CPTnet
26 December 2005

AT-TUWANI REFLECTION: Collective punishment

by Art Gish

On Friday, 16 December, an Israeli resident of the Beit Haggai settlement,
near the southern part of Hebron, was shot and killed in his car by
someone in a passing car. I think the attack was a despicable crime, and
should be condemned by everyone. When I heard the news, I thought, "Oh,
no, now there will be another round of reprisals and counter-reprisals.

The next morning I traveled from Hebron to At-Tuwani, a small village in
the South Hebron Hills where Christian Peacemaker Teams has had a presence
for the past year.

The road we usually take was blocked. Instead, the taxi had to drive to
the southern part of Hebron where everyone got out, walked across a huge
earth mound, walked across the new Israeli road and then walked across
another huge mound of earth placed there by the Israeli military. After
that, we took another taxi to Yatta.

As I walked down the road toward At-Tuwani, I discovered that road was
blocked at three separate places with huge mounds of dirt and a big rock.
I soon learned many other roads in the Southern Hebron District had been
blocked that morning in response to the killing the day before.

The name for this blocking of roads is "collective punishment," something
illegal under international law. Punishing a whole population for the
sins of a few is not only illegal; it is also immoral because it harms
innocent people. Emergency vehicles cannot reach people in need, for
example.

The road blocks are not effective security measures. They only make life
more difficult for the Palestinian people who must go through fields, take
other roads, or climb over the road blocks. Furthermore, the closed roads
infuriate the people, making future attacks more likely.

This cycle of attacks and counter-attacks, reprisals and counter-reprisals
must end. It does not lead to peace.