CPTnet
15 March 2005

AT-TUWANI UPDATE: 26 February -3 March, 2005

Saturday, 26 February 2005
CPT met with Palestinian families who have been
living in the town of Karmil but are returning to their homes in Qawawis.
The military evicted them a couple of years ago, but a high court decision
allowed them to return. Initially, the army asked them to leave but when
given a copy of the decision agreed to let them stay and promised to protect
them.

Sunday, 27 February
Ten volunteers from Rabbis for Human Rights traveled to
At- Tuwani to plant olive trees. CPT assisted with the planting. CPT also
accompanied the shepherds on the slope east of Hav'at Ma'on without
incident.

Monday, 28 February
 At 1:45 p.m. settler security arrived in the area where
the shepherds were herding. Within a few minutes the army also arrived and
threatened to arrest the shepherds because they were in a "closed military
zone." CPTers Gary Novak and Allen Johnson, along with volunteers from
Operation Dove (OD) were present during the incident, filming the event and
talking with the soldiers. The internationals challenged the soldiers not
to take orders from settler security.

Tuesday 1 March
CPT observed school patrol across the valley from where the
children walk. For the past week the army had declared the area closed to
Palestinians and internationals.

While herding the sheep to pasture, one of the village men used the road
near Hav'at Ma'on. The soldiers arrived and told him that it was a closed
military zone. The shepherds moved away from the road. When they returned
in the evening, they used the road and the military returned a second time.
One soldier remarked that petty calls from the settlers "reporting" on
Palestinian activity were bothering him.

An At-Tuwani resident reported that near the village of Qawawis three sheep
and one goat were injured earlier that day when a settler tractor ran over
them.

Local residents reported to CPT that the army entered the village of
Imfakara around 9:30 p.m. and told them that they could not herd their
sheep near Hav'at Ma'on or Avigail, severely limiting their grazing area.

Wednesday, 2 March
Around noon, CPT witnessed three settlers from Ma'on
chasing a shepherd and flock of sheep off some land near the highway. Later
in the day, Johnson and Matt Chandler spoke with the shepherd. He reported
that the settlers threw rocks and pointed their gun at him.

Chandler and Johnson accompanied a United Nations Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) worker to Qawawis. They spoke
with the families who are returning to live in the village. International
Solidarity Movement (ISM) made plans to begin living in the village a few
days later.

Thursday, 3 March While accompanying the shepherds, Johnson and Novak, along
with an OD member, visited a cave village. While they were there, a settler
security vehicle arrived. CPTers engaged the settler driving it in
conversation about the situation in the South Hebron Hills. The settler
blamed the Palestinians for all the violence.