CPTnet
21 July 2005

AT-TUWANI UPDATE: 1-14 July 2005

 Friday, 1 July At 2:30 p.m. two Israeli hummers drove through At Tuwani.
Eight soldiers set up observation equipment near the village. A soldier
asked CPTer Scott Smith his opinion on the "situation" in Israel/Palestine.
Smith replied, "Like the situation in Iraq, Israelis are catching a few
terrorists but making more."

The soldier replied, "You are right, but there is no other way. We have no
choice."

One hummer left the area for a temporary checkpoint on the Palestinian road
to Karmil. CPTer Mary Yoder observed a Palestinian man ask a question of
the soldier in charge. The soldier made a "go-away" gesture toward the
Palestinian's face. Yoder confronted the soldier regarding his action. The
soldier replied, "You have no right to question my actions!"

Saturday, 2 July
At 9:00 p.m. the team went to the main road on Highway 317
where the Israeli Army set up a temporary checkpoint in front of At-Tuwani.
After thirty minutes the soldiers drove into a field and turned off their
lights. Three Palestinian men called the team and said they were directly
behind the soldiers, in the dark, and wanted to get home to At Tuwani.

The CPTers and Operation Dove members (Doves) informed the soldiers, who
immediately halted the men with a spotlight and checked their IDs before
allowing the men to go home.

Sunday, 3 July
People from At-Tuwani and surrounding villages came to the
village clinic but no doctor came (for the third Sunday in a row). The
Palestinian Authority (PA) had made prior arrangements to send a doctor
every Sunday.

CPTers and the PA Minister of Public Works for the Hebron district visited
the Palestinian village of Imneizil, which borders the portion of the
Israeli wall being constructed there. They saw a man who had his house
demolished one year ago and now lives in a tent with five children. The
Palestinian owner told the group that the tent leaks during rainy season.

The PA official said, "The people are poor because no infrastructure is
allowed to be built, such as public access roads or buildings."

Tuesday, 5 July
Doves accompanied Palestinian workers to a renovation site
of an ancient water well, close to the Israeli settlement Pnei Khever. The
Palestinians said that the day before settlers attacked them, forcing them
to stop the work.

Wednesday, 6 July
Doves again accompanied Palestinian workers to the ancient
well. In their absence, the Israeli soldiers put in a temporary checkpoint
directly in front of At Tuwani, preventing all villagers from leaving the
area.

Thursday, 7 July
Ma'on settlers began plowing a Palestinian field using a
bulldozer and back-hoe. This field is on Shawaheen land directly across the
bypass road from the entrance to Ma'on. The ownership of this land is
currently under dispute. (See "At-Tuwani Urgent Action: Stop Ma'on
Expansion," 24 May 2005.) Doves arrived on the scene and saw two settler
vehicles along with an Israeli military hummer. The Doves called the Kiryat
Arba Police, who refused to come to the scene. The settlers continued
plowing for one hour.

An Israeli District Coordinating Office (DCO) vehicle arrived at the same
time as members of Machsom Watch, an Israeli peace group that monitors
checkpoints. The settlers then stopped plowing the land.

A settler grabbed a female Dove's camera out of her hands. A male Dove and
an Israeli peace activist took the camera away from the settler, and the
Doves called the Kiryat Arba Police again. This time, the police agreed to
come to the scene. Shortly after the police arrived, everyone went home.

Saturday, 9 July
Two mobile clinics came to At-Tuwani from the Union of
Palestinian Medical Relief Committees (UPMRC) and the Health Work Committee
(HWC). First they went to the neighboring village of Mufakara where they
treated a young patient with a serious respiratory condition.

Sunday, 10 July
The Red Crescent sent a doctor to the clinic in At Tuwani,
keeping a prior arrangement made with the PA.

A Palestinian man reported to the team that settlers from Karmil had stolen
his donkey. The Doves walked to Karmil and saw the donkey inside the fence.
They obtained photos of the donkey before settler security spotted them and
began yelling.

Wednesday, 13 July
CPTer Michael Goode accompanied the Palestinian man whose
donkey had been stolen to the Kiryat Arba Police station. At first, Israeli
Police promised to take them to Karmil, but after three hours of waiting,
the police told them they needed to go to the Karmil settlement and that the
police could not take them there. No taxi service was available past Yatta,
so the two men walked for two and a half hours before reaching the
settlement. There the Israeli police met Goode and the Palestinian.

Four settlers held the donkey and taunted Goode, saying, "Peace and love,
right?" The settlers also posed for pictures with the donkey as the police
watched and did nothing. After retrieving the donkey, the Palestinian man
went home, and the police left the scene. Goode was left with the four
settlers, but soon after At-Tuwani villagers and Doves picked him up.

The team learned later that a rumor was going around about the settlers
having beaten Goode when he was alone near Karmil, but they neither harmed
him nor attempted to harm him.

Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) members in At Tuwani for this period: Mary
Yoder, Lorin Peters, Scott Smith, Annaliese Watson, Michael Goode and Peggy
Gish.