CPTnet
20 November 2006

AT-TUWANI: Palestinians flee village of Tuba due to invasion of fifty
Israeli settlers.

At 8:45 a.m. on 19 November 2006, fifty adult male Israeli settlers-some of
whom were carrying guns-walked from the Israeli outpost of Havot Ma'on (Hill
833) toward the small Palestinian village of Tuba. On the way, they
encountered the young children from Tuba and Migaer Al-Abeed walking to
school in At- Tuwani under Israeli military escort. Most of the children,
terrified, ran back towards Tuba. A village elder accompanied them back to
their escort and all of the children arrived safely in At-Tuwani, although
they were visibly shaken by their experience.

Two international volunteers from Operation Dove ran from At-Tuwani to Tuba.
When they got near the village, they met some of the villagers who had fled
their houses and taken refuge in the hills, along with flocks of sheep and
goats. A villager testified that when the settlers first approached the
village they said that they were hiking and would not bother the villagers.
The witness said, however, that the settlers, upon entering the village had
thrown stones at the villagers' animals and generators. They also emptied
storage containers of water, a commodity that is in very short supply in the
village.

The villagers pointed out the direction in which the settlers had gone. The
Doves were walking in that direction when, at 9:45 a.m., the Israeli police
and army arrived on the scene-more than an hour after they had been called.
The Doves saw the police jeep stop and the army jeep continue further on.
The police and soldiers ordered the Doves to stop following the settlers. A
villager later reported that the soldiers then shouted to the settlers to
leave because the police were coming. The villager also reported that he
saw the settlers go into a nearby valley and hide.

The Doves videotaped their discussion with the police. Audible on the
recording are the police's radio conversations with their colleagues who
said that they encountered some of the settlers, including four of whom the
villager had given a description. However, the police did not detain the
settlers, claiming that they had no evidence against them.

This assault is only the latest example of settler violence towards
Palestinians in this area that has evoked no response from Israeli
authorities.