CPTnet
 20 August 2007
AT-TUWANI: "Security" wall along Route 317 dismantled

On 7 August 2007, members of CPT observed the dismantling of the "security
wall" along Route 317. Upon investigating, they saw a crew of workers under
Israeli supervision taking the wall down just past the road connecting
At-Tuwani to Yatta. By the end of the day, no wall remained in the area.

The short wall--as it came to be known for its 80-cm height--along route 317
was constructed the previous summer, reaching the village of At-Tuwani on 14
June 2006. It consisted of six-meter-long slabs of preformed concrete that
fit together in a tongue and groove pattern. The Israeli military had
originally planned the Separation/Apartheid to run along route 317 but the
Israeli Supreme Court had rejected the plan. The military built the short
wall instead, under the auspices of security, despite the fact that, given
its height, a person in reasonably good physical condition could climb over
it. Its actual effect was to greatly reduce access to the economic and
social hub of Yatta for the people of the South Hebron Hills, and to cut off
shepherds from their land on the other side of the wall. The Israeli army
could also more easily stop all vehicle traffic from Tuwani and the
surrounding villages to Yatta and the villages to the north, because the
wall had only two small openings that were frequently the sites of "flying
checkpoints." In July of 2006, the Israeli military temporarily closed even
these openings with cement blocks.

Last summer, the people of At-Tuwani and nearby villages, with the support
of Israeli and international peace activists, organized demonstrations
against the building of the wall. Eventually, they won a court decision
that declared the wall illegal. The Israeli army delayed in implementing
that court decision for some time.

Asked about the way events unfolded, a village leader for nonviolent
activity said, "The IDF routinely disregards Israeli court decisions. We
believe what happened is a success for the people's nonviolent resistance.
This is a very important step."

The village plans to hold an action to celebrate the dismantling of the wall
in the near future.

click here <http://www.cpt.org/gallery/album219
<http://www.cpt.org/gallery/album219> > for photos of the wall being
dismantled.