AT-TUWANI UPDATE: August 2008
September 23rd, 2008
in:
CPTnet
23 September 2008
AT-TUWANI UPDATE: August 2008
[Note: According to the Geneva Conventions, the International Court of Justice in The Hague, and numerous United Nations resolutions, all Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal. Most settlement outposts are considered illegal under Israeli law.]
On team during this period were Tarek Abuata, Joy Ellison, Jessica Frederick, Joel Gulledge, Joshua Hough, Heidi Schramm, and members of Operation Dove (OD).
SUMMARY: During August, Palestinian shepherds continued grazing on their land despite ongoing threats from Israeli settlers and military. The at-Tuwani summer camp, organized by villagers, continued from July into August. Palestinian children daily attended the camp from their villages, walking past adult Israeli settlers who came out to threaten them. The violence stopped the children from attending a closing festival and a field trip to Hebron because soldiers refused to perform their escort duty. Villagers held a successful nonviolent march to publicize the children's diminishing right to education caused by ongoing settlement expansion. They met with Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad to appeal for water aid and other basic services from the Palestinian Authority. The final week saw school beginning and the army escort running on time but incomplete, leaving the children to walk for ½ km with no protection.
Saturday, 2 August 2008
Children and their parents walked the three km path from Tuba to at-Tuwani. (See 3 August CPTnet release: “AT-TUWANI: March from At-Tuwani to Tuba a success,” http://www.cpt.org/node/7254. A Picture of the march is available at http://cpt.org/gallery/album257.)
Tuesday, 5 August
The Israeli army refused to escort the children to summer camp. The children walked alone to at-Tuwani by the middle route, where settlers had attacked them the week before. (See 31 July CPTnet release: “AT-TUWANI: Israeli settlers attack children for the fourth time in one week” http://www.cpt.org/node/7249.) The Israeli army bulldozed the only remaining direct route between Tuwani and the nearby city of Yatta. Since the Israeli army blocked the main road to Yatta on 5 July (see 7 June CPTnet release, “AT-TUWANI: Israeli military again blocks main access road in South Hebron Hills, http://cpt.org/node/7147), the Palestinians have been forced to use this alternative dirt road through olive groves. Villagers worked with CPT accompaniment to open a passage to Yatta, the region's economic/municipal core.
Thursday, 7 August
In the nearby village of Mfagara, the Israeli army delivered demolition orders for a home and the mosque. These two buildings, and another two structures, also received demolition orders from 26 June.
Saturday, 9 August
To conclude the summer camp, at-Tuwani villagers held a festival and a press conference to spotlight settler violence in the area. Tuba children could not attend because the army refused to escort them to at-Tuwani. The children were afraid to walk alone because they saw settlers nearby. The army and police stopped journalists and camera crews from attending the conference. Barring everyone except local residents from entering, they remained in the village most of the day, and declared the surrounding area a “closed military zone.” In the early evening, the army removed a roadblock on the Yatta road that they had erected six weeks prior. (See 30 June CPTnet release, “Israeli military issues demolition orders and again blocks main access road in South Hebron Hills,” http://www.cpt.org/cptnet/2008/06/30/tuwani-israeli-military-issues-demolition-orders-and-again-blocks-main-access-road.)
Saturday, 16 August
Villagers organized a children's trip to a swimming pool in Hebron. Children from Tuba and Maghayir al-Abeed could not attend because the Israeli army refused to escort them to at-Tuwani. Palestinian Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad held a public conference in the nearby city of Yatta. At-Tuwani villagers attended, along with members of CPT and Operation Dove. An older village woman drew the Prime Minister's attention to the unique hardship faced by residents of at-Tuwani.
Sunday, 17 August
A masked Israeli settler shouted and ran toward shepherds in Umm Zeitouna, adjacent to the settlement of Ma'on.
Thursday, 21 August
Israeli soldiers told shepherds to leave Umm Zeitouna because the situation was “too dangerous” for them to be there. The army positioned a checkpoint between at-Tuwani and Yatta, detaining seven Palestinians for an hour.
Monday, 25 August
The mayor of at-Tuwani held a meeting in the village with representatives from the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the Israeli District Coordinating Office (DCO, which administers Palestinian civilian affairs), and CPT and Operation Dove. Topics of the meeting included the schoolchildren's safety, and piping water into at-Tuwani. Under international law, Israel, as the occupying power, must ensure such basic services to the occupied civilian population. The representatives, along with CPT/OD, went on an army-escorted tour of the children's path to school. The local chief of settler security, Gadalia, came and offered his view, acknowledging some settler misbehavior in the past, but denying any recent violence.
Tuesday, 26 August
Israeli soldiers surrounded Palestinian shepherds grazing their land in Umm Zeitouna, near Ma'on Settlement, declaring that the land belonged to the settlement. The commander arbitrarily pointed to a hill on the horizon and said that was the legal boundary. While one shepherd hurried home to retrieve the ID cards they had forgotten to bring, the soldiers detained the remaining shepherds and internationals, took many photographs of them and recorded their conversations with a handheld audio device.
Friday, 29 August
Israeli peace activists organized a trip for Palestinian children and a few of their parents to the Safari Zoo Center in Tel Aviv. One parent later told CPTers that the children had become frightened in the zoo when they saw an Orthodox Jew wearing traditional clothing. The parent explained to the man about where the children came from, and their experience with settlers. The children then had a friendly conversation with the Jewish man's family. The Palestinian parent was excited to realize that not all Israelis behave as the settlers do and that his children could meet Israelis without being afraid.
23 September 2008
AT-TUWANI UPDATE: August 2008
[Note: According to the Geneva Conventions, the International Court of Justice in The Hague, and numerous United Nations resolutions, all Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal. Most settlement outposts are considered illegal under Israeli law.]
On team during this period were Tarek Abuata, Joy Ellison, Jessica Frederick, Joel Gulledge, Joshua Hough, Heidi Schramm, and members of Operation Dove (OD).
SUMMARY: During August, Palestinian shepherds continued grazing on their land despite ongoing threats from Israeli settlers and military. The at-Tuwani summer camp, organized by villagers, continued from July into August. Palestinian children daily attended the camp from their villages, walking past adult Israeli settlers who came out to threaten them. The violence stopped the children from attending a closing festival and a field trip to Hebron because soldiers refused to perform their escort duty. Villagers held a successful nonviolent march to publicize the children's diminishing right to education caused by ongoing settlement expansion. They met with Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad to appeal for water aid and other basic services from the Palestinian Authority. The final week saw school beginning and the army escort running on time but incomplete, leaving the children to walk for ½ km with no protection.
Saturday, 2 August 2008
Children and their parents walked the three km path from Tuba to at-Tuwani. (See 3 August CPTnet release: “AT-TUWANI: March from At-Tuwani to Tuba a success,” http://www.cpt.org/node/7254. A Picture of the march is available at http://cpt.org/gallery/album257.)
Tuesday, 5 August
The Israeli army refused to escort the children to summer camp. The children walked alone to at-Tuwani by the middle route, where settlers had attacked them the week before. (See 31 July CPTnet release: “AT-TUWANI: Israeli settlers attack children for the fourth time in one week” http://www.cpt.org/node/7249.) The Israeli army bulldozed the only remaining direct route between Tuwani and the nearby city of Yatta. Since the Israeli army blocked the main road to Yatta on 5 July (see 7 June CPTnet release, “AT-TUWANI: Israeli military again blocks main access road in South Hebron Hills, http://cpt.org/node/7147), the Palestinians have been forced to use this alternative dirt road through olive groves. Villagers worked with CPT accompaniment to open a passage to Yatta, the region's economic/municipal core.
Thursday, 7 August
In the nearby village of Mfagara, the Israeli army delivered demolition orders for a home and the mosque. These two buildings, and another two structures, also received demolition orders from 26 June.
Saturday, 9 August
To conclude the summer camp, at-Tuwani villagers held a festival and a press conference to spotlight settler violence in the area. Tuba children could not attend because the army refused to escort them to at-Tuwani. The children were afraid to walk alone because they saw settlers nearby. The army and police stopped journalists and camera crews from attending the conference. Barring everyone except local residents from entering, they remained in the village most of the day, and declared the surrounding area a “closed military zone.” In the early evening, the army removed a roadblock on the Yatta road that they had erected six weeks prior. (See 30 June CPTnet release, “Israeli military issues demolition orders and again blocks main access road in South Hebron Hills,” http://www.cpt.org/cptnet/2008/06/30/tuwani-israeli-military-issues-demolition-orders-and-again-blocks-main-access-road.)
Saturday, 16 August
Villagers organized a children's trip to a swimming pool in Hebron. Children from Tuba and Maghayir al-Abeed could not attend because the Israeli army refused to escort them to at-Tuwani. Palestinian Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad held a public conference in the nearby city of Yatta. At-Tuwani villagers attended, along with members of CPT and Operation Dove. An older village woman drew the Prime Minister's attention to the unique hardship faced by residents of at-Tuwani.
Sunday, 17 August
A masked Israeli settler shouted and ran toward shepherds in Umm Zeitouna, adjacent to the settlement of Ma'on.
Thursday, 21 August
Israeli soldiers told shepherds to leave Umm Zeitouna because the situation was “too dangerous” for them to be there. The army positioned a checkpoint between at-Tuwani and Yatta, detaining seven Palestinians for an hour.
Monday, 25 August
The mayor of at-Tuwani held a meeting in the village with representatives from the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the Israeli District Coordinating Office (DCO, which administers Palestinian civilian affairs), and CPT and Operation Dove. Topics of the meeting included the schoolchildren's safety, and piping water into at-Tuwani. Under international law, Israel, as the occupying power, must ensure such basic services to the occupied civilian population. The representatives, along with CPT/OD, went on an army-escorted tour of the children's path to school. The local chief of settler security, Gadalia, came and offered his view, acknowledging some settler misbehavior in the past, but denying any recent violence.
Tuesday, 26 August
Israeli soldiers surrounded Palestinian shepherds grazing their land in Umm Zeitouna, near Ma'on Settlement, declaring that the land belonged to the settlement. The commander arbitrarily pointed to a hill on the horizon and said that was the legal boundary. While one shepherd hurried home to retrieve the ID cards they had forgotten to bring, the soldiers detained the remaining shepherds and internationals, took many photographs of them and recorded their conversations with a handheld audio device.
Friday, 29 August
Israeli peace activists organized a trip for Palestinian children and a few of their parents to the Safari Zoo Center in Tel Aviv. One parent later told CPTers that the children had become frightened in the zoo when they saw an Orthodox Jew wearing traditional clothing. The parent explained to the man about where the children came from, and their experience with settlers. The children then had a friendly conversation with the Jewish man's family. The Palestinian parent was excited to realize that not all Israelis behave as the settlers do and that his children could meet Israelis without being afraid.