CPTnet
5 May 2007
AT-TUWANI BLOG: Trips to Tuba village and the Dead Sea

by Heidi Schramm

[NOTE: The following blog entries by CPTer Heidi Schramm have been edited
for length. To see her original entries and accompanying photos go to
http://heidischramm.livejournal.com]

17th March 2007

I got a call from a man from Tuba this afternoon, saying settlers were in
the village. It takes about an hour to walk there, so the settlers were
gone by the time we arrived. Nine of them had come to threaten the two
boys who were out with the sheep, cut the rope on the bucket in the
cistern used to water the sheep, and knock over stacks of firewood. We
went into the cave for tea and three of the youngest children were huddled
in a corner, crying. I was talking with the mother of the family, and I
don't think I have ever seen such exhaustion on a face. She just kept
saying, "Where do they want us to go?"

 It was getting dark by the time we left, so we decided to walk closer to
the outpost and knock twenty minutes off our trip. I was surprised at
how scared I was. But I know that those few moments of fear is nothing
compared to what the Palestinians experience every day.

20th March 2007

I had my first visit to the Dead Sea today. I enjoyed it but I don't
think I'll be tempted to head to the beach every time I leave the
[Tuwani.]

As I was walking to the bus stop in the afternoon, a car drove past, put
on its brakes, switched into reverse and returned to ask me where I was
going. I told them I was going to Jerusalem, they were too, so I got in.
(Sorry Dad, sorry Mom!) My travel companions were two middle-aged men
from the States (PA and GA), and less than a minute into the ride, the
driver pointed across the sea and said, "To the right, you can see the
Mountains of Moab, in Jordanian-occupied Israel." Was he talking about
Jordan? They turned out to be Messianic Jews, here because these are the
End Days and the temple is about to be rebuilt. In fact, they had spent
the day at a yeshiva where young men are being trained in the ancient art
of animal sacrifice * I've seen enough horror movies where people get
mutilated and killed while hitchhiking, and they had, after all, just come
from watching animal sacrifices, so I kept my mouth shut and said "Mmm," a
lot. Not that I had much choice -- the man from PA really never stopped
talking. As we were approaching the street I wanted to be let out on, I
told them exactly what it is that I do. Perhaps it was passive aggressive
to wait until I was ready to get out of the car, but I didn't feel I could
take my leave of them without at least mentioning CPT. I was about to tell
the man driving that he could drop me off when he pulled over and said, "I
think you should get out now." I thanked them, wished them all the best
and said goodbye. I was met with stony silence.

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