CPTnet
23 March 2009
AT-TUWANI UPDATE: 1-18 February 2009

[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.]

SUMMARY:
Nine times during this period, the Israeli military imposed checkpoints along the road passing through At-Tuwani, sometimes harassing Palestinians using it.  Checkpoints on this road hinder Palestinian traffic between the city of Yatta (the nearest economic, medical, and educational hub) and the remainder of the South Hebron Hills.

Palestinian shepherds in the South Hebron Hills continued nonviolent resistance by grazing their flocks on their land despite Israeli army and settler harassment.  In seven instances this month, members of CPT and Operation Dove (the Doves) accompanied the shepherds as they successfully accessed their land without incident.  In addition, the At-Tuwani team documented Israeli settlers and soldiers harassing shepherds (seven and three times, respectively) while on Palestinian land.

On team during this period were Jan Benvie, Laura Ciaghi, Jessica Frederick, Joshua Hough, Sarah MacDonald, Ceylon Mooney (intern), Sean O’Neill, and the Doves.


Monday 2 February 2009
In the morning, Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian man on the Israeli side of the border near the Palestinian village of Jinba and the Israeli settlement of Beit Yatir.  Taysir Manasra, 27, from the Hebron area, was attempting to travel into Israel for work.  Following this incident, CPTers documented two Israeli checkpoints in separate locations, at which Israeli soldiers detained, beat and harassed Palestinians (see 12 February 2009 CPTnet release, “AT-TUWANI: Soldiers kill Palestinian migrant worker, increase harassment of villagers in South Hebron Hills.”)  At one checkpoint, an Israeli soldier told Sarah MacDonald that two of the Palestinian detainees had no registration or ID, were likely terrorists, and  "may cut your throat next!"

Tuesday 3 February
Israeli soldiers arrested a Palestinian at his home in Mfagara, one km southwest of At-Tuwani.  They claimed that the van parked outside his home was not correctly registered, even after he produced documents.  They then confiscated the van.  During this incident, Jan Benvie had a conversation with one soldier, who concluded that the hundreds of children killed in Gaza would have all become terrorists in twenty years anyway (See video at http://www.cpt.org/cptnet/2009/02/27/tuwani-video-posted-soldiers-arrest...)

Monday 9 February
Benvie and Jessica Frederick went to the old Havat Ma’on Israeli settler outpost to accompany a Palestinian shepherd grazing his flock.  Around 10:30 a.m., Israeli soldiers drove via the road between the Israeli settlement of Ma'on and outpost of Havat Ma'on.  They stopped briefly at the outpost to speak with settlers, and then approached the shepherd.  The shepherd slowly herded his sheep down the hill, telling Frederick he "didn't want problems."  The soldiers told him he was not allowed on his land; he had to move farther down the hill.  The shepherd remained with his flock on the land.  The soldiers insisted it was illegal for both Israeli settlers and Palestinians to be in the area, but said they could not produce a map designating its boundaries.  The soldiers left after the shepherd moved further downhill.

Just after 5:00 p.m., Benvie and MacDonald observed an Israeli army checkpoint on the road to Yatta.  The soldiers had stopped Palestinians driving toward Yatta and were ordering the driver to remove and hand over his license plates.  They allowed other Palestinian vehicles to pass after checking IDs.  Eventually the Palestinian gave the soldiers his license plates.  Palestinians frequently tell CPT that Israeli occupation authorities confiscate their license plates, which prevents them from traveling on the Israeli settler highways.

Saturday 14 February
Ceylon Mooney and a Dove accompanied Palestinian shepherds and their flocks to Umm Zeituna Valley.  At noon, Mooney saw three settlers with a flock of sheep and goats on a hill near Havat Ma'on.  He filmed a masked settler approaching.  The settler remained on the opposite hillside.

Monday, 16 February
Benvie and Mooney accompanied shepherds near Old Havat Ma'on.  Israeli settlers drove up and stopped on the nearest hilltop.  Two Israeli settlers got out of the vehicle and walked toward them.  The shepherds moved down into a nearby valley while the CPTers shadowed the settlers who were following them.  The CPTers tried to talk with the settlers, who seemed focused on reaching the shepherds.  Satisfied that the Palestinians had moved far enough away, the settlers stopped and spoke with the CPTers, asking why the Palestinians came onto the settlers’ land.  They did not accept any Palestinian right to the land, claiming it was theirs according to the Bible.

Wednesday 18 February
Frederick and two Doves accompanied a Palestinian shepherd on Old Havat Ma'on.  Three Israeli settlers, one armed, drove to the area and got out of the vehicle.  One used his mobile while one looked at a map, and they talked together while looking in the direction of the shepherd and At-Tuwani team members.  After some time, the settlers returned to their truck and drove back towards Havat Ma'on, stopping to speak with Israeli soldiers in the area.  The soldiers then drove towards the Palestinian shepherd.  The soldiers spoke with the Doves and told them Palestinian shepherds are not allowed to graze on this land.  The Doves gave them a document from the Association of Civil Rights in Israel stipulating the Palestinians’ rights to access their land.  The soldiers then left.