Alerted by a Palestinian journalist that there might be problems between
settlers and Palestinians, CPTers Jamey Bouwmeester and Michael Goode
accompanied the journalist to a hilltop north of Harsina settlement, east of
Hebron city last Thursday (11 March).

Settler civilians, settler security and military soldiers were accompanying
what Palestinians here call a "bagger" -- heavy machinery with hydraulic arm
and chisel -- as it jack-hammered out a road that will eventually encircle the
hilltop as a first step in seizing the land for the settlement. The road just
skirts above the lower Palestinian terraces, claiming the "undeveloped" top of
the hill. The hilltop to
the south, closer to the settlement, had already been prepared in this way
last year.

As the CPTers arrived, the military was securing the area so that the settlers
could work unhindered. Soldiers tried to escort the CPTers away but they
insisted on staying. The soldiers and the Palestinian owners of the land
began to argue and the situation escalated.

Two civilian settlers who were present, one armed with an Uzi machine gun,
joined the already-tense situation. One settler faced nose-to-nose with CPTer
Goode and told him very seriously, "Go home! Go home!"

Goode later said, "I was really scared, I thought he was going to punch my
lights out!"

The settlers joined the argument with the Palestinians and pushed an older one
to the ground. The soldiers got between the settlers and Palestinians and
prevented an all-out fight from developing. Eventually tensions subsided.

Captain Shai, an Israeli military officer who oversees much of this kind of
activity in this region, had earlier been present but left after negotiating
with the Palestinian farmers that work would halt until 2:30pm while they
talked about the situation back at his office.

After he left, the machine started work at 1:45pm. Soldiers talked to the
operators of the machinery and asked them to stop but the settlers instructed
the driver to continue working.

CPTers Mark Frey and Anne Montgomery later joined the group. The Palestinian
farmers spoke to the team in broken English, listing on their fingers the five
generations of their families that had lived in this area, pointing out old
rock homes many many years old. One farmer kept repeating, "They have the
power. What can I to do?!?"

More settlers drove out to watch the work, some women bringing their children.
The various players -- CPTers, Palestinians, settlers, soldiers -- grouped
separately and waited out the sunny afternoon while the machine continued to
chisel. The soldiers joked with each other, the Palestinians sat soberly,
one settler prayed next to a
military jeep. The CPTers watched. CPTer Mark Frey said, "We can't do
anything really. But we do believe there is power in watching this, bearing
witness to injustice."

Eventually the day's work was completed. The machine left, followed by the
settlers and soldiers. As CPTers walked back to the city, they were given a
ride by one of the older Palestinian land-owners who told the team he was
leaving the next day to travel to Mecca for the Muslim holy pilgrimage,
normally a joyous occasion.

Later that evening the team received an urgent call from a family living just
east of Harsina settlement saying that soldiers were at their house. Frey and
Goode drove to the site, arriving just after Captain Shai and soldiers had
left. They had delivered a stop-work order and confiscated cement mixers
which were being used to build a huge below-ground-level cistern that would
provide three families with water.