Archive - 2008

octubre 30th

AT-TUWANI URGENT ACTION: Ask Israeli authorities why the Israeli military demolished homes in Um al Kher, South Hebron Hills

At 9:10 a.m. on the morning of Wednesday 29 October 2008, the Israeli military demolished ten Palestinian dwellings in the South Hebron Hills village of Um al Kher, leaving around sixty people, including young children, homeless.
The military arrived without warning shortly after 9:00 a.m. Soldiers gave the villagers little time to remove their possessions before demolishing four stone homes and six metal dwellings with a bulldozer. Um al Kher is situated close to the Israeli settlement of Karmel and the demolished homes were those closest to the settlement.

octubre 29th

COLOMBIA: Keeping vigils


It wasn’t what I had expected.  That seems to be the theme of my work this year in Colombia.  My teammates Pierre and Sallie Ann had just left for an accompaniment trip, the delegation had taken off for the mining zone, Sarah was headed for Bogota to meet a new teammate at the airport, another teammate was on vacation.  This left Sandra and I here in Barranca what I thought would be a couple of quiet days, catching up on e-mail, cleaning the patio, chatting with neighbors, maybe starting a novel.

But a phone call sent us in a different direction. The past weekend, six people had died in an ongoing string of murders in Barrancabermeja…

Prayers for Peacemakers, Wed., Oct. 29, 2008

PRAYERS FOR PEACEMAKERS, Wed., Oct. 29, 2008

Pray for Colombia. The president has declared a "national emergency" as indigenous peoples in the south and small miners in the north block roads and occupy towns protesting government intimidation and broken commitments.

Doug Pritchard
Christian Peacemaker Teams
Toronto, Canada

octubre 27th

AT-TUWANI REFLECTION: Sentinel of resistance

In  the South Hebron Hills sits a new cistern—another sentinel of resistance to the Israeli occupation.

octubre 24th

AT-TUWANI: Israeli settlers yell death threats at Palestinian children walking home from school

Israeli settlers from the settlement of Ma’on in the South Hebron Hills harassed and yelled death threats at Palestinian elementary schoolchildren on their way home from school, Thursday 23 October 2008.  The children were returning from the At-Tuwani village school to their homes in the villages of Tuba and Maghayir al Abeed escorted by an Israeli army humvee.  When two adult Israeli settlers chased the children, throwing stones and threatening to kill them, the Israeli soldiers remained in their vehicle and got out of the humvee only at the conclusion of the escort.

octubre 23rd

HEBRON: Update on the Hebron orphanages

Two friends of CPT Hebron told team members on 13 October 2008 that the Palestinian Authority has replaced the board of directors of the Islamic Charitable Society (ICS)schools and orphanages.  The friends noted that  this new move means that the ICS schools and orphanages will likely continue to operate the rest of the school year.

octubre 22nd

Prayers for Peacemakers, Wed., Oct. 22, 2008

PRAYERS FOR PEACEMAKERS, Wed., Oct. 22, 2008

Pray for Palestinian farmers seeking to harvest their olive crops. Israeli settlers have attacked them in several places while the army stood by.

Doug Pritchard
Christian Peacemakers Teams
Toronto, Canada

COLOMBIA: Southern Bolívar’s ignored and oppressed inhabitants prepare to take desperate measures


On Thursday, 16 October 2008, representatives of the mining and agricultural communities of Southern Bolívar (See map at http://cpt.org/albums/Maps/South_Bolivar_001.jpg) decided that unless the Colombian government agreed to resume meaningful dialogue by Monday, 20 October, they would mobilize thousands of their members in a bid to force the government back to the bargaining table.  They made the decision after national and state government representatives failed to appear on Wednesday, 15 October, at a meeting in Santa Rosa that the government itself had scheduled–and rescheduled and rescheduled.

octubre 19th

HEBRON: Israeli settlers beat up Palestinian reporter during olive harvest, punch CPTer

On the morning of Saturday 18 October 2008, a group of four Israeli settlers beat up a Palestinian reporter, Abed Hashlamoun, in the Tel Rumeida area of Hebron. He required hospital treatment for his injuries.

Hashlamoun had been photographing Palestinians, Israelis, and internationals harvesting olives together in an event organized by Tel Rumeida landowners. Hashlamoun was walking alone through the olive groves when male settlers knocked him to the ground and began beating and kicking him.

Several of the olive pickers heard his cries and ran to help him. One of the settlers seized Hashlamoun’s camera. CPTer Janet Benvie approached the settler and asked him to return the camera, but he did not respond. When Benvie took hold of the camera strap the young man punched her in the face, knocking her to the ground. He then hurled the camera into the rocky field below.

octubre 15th

Prayers for Peacemakers, Wed., Oct. 15, 2008

PRAYERS FOR PEACEMAKERS, Wed., Oct. 15, 2008

Pray for the Christian Peacemaker Team returning to the Kurdish area of northern Iraq. This area is under attack from neighbouring Turkey and Iran and receives persons fleeing the violence in the rest of Iraq.

Doug Pritchard
Christian Peacemaker Teams
Toronto, Canada