CPTnet
26 March 2005

AT-TUWANI: Israeli settlers from Ma'on disrupt school patrol

by Diana Zimmerman and Kim Lamberty

On Saturday 26 March, 2005 Israeli settlers from Ma'on paraded on a road
outside of At-Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills, preventing Palestinian
children from returning home from school.

While assisting with the clean up of contaminated land (See 23 March
release, "Poison pellets spread on hillside where Palestinian sheep graze"),
Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) member Kim Lamberty and two members of
Operation Dove saw a group of about thirty settlers leaving the settlement
outpost Havot Ma'on and walking toward the village of At-Tuwani. The
settlers were headed toward the area where the school children had gathered,
waiting to be escorted home from school by the Israeli military.

Lamberty, followed by the Operation Dove members, immediately began walking
to the town of At-Tuwani. In order to reach the children, she needed to
pass by the settlers and military who were gathered on the edge of the
village. Soldiers came to meet Lamberty and told her that she had to stay
in the adjacent valley because the path was a closed military zone. The
military made no moves to remove the Israeli settlers from the same path.

Upon reaching the children, Lamberty and two members of Operation Dove sat
down on the path leading toward the village in an effort to prevent the
settlers from advancing into the village and reaching the group of children
waiting to be escorted home.

The army eventually directed the group of settlers to a path that would lead
back to the settlement. While Lamberty monitored the settlers' movement an
Israeli soldier approached her and without warning roughly shoved her for a
distance of about ten feet. The soldier gave no explanation for the
assault.

About two hours after the scheduled time of escort, the army assigned a jeep
to take the children home. In addition to the soldiers, members of
Operation Dove and Lamberty accompanied the children to ensure their safety.
The internationals returned to At-Tuwani by the long path because of the
risk of settler attack if they came near the settlement or outpost.

In September 2004, settlers from the Ma'on outpost attacked Lamberty and
fellow CPTer Chris Brown as they accompanied children to school. Lamberty
sustained a broken arm and damaged knee from the attack and Brown suffered
head trauma and a punctured lung.