On Tuesday, 28 July, members of the Israeli District Coordinating Office (DCO)—the branch of the Israeli army that administers civilian affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT)—issued a demolition order for the newly constructed electricity pylons in the South Hebron Hills village of At-Tuwani.  These pylons would connect the village to the Palestinian electricity grid in nearby towns.

Last week those of us working on the Colombia team sent an urgent action request regarding the families of Las Pavas who were displaced from their land.  Thank you for your swift response.  Within four days, we received fifty letters, which we shared with the community of Las Pavas.  The community leaders, grateful for this expression of international solidarity, said that these letters “fortify us more than eating a lunch” (and lunch is the principal meal of the day here).  We have also shared your letters with the Human Rights representatives of the U.S. and Canadian embassies, who expressed their concern and a commitment to follow up on the situation.  Please continue to send letters of concern about this displacement; updated details about how to do so are below.

Today I have my first taste of raw sugar cane, sweet and delicately flavored.  My friend Umberto,* who has been my host for the past few days, takes his machete and peels the bark off an eight foot rod, then notches the pale interior so it’s easy to break off small pieces.  I take a chunk in my hand.  It looks like pale wood, slick with sap.  I take a bite, chewing the pulp, and juice drips from my mouth.  It is almost clear, incredibly sweet and reminds me of thin honey.  I spit out the woody part and toss it on the pile of outer husks that will help fuel the fire for the next round of making panela, hard cakes of sugar.

In yesterday's CPTnet Urgent Action, ONTARIO URGENT ACTION: Write and Call Ontario's Minister of the Environment to Protect Ontario's Water, the link for a sample letter to the authorities listed was incorrect. Use the following link instead:

http://www.davidsuzuki.org/Oceans/Take_Action/StopDumpSite41.asp

CPT's Aboriginal Justice Team is currently accompanying members of the Beausoleil First Nation and local citizens of Simcoe County at the blockade of a garbage dump currently under construction directly on top of a pristine aquifer near Elmvale, Ontario. In 2006, University of Heidelberg Professor William Shotyk, a scientist whose research sets an international benchmark for measuring the effects of human activities on water, tested the water at Dumpsite 41. Dr. Shotyk found that the water is so free of contaminants it is comparable to 5,000-6,000 year-old Arctic ice core sources.

The logo for the County of Simcoe on the “Notice of Project” posted at Dump Site 41 in Tiny Township reads “for the greater good.”  But members of the nearby Beausoleil First Nation, thousands of neighbouring farmers, cottagers, and other non-Native citizens believe that neither their interests nor the environment is well-served by the decision of County Council to build a dump site directly above ground water that scientific studies have identified as of the purest quality.

"They have to stop raping Mother Earth," says Vicki Monague, one of five Beausoleil First Nation women who have been leading ongoing nonviolent direct actions at the site since the County began digging and deaquification commenced in late March. By then, more than two decades of citizen campaigns against a dump above the aquifer had failed. 

As traditional Keepers of the Water, the Beausoleil women set up a legal encampment on the Parnell family farm across the road from the dump site on 14 May 2009.  On 6 July, when the County stepped up work, the women, soon joined by citizens from the surrounding communities, blockaded the site's entrances.

CPT sent its first four person team to the blockade on 13 July because police arrests at the site became a real possibility.  Full-time CPT accompaniment began on 19 July.  Team members are currently joining the Anishinabe women and local citizens at the blockades, listening to the stories of the ongoing struggle with County Council, sharing stories of nonviolent struggle, and documenting police presence. 

You can see photos of the action here: http://cpt.org/gallery/Dump-Site-41-album-2