said, "I am
here without a gun and I am not afraid."
Wednesday, 2 February
A UN observer who participated in the school patrol
reported to CPT members that the Israeli government is
upset about positive developments in the area (the
clinic, more children attending school, etc.), and
that the international presence in At-Tuwani is making
it more difficult for the Israeli military to stop
development and remove residents from the area.
At-Tuwani residents reported in the evening that
because of the international presence in the area
Palestinian shepherds are grazing their flocks on land
where they had not been for several years.
Thursday, 3 February
Team members heard chanting from the settler outpost
as they walked up the hill for school patrol in the
morning. When the children approached the area, a
settler with a guitar came out of the trees, played
his guitar, and sang loudly in a mocking voice to the
children. As soon as the children passed, he stopped
singing and hiked south on one of the mountains.
Rich Meyer and Gish observed four flocks of sheep
grazing just below the outpost where, the day before,
soldiers had told the same shepherds that they were
not allowed to graze.
Saturday, 5 February
CPT members met with village leaders and Ta'ayush
members. They agreed on increased communication and
coordination between them, and decided to have monthly meetings.
__
To stop receiving messages from CPTNET on MennoLink, send a message with
only the word, "suspend," in the body to server@MennoLink.org.
Christian Peacemaker Teams is an initiative of the historic peace churches
(Mennonites, Church of the Brethren, and Quakers) with support and
membership from a range of Catholic and Protestant denominations. Supporting
violence-reduction efforts around the world is its mandate. Contact CPT, POB
6508 Chicago, IL 60680; Telephone: 773-277-0253 Fax: 773-277-0291; e-mail:
peacemakers@cpt.org.
To receive news or discussion of CPT issues by e-mail,
fill out the form
found on our WEB page at
http://www.cpt.org/subscribe.php
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Feb 28 2005 - 16:03:42 EST