CPTnet
11 February 2006

AT-TUWANI: U.S. Officials visit At-Tuwani

by Paul Sparks

[NOTE: Sparks was a member of the January 2006 Christian Peacemaker Team
delegation to the West Bank and Israel.]

Three officials from the U.S. State Department and U.S. Embassy in Israel
visited the small West Bank community of At-Tuwani on 20 January, 2006.
Palestinian villagers and members of a Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT)
delegation welcomed them.

The officials expressed concern about a proposed plan by the Israeli
government to build a fence along the Israeli bypass road, Rt. 317, which
bisects the main passage to and from At-Tuawni. If the plan goes through,
the Palestinian villagers will not have access to the greater West Bank.
Plans are also in the works to build a massive "security" wall at one
proposed border line between Israel and Palestine.

"The Israeli government's plans to build a fence along route 317 and a wall
at the Green line (the internationally-recognized border of Israel) will
effectively imprison the people living in At-Tuwani and surrounding
villages," said Matthew Chandler, a full-time member of CPT in At-Tuwani. He
noted that the officials' visit was a remarkable and rare occurrence.

Solders were stopping villagers at the crossing of Rt. 317 and the road to
At-Tuwani before the officials left. A makeshift check point is a common,
though not standard fixture at this crossing. The Palestinian villagers
complain of constant harassment from both solders and settlers.

"We've lost the basic things in life -- the land, our sheep, almost
everything." said one At-Tuwani resident.

"The people here suffer," another villager said. "The children who walk four
kilometers to school suffer. We have no transportation, no phone. We face an
occupation that won't allow us to build a toilet."

"The Israelis fight us for bread," added another man. In Palestinian culture
bread is tantamount to life. Palestinians have told CPTers that throwing
bread on the ground is a sin.

Christian Peacemaker Teams maintains a constant international presence in
At-Tuwani, to document the harassment suffered by villagers at the hands of
solders and settlers.

[Members of CPT's 12-24 January delegation were Glenna Anderson (St. Louis,
Missouri), Grace Boyer (Jacksonville, Florida), Joyce Cassel (Oak Park,
Illinois), Janita Daggy (Deerfield, Virginia), Tana Durnbaugh (Elgin,
Illinois), Susanna Farahat (Westminster, Maryland), Bob Gross (N.
Manchester, Indiana), Lauree Hersch Meyer (Rushville, New York), Richard
Klinedinst (N. Liberty, Indiana), Jeffrey Miller (Goshen, Indiana), Daniel
Rudy (Mt. Airy, Maryland), Nicci Small (N. Manchester, Indiana), Michael
Waas Smith (Mt. Pleasant, Michigan), Paul Sparks (Diamond Bar, California),
David Waas (N. Manchester, Indiana), and Mike Weaver (Gap, Pennsylvania).]