[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 Jan Benvie, Joy Ellison, Jessica Frederick, Diane Janzen, Sam Nichols, Sean O'Neill, Michael Sharp (intern), and members of Operation Dove.

SUMMARY:

During July 2009, Palestinians from the village of At-Tuwani and the surrounding villages continued their nonviolent resistance against the Israeli occupation, including organizing a demonstration in response to Israeli settlement and outpost expansion, exercising their right to build on their land in defiance of stop work orders, organizing a children's march from At-Tuwani to Tuba, and regularly accessing their land, despite Israeli military and settler harassment and violence.

Israeli harassment of Palestinians included the arrest of Palestinians by Israeli authorities.  In several instances, Israeli police arrested a Palestinian shepherd based on maps that settlers showed to the authorities.  In addition, the Israeli District Coordinating Office (DCO), the civilian branch of the Israeli military, delivered stop work and demolition orders to structures Palestinians are building on their land.

The Israeli military failed to properly carry out the escort of the Palestinian children from the villages of Tuba and Maghayir Al Abeed to the annual summer camp in At-Tuwani.  The military was often late and never completed the entire escort, leaving the children vulnerable to Israeli settler harassment and attacks as they walked unaccompanied past the Ma'on settlement chicken barns.

Palestinian nonviolent resistance

Saturday 4 July 2009

Palestinians from the village of Tuba grazed their flocks near the chicken barns at the edge of Ma'on settlement, accompanied by Ta'ayush (an Israeli peace group) and internationals.  Ma'on's settlement security guard and several other settlers were present, speaking with the Israeli military, border police, and civilian police who had come into the area.  The Palestinians returned to Tuba when the Israeli military declared the area a closed military zone.

Saturday 11 July

Palestinians organized an action near the entrance to Ma'on to protest the building of a new settler road on Palestinian land.  Joy Ellison, Sam Nichols, and a Dove attended.  Three Israeli army jeeps arrived, but the Palestinians remained in the area until the army left.

Tuesday 21 July

Palestinians, accompanied by two Doves, began building new bathrooms in the nearby village of Um Al-Kheir.  The villagers face constant harassment by Israeli settlers and military, including the Israeli military demolition of ten homes in October 2008 and the building of a road on the villagers' land in 2009 by Israelis from the settlement of Karmel.

Monday 27 July

Palestinians organized and participated in the third children's march to Tuba, asserting their right to travel on roads through their land and showing solidarity with the children of Tuba and Maghayir Al Abeed, who attend school in At-Tuwani.  (See 28 July 2009 release, AT-TUWANI: Children walk in nonviolent witness from At-Tuwani to Tuba.)

Israeli police, military, and settler harassment of Palestinian shepherds

Friday 3 July

Palestinians from Tuba, accompanied by CPTers Janet Benvie and Jessica Frederick, grazed their flocks in Meshaha Valley.  Israeli police arrived in the area accompanied by two settlers.  The police arrested one shepherd.  When Benvie asked why, the police officer told her that the settlers had told him it was "Israeli land."  The police ignored the shepherd's assertion it was Palestinian land.  (See 6 July CPTnet release, AT-TUWANI: Israeli police, accompanied by Israeli settlers, arrest Tuba resident.)

Tuesday 7 July

Whilst grazing their sheep in Umm Zeituna, Palestinian shepherds from Tuba were chased by Israeli soldiers.  The soldiers, accompanied by a settlement security guard, initially chased the shepherds on foot, then in an army hummer.  The shepherds managed to safely leave the area.  A Palestinian from Tuba videotaped the incident.  When Frederick and a Dove, who were accompanying the shepherds, returned to Tuba they spoke with the mother of one of the young shepherds.  She told the team members that when her son and nephew were arrested recently (See 27 June CPTnet release, AT-TUWANI: Israeli police detain Palestinian children grazing sheep) police threatened them with a jail sentence and a 2,000 shekel fine if they were caught again on any hilltop near Ma'on.

Sunday 12 July

The Israeli army again chased shepherds from Tuba, whom Nichols and O'Neill were accompanying.

Tuwani shepherds, grazing their land in Humra valley, called to say settlers were nearby.  When Benvie and Ellison responded, they observed at least four settlers in the trees of Havat Ma'on outpost and an army hummer driving into the area.  A soldier approached the shepherds and team members and told Ellison she could not be on the land because it was‘private land' that belonged to the settlers of Havat Ma'on.  He informed her that he had come at their request.  The shepherds told the soldier that the land belonged to their family.  One shepherd explained in English, the other in Hebrew.  As the shepherds were moving towards home anyway, they continued on their way, ignoring the army who followed for a short time then left the area.

Monday 13 July

Just after 5:00 p.m., a Palestinian from the village of Um Al-Kheir called the team to say there were problems in the village.  When Benvie and O'Neill arrived, they learned that settlers had told a shepherd to leave the area.  When he did not, they called the army who came and detained the shepherd.  After a short time, the Israeli police arrived; they looked at maps produced by the settlers and legal papers produced by the Palestinian villagers.  Finally, the police allowed the shepherd to return to the village and the army, police and settlers left the area.

Sunday 19 July

Palestinians and team members videotaped two masked settlers chasing shepherds, shouting and throwing stones at them near Tuba.

Wednesday 22 July

Israeli soldiers, accompanied by settlers, again harassed shepherds in Umm Zeituna.  The army commander spoke at length with a settler.  When the Israeli police arrived, they too spoke with the settler and then spoke with one of the shepherds.  The police officer demanded that the shepherd to come to Kiryat Arba police station the next morning.  The following day, police question him for two to three hours and then released him.

Friday 31 July

Israeli police again detained Palestinian shepherds by Israeli police for grazing their sheep in Umm Zeituna.  The DCO, army, and police consulted with Israeli settlers who showed them maps of the area.  The police told the shepherds they were not allowed in the area.  They refused to show the shepherds the maps, giving only verbal instructions regarding where they could graze their sheep.  The Israeli police arrested one of the shepherds, telling Frederick and O'Neill that he "had asked too many questions."  They released the sixteen-year-old  two days later.

Stop work, demolition orders, and destruction of property

Tuesday 14 July

Palestinians, accompanied by Diane Janzen and Sean O'Neill, built the foundations for small buildings on their land on Humra hill, outside of At-Tuwani.

Thursday 16 July

The DCO arrived at the building site in Humra and told Palestinians that they would return on Sunday with stop work orders.  After the DCO left, Palestinians continued construction on six new houses.

That night, one of the new Palestinian houses in Humra and an olive tree were destroyed.  (See 20 July CPTnet release, AT-TUWANI: New Palestinian house and olive tree destroyed in the night.)  Ellison and Janzen accompanied the villager as he reconstructed his house later that day.

Monday 20 July

The Israeli military delivered stop work orders to nine structures in Tuwani and Humra.  Palestinians responded to the delivery of the stop work orders with nonviolent protests.  (See 22 July CPTnet release, "AT-TUWANI: Villagers nonviolently resist Israeli military delivery of nine Stop Work orders; Soldiers strike child, arrest adult.)

A video of the incident is available at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fX322W_VTlI

Tuesday 28 July

The DCO delivered demolition orders for the new electric pylons.  In July, the village received verbal permission from Quartet on the Middle East envoy Tony Blair to develop the infrastructure and bring electricity to the village.  (See 30 July CPTnet release, AT-TUWANI URGENT ACTION: Demand that Quartet pressure Israel to revoke demolition order for electricity pylons.)

Problems with the military escort of children from Tuba and Maghayir Al Abeed to At-Tuwani

Saturday 18 July

In the morning, the army told team members that they would not send a military escort so that the children from Tuba and Maghayir Al Abeed so could safely attend summer camp in At-Tuwani.  The escort did eventually arrive.  In the afternoon, the army again refused to escort the children, and said that they would not coordinate with CPT.  After Ellison and Frederick made several phone calls to partner organizations, the military eventually arrived one hour and forty minutes late.

Monday 20 July

In the morning, the military escort was late and arrived by foot without a jeep.  Settlers came out of the chicken barns and shouted at the childr

Wednesday 22 July

During afternoon school patrol, settlers came out of the chicken barns and yelled at the children.