CPTnet
27 January 2009
AT-TUWANI UPDATE: December 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.]

Members on team during this period included Janet Benvie, Dennis Bricker, Art Gish, Joshua Hough, Sam Nichols, Sean O’Neil and members of Operation Dove.

The Israeli army escort consistently failed to accompany the schoolchildren on the complete route to and from school, leaving them vulnerable to settler attacks. On one occasion, they failed to escort the children at all. Palestinian shepherds continued to graze their flocks on their land, despite the Israeli military frequently ordering them to leave.

Two international groups visited the village in December.  Another group hoping to visit was stopped by the Israeli military and turned back.  Several representatives from international NGOs visited the village to see first-hand the effect of climate change and the lack of services, like clean water and electricity, on the lives of the villagers. CPT continued to accompany boys from Tuba to football games in Tuwani on Fridays.

Thursday 4 December 2008
School finished early and for a break until 14 December for the Muslim festival of Eid al Adha.

Following an Israeli court order, the Israeli military evacuated settlers from a house in Hebron that they had occupied for nearly two years. The settlers rampaged through the streets, desecrating a Muslim cemetery, setting fire to Palestinian homes and vehicles.  People in Tuwani were anxious about settlers from Ma'on or Havot Ma'on deciding to retaliate, but the situation remained quiet. However, settlers threw a Molotov cocktail at a dwelling in the nearby Palestinian village of Susiya during the night.

Saturday 6 December 2008
At an army checkpoint near the Israeli settlement of Carmel, the Israeli military turned back a group from Churches for Middle East Peace that was coming to visit the village and told the people that the area was a closed military zone.

An Israeli jeep entered the village and detained a young man who was visiting in the village. The soldiers said that he had no ID and no registration papers for his vehicle.  The young men sent someone to his home to get his ID. Once he showed the soldiers his ID they left.

Sunday 7 December 2008
A group from Italy visited the village with members of Operation Dove.  They toured the village and had lunch at the women’s cooperative.  The team learned that the previous night settlers had entered the Palestinian village of Um al Kher, beside Karmel settlement, east of Tuwani, and damaged fencing, a water tank and irrigation pipes in a small area the villagers had prepared for planting. O’Neill and Bricker walked to the village to photograph the damage.

Monday 8 December 2008
Two camels, donated to the village by a Bedouin man a holiday gift, were slaughtered for the Muslim festival of Eid al Adha.  Villagers insisted that CPT share in the meat.

Wednesday 10 December 2008
In the afternoon, Bricker and Gish observed Israeli soldiers detaining a group of around twenty Palestinian men. The men had been traveling together in a van, on the back road south of Tuwani. The soldiers searched the van, and then forced the Palestinians to head back toward At-Tuwani.

Saturday 13 December 2008
Benvie and Gish accompanied Palestinians plowing between the Susya settlement and Samu’, south of At-Tuwani. A young settler couple came to the field and sat on a rock.  Gish went to talk with them.  The man, who was carrying an assault rifle, would talk to Gish only in Arabic.  They were not overtly disruptive, but their presence caused anxiety for the Palestinians farming their land. The couple stayed for around forty-five minutes.

Monday 15 December 2008
Because of problems with the village generator the village was without electricity; usually the generator provides four hours of electricity each evening.

Tuesday 16 December 2008
Representatives from the United Nations Development Programme and two people from the London School of Economics & Political Science visited the village to discuss the drought and effects of climate change in this area.

Wednesday 17 December 2008
While Bricker and Nichols were accompanying a local shepherd, soldiers approached them. The soldiers told the shepherd that he could not graze his sheep within sight of the Israeli outpost.

Thursday 18 December 2008
A representative of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) came with a visitor from Human Rights Watch (HRW). The HRW representative was inquiring about development of infrastructure: water, roads, electricity etc.  Israel as the occupying power has obligations under international law to provide these essential services.

Friday 19 December 2008
Benvie and Bricker went to Tuba to escort the boys to a football tournament. At-Tuwani lost all their games. For photos please go to http://cpt.org/gallery/Football-in-At-Tuwani

Sunday 21 December 2008
In the afternoon Benvie and Gish went to a checkpoint on the road from at-Tuwani to Karmil. The soldiers were detaining one man but allowing Palestinian vehicles to pass.  The soldiers told Gish that the detained man was from Gaza and that they were holding him until Special Forces came.  After a short time, the soldiers put the Palestinian in the back of the vehicle and drove away.

Wednesday 24 December 2008
The school finished for a short break to mark Western Christmas and Muslim New Year.

Saturday 27 December 2008
Hough and Nichols accompanied Palestinians from Tuba plowing their land near Ma'on settlement.

Sunday 28 December 2008
Two members of Operation Dove accompanied a shepherd near the outpost of Havat Ma'on. Israeli soldiers approached the shepherd and told him that he could not graze his sheep there because the land belonged to the settlers.

There was a general strike in Palestine in protest of Israel’s war on Gaza.

In the early afternoon, Benvie, on days off in Hebron, saw Palestinian police open fire on a peaceful demonstration in the Al Manara area of the city. The police fired above peoples’ heads and no one was injured. In the late afternoon she observed Israeli soldiers near the Old City firing tear gas and rubber bullets at stone-throwing Palestinian youth.  Several youth were injured and taken to hospital.

Monday 29 December 2008
School began again and the children were taking. The soldiers accompanying the school children from Tuba drove a short distance then stopped to chat with settlers working in the area. The soldiers told the children to go on alone. (See 31 December 2008 release, “Israeli army fails to escort Palestinian schoolchildren twice in three days,” http://www.cpt.org/cptnet/2008/12/31/tuwani-israeli-army-fails-escort-palestinian-school-children-twice-three-days.)


Wednesday 31 December 2008
The army did not come for morning school patrol. The three younger children went back to Tuba and nine children walked a longer route. (See http://www.cpt.org/cptnet/2008/12/31/tuwani-israeli-army-fails-escort-palestinian-school-children-twice-three-days.  A group of fifty people from Italy, led by Louisa Morgantini, vice president of the European Parliament, visited the village and spoke with a number of villagers. 

An Israeli from the group Breaking the Silence came to the village with two people from an Italian TV station to speak with the schoolchildren from Tuba. Benvie and Hough went with them to Tuba where they were able to interview some of the children and their parents.