Report on the Israeli Military and Police Escort of Palestinian Children from Tuba and Magaer Al-Abeed to and from School in At-Tuwani for the 2005-2006 School Year

10 November 2006

By Christian Peacemaker Teams and Operation Dove

Introduction

Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) and Operation Dove have maintained a continuous non-violent presence in the Palestinian village of At-Tuwani in Masafer Yatta (Hebron district, the West Bank) since September 2004.

During the presence in At-Tuwani, members of CPT and Operation Dove have observed, and at times accompanied, Palestinian children from the nearby villages of Tuba and Magaer Al-Abeed as they made their way to and from school in At-Tuwani. This report presents data collected by the internationals for the 2005-2006 school year, analyzing the effectiveness of the Israeli military and police escort (in terms of safety and punctuality).

Background

The school in At-Tuwani provides education for Palestinian children from the village of At-Tuwani and from neighboring villages for levels 1-6 (from 6-12 years old). The school year runs from the beginning of September to the end of May. Classes are six days a week, Saturday to Thursday, from 8:00 to 12:30 or 13:00. The school year includes two semesters, each ending with a period of final exams (one exam per day, therefore the school day is shorter on exam days). After the first semester there is a three-week break.

Palestinian roads connecting At-Tuwani to villages to the east (Tuba and Magaer Al-Abeed) existed prior to the establishment of the settlement of Ma'on in 1982. The most direct road (henceforth called "short road") between At-Tuwani and Tuba passes between Ma'on and the outpost of Hill 833¹ on the treed hill Tel Abu Jundiya. A second slightly longer road runs on the eastern and then southern edge of Tel Abu Jundiya (henceforth called "middle road"). Settlers frequently attacked Palestinians when they used these two roads, forcing Palestinians to travel further from the settlement and outpost to avoid attack. Therefore a longer path through steep hilly terrain, traversable only by donkey or foot, became the normal route to travel between the eastern villages and At-Tuwani (henceforth called "long path").²

As a result of the settler attacks on the children as they traveled to and from school, the number of children from Tuba and Magaer Al-Abeed going to school dropped by a third by the start of the 2002 school year. These children were either not attending school or they were traveling a much further distance east to a Bedouin school. The children that continued going to school in At-Tuwani often took the one-hour long path on donkeys. The majority of the students that stopped attending school were the youngest children, as the longer journey to school was too difficult for them.

Members of Ta'ayush (an Israeli Jewish-Arab peace group) drew attention to the situation in the fall of 2002 by making solidarity visits and occasionally accompanying the children from Tuba to and from school. By the spring of 2003 Ta'ayush members were present in At-Tuwani most weekends from Friday to Saturday afternoons, as settler attacks were most frequent on Saturdays. On these Saturdays, Ta'ayush members accompanied the children from Tuba to and from school in At-Tuwani on the short road. During this time, Ta'ayush members also tried to put pressure on the Israeli government through petitions and the involvement of supporting Israeli intellectuals, to call on the Israeli military to take responsibility for protecting the Palestinian children from settler attacks.

After beginning their presence in At-Tuwani on 27 September 2004, internationals from CPT and Operation Dove started accompanying five children from Tuba to and from school in At-Tuwani on the short road.

On 29 September 2004, at 7:00am, masked settlers came from the Hill 833 outpost and attacked the internationals and children with rocks, chains and wooden sticks as they were walking to At-Tuwani. One of the children was slightly injured and the two internationals were seriously injured. After this incident, the children's parents and At-Tuwani village leaders asked the internationals to began accompanying children around the outpost through the hills (not quite as far away as the long path). On 9 October 2004, as the internationals were returning to At-Tuwani after accompanying the children home, masked settlers (coming from a vehicle driven on the middle road) attacked the internationals, hitting them with sticks and using slingshots to throw rocks. Three internationals were injured, one seriously.³

As a result of the attention to the situation by Israeli, Palestinian and international media, consular representatives and Israeli peace groups, the Israeli Knesset Committee for Children's Rights⁴ discussed this situation. The Knesset Committee gave the Israeli military and police an order to accompany the children to and from school each school day using the most direct route. Two security personnel were to walk with the children while the military/police vehicle followed.

The Israeli military began the escort in the end of October 2004. However, the Israeli military refused to allow the internationals to accompany the children, stating that the military could not guarantee the safety of the children and internationals from attacks by settlers if the internationals were present. The parents of the children agreed to the Israeli military/police escort, but asked the internationals to observe the escort from a distance to ensure that the escort order was carried out.

The Israeli military disregarded the specifics of the order by not using the most direct route possible (the short road). When the Israeli military/police first began to escort the children on the short road, the Ma'on settler security guard blocked the road. Then after speaking with the security guard the military/police turned around and used the middle road instead. By the end of November 2004 the military and police stopped using the short road and used instead the middle road for the rest of the 2004-2005 school year.

Even during the Israeli military/police escort of the school children, settlers continued to attack (three times) and harass (18 times) the children. The Israeli military/police did little to protect the children or apprehend the attackers.

In February 2005, settlers began living in the caravan (trailer home) on the eastern edge of the outpost, right alongside the middle road. This presence increased the likelihood of settlers being in the area during the times that that Palestinian children were being escorted to and from school. In July 2005, the outpost settlers constructed a house north of the caravan along the middle road and a wooden and tarp structure east of the caravan.

Data Collected by the Internationals

The data collected twice a day by the internationals was:

• the number of children
• the details of phone calls made to the Israeli military/police office if the escort was not present at the agreed upon time (7:30, and 13:00 the beginning of the school week and 12:30 the end of the school week)
• the time the military/police started escorting the children
• the time the military/police finished escorting the children
• the license plate number of the military/police vehicle used in the escort
• the number of security personnel walking with the children
• any additional information (descriptions of settler attacks or harassment, problems with security personnel during the escort, accompaniment of the escort by media, any changes to the escort route)

Description of the Escort

On the way to school, the children from Magaer Al-Abeed walked north to the village of Tuba. From Tuba all the school children walked part way along the short road in the direction of At-Tuwani and waited on the eastern side of Tel Abu Jundiya for the military/police escort. Internationals observed the children waiting from a hill southeast of Tel Abu Jundiya. The internationals were in cell phone contact with a father watching from Tuba and the Israeli military/police if the escort was late or if there were settlers in the area. Other internationals waited in At-Tuwani for the children and escort to arrive, ready to speak with the children and security personnel if there were problems during the escort. Both groups of internationals used digital cameras and video cameras to record any problems.

The routine for the escort home from school was similar, with one group of internationals waiting with the children near At-Tuwani for the military/police to arrive, and other internationals observing the escort from the hill southeast of Tel Abu Jundiya. They watched the escort until they saw the children continuing by themselves on the final path towards Tuba.

Usually on Tuesdays and Wednesdays the Israeli police performed the escort, and the Israeli military was responsible for the rest of the school week.

Important Events During the 2005-2006 School Year

For the first week of school in September 2005 the Israeli military and police escorted the children to school using the middle road. After the first week, the military and police switched to using the short road to escort the children. However, during the summer of 2005 settlers had placed a padlocked gate on the At-Tuwani side of the short road. This padlock created difficulties for the military and police throughout the entire school year (unable to open the padlock because of problems with the combination - sometimes because of settlers changing the padlock, or because the escort personnel were unaware of the padlock's existence and therefore hadn't requested the combination from the settlers).

On Sunday, 16 October 2005 three Israeli settler youths were killed and one was injured in a drive-by shooting on the Israeli by-pass road from Hebron to Jerusalem. All four youths were residents of Ma'on and two other settlements in the south Hebron hills, close to the village of At-Tuwani. The Israeli military and police cancelled the school escort for the children from 17 - 29 October 2005, fearing settler attacks on the children during the mourning period that also coincided with the Sukot holiday. During this time period the children rode donkeys and walked to and from school using the long path.

Beginning in December 2005 and continuing for the rest of the school year, settlers and settlement workers constructed two large chicken barns on the northeastern edge of Tel Abu Jundiya, just south of the short road, and very near the place where the children waited for the escort in the morning.

At the start of the second semester the end of January 2006, 16-19 children from Tuba and Magaer Al-Abeed were coming with the military/police escort to school regularly, as compared to the five children in the fall of 2004.

At least 30% of the time the children waited for a late escort. This meant that the children sometimes waited for extended periods of time in harsh winter weather. Additionally, the children waited in areas close to where settlers were living or working, thus making them vulnerable to settler attacks. On 24 April 2006 the children were waiting on the northwest corner of Tel Abu Jundiya for the escort home, playing close to fruit trees planted by Ma'on settlers. Six young settler men came running out of Ma'on and the Hill 833 outpost and chased the children and internationals towards At-Tuwani. The settlers latter claimed that the children were breaking off branches of the fruit trees. However internationals observing did not see this. After this incident settlers placed large boulders on the short road near the gate so that the escort vehicle could not drive through the gate. The military/police escort then began to occasionally use the middle road. On one occasion, the Ma'on settler security guard blocked the short road and after speaking with the escort soldiers, the children were escorted home on the middle road. By the first week of May, the military and police had reverted to always using the middle road to escort the children. They claimed this was due to new orders from the military commander in response to the settlers concern for their agriculture.

In February 2006 settlers constructed a house on the southeastern corner Tel Abu Jundiya, just inside the trees and close to the middle road. This increased the risk of settler attacks on the middle road, making the threat much higher than it was in the fall of 2004 when the escort was first implemented. Settler harassment and attacks did occur frequently once the escort reverted back to using the middle road in May 2006.⁵ Several places along the middle road are not visible from the hill where internationals observe from, and often the attacks occurred in these places.

On 1 May 2006, settlers placed boulders on the middle road on the southeastern edge of Tel Abu Jundiya in an area where the road runs close to the trees and where the ground drops off steeply on the other side, making it dangerous to drive vehicles around the road block (the place was also out of sight from the hill where internationals observe from). This prevented a single military/police vehicle from driving the entire route of the escort with the children. At times two security personnel walked with the children while the escort vehicle turned around and came from the other direction towards the blocked part of the road. Other times two military/police vehicles were used to do the escort. Several times while using the middle road, the police refused to complete the escort. They stated that the military must remove the boulders because the police will not accompany the children without a police vehicle. It took the military eight days to remove the settler roadblock.

After severe settler attacks on Saturday 29 April 2006, and Saturday 6 May 2006 (this one occurred at the boulders on the middle road), Israeli peace groups and prominent Israelis pressured the Israeli government to address the situation. According to Ha'aretz, on Wednesday 10 May 2006, the Israeli Defense Minister's bureau issued a report stating that Amir Peretz instructed the Israeli military and police to increase the security for the Palestinian children passing the Hill 833 outpost on their way to and from school. The report also stated that the escort should immediately arrest anyone who harasses the children. However settler attacks and harassment of the children during the escort continued without any of the settlers being apprehended by Israeli police.

On the 31 May 2006, Israeli military and police delivered evacuation notices to buildings in Ma'on Farm outpost. An article in Ha'aretz stated that Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said that the government is evacuating these settlers because of the attacks by the outpost settlers on the Palestinian school children as they pass the outpost on their way to and from school in At-Tuwani.

As of the release of this report, 10 November 2006, the buildings in the Ma'on Farm outpost have not been evacuated and demolished.

Data Analysis

The following analysis comes from information gathered by the internationals about the escort:

Observations

Lack of information given to Israeli soldiers about when and how to carry out the order

On at least six occasions the internationals had to explain to soldiers how they needed to escort the children (where to meet the children in the morning/afternoon, what time, what road to escort them on). On two of the Saturdays that the military was late, soldiers said that they didn't know there was school on Saturdays.

Lack of effort by Israeli military and police to prevent settler attacks and apprehend attackers

During many of the instances of settler harassment or attacks the settlers were able to walk close to or among the children without interference from the military/police escorts. Even after multiple incidents of harassment/attacks by the same settlers the military/police escorts did not act preemptively to prevent the settlers from approaching the children.

On 11 occasions while the children were waiting for the escort vehicle to arrive, or after the escort vehicle left the children on their own, settlers harassed or chased the children. Had the escort arrived at the agreed upon time, or waited to ensure that the children got to their destination safely, these instances of harassment or attack might have been deterred.

Settlers have also attacked soldiers and the military and police escort vehicles. On 27 April 2006, settlers threw rocks at the police vehicle while it was waiting in the morning for the children to come from Tuba. A window on the vehicle was broken. The police did not attempt to apprehend or arrest the settlers. On 29 April 2006 five adult male settlers circled around the school escort, yelling at the schoolchildren as they walked home. When the school escort was close to the place where the children continue home alone, a group of about thirty-five settlers came from Ma'on and formed a circle around the escort and threw rocks and eggs. The soldiers ordered the schoolchildren to go into the military jeeps, where they sat for almost an hour. The military and police took no action against the settlers. After at least two attacks soldiers filed complaints with the police against the settlers, however no settlers have been apprehended and arrested. In conversations with internationals, soldiers expressed frustration at not knowing what they could do to prevent settler attacks (they claimed their commander didn't tell them how to respond).

Settlers are allowed to act without fear of being apprehended or charged for their illegal actions, even against Israeli military or police personnel.

Frequency of attacks on Saturdays and lack of preparation by military and police

Out of the 15 instances of the settlers attacking or chasing the children, ten of the attacks occurred on a Saturday, and out of those ten, seven where while the children were being escorted home from school.

Even after a pattern of frequent settler attacks emerged (Saturday on the escort home), the Israeli military and police did not provide extra personnel to protect the children or apprehend the attackers.

Only at the very end of the school year, on the last three Saturdays, did more than one escort vehicle accompany the children home. The presence of additional security personnel on the homeward journey on Saturdays occurred after two consecutive Saturdays of severe settler attacks.

Frequency of problems with military/police doing the escort during a Jewish and or Israeli holiday

On the 27 days of official and semi Jewish and/or Israeli holidays, there were problems with the Israeli military/police not arriving to do the escort 17 times (including the seven days of Sukot when the escort was cancelled), and late arrival 21 times.

One example of this was on 3 May 2006 (Independence Day), when the Israeli police arrived on time to escort the children home. However after the police spoke with the children, the police told the internationals that the children refused to go with them. The internationals spoke with the children and found that what the police had told the internationals was false; the children did want to go with the police. The internationals informed the police of this, but the police left, promising to come back. The police did not return, and after repeated calls to the police station the police informed the internationals that the military would do the escort. When the military did not arrive, internationals called the military base and were told that the children had refused to be escorted. After informing the military that this was not true and that the children were waiting, the military promised to come. Israelis who were also calling the military base on behalf of the children were told different things; that the military was already in At-Tuwani doing the escort, or that the Israeli civil administration was going to do the escort. After waiting for three hours, the children walked the long path home. No military or police personnel ever arrived to escort them.

Palestinian schools are not closed during Jewish and/or Israeli holidays, and the Israeli military/police either did not know this, or did not plan ahead to have enough security personnel working those days to ensure that the school escort was carried out, and on time.

A second observation relating to this is the appearance of a breakdown in communication between the military and police on Jewish and/or Israeli holidays when responding to problems with the school escort.

Switch to the middle road at the end of the school year led to an increase in settler harassment and attacks on the children

Almost half of the settler attacks (7/15) and close to half of the incidents of settler harassment (10/25) occurred at the end of the school year when the Israeli military and police reverted back to using the middle road.

As a result of settlers living in the outpost buildings right beside or close to the middle road (in at least three out of the four structures), the middle road is not a safe route for the children to be escorted on.

Conclusion

The order of the Knesset Committee for Children's Rights demanded safe passage to and from school for the Palestinian children. However given that settlers attacked or harassed the children 40 times during the school year, the military and police clearly failed in their responsibility to protect the children. Given that the Israeli government is paying to provide the escort twice a day, it is a costly failure.

Why was the escort needed in the first place? To prevent settler attacks on the Palestinian children. The problem is not with the Palestinian children, but with the violent settlers who attack them.

The Israeli Knesset Committee order for the military/police escort of the children was intended to provide safety for the Palestinian children. Unfortunately the order did not address the problem of settler violence.

The Israeli government must do more to deter settler violence and apprehend and charge violent settlers. Without fear of settler attacks, the children would be capable of getting to and from school without a military/police escort.

Removing the violent settlers by dismantling the illegal outpost would also increase the security and safety for the Palestinian children from Tuba and Magaer Al-Abeed going to school. However, as of the release of this report (10 November 2006), the evacuation orders for the Ma'on Farm structures, handed out by the Israeli military on 31 May 2006, have not been implemented.

¹Outposts in or near the treed hill have existed since 1999. The previous outposts and current outpost have been referred to by three names: Havot Ma'on, Hill 833 and Ma'on Farm. For more information refer to information gathered by Peace Now's Settlement Watch Group According to Peace Now, Hill 833 was established in 2001.

²Refer to Appendix I for a map depicting the short road, middle road and long path.

³See Appendix II for an Amnesty International press release 10/25/04 "Israel/Occupied Territories: Israeli settlers wage campaign of intimidation on Palestinians and internationals alike"

⁴For more information on the Israeli Knesset Committee for Children's Rights go to their website.

⁵See Appendix IV for details of all settler harassment and attacks during the school year.

⁶The "official Holiday" is usually the second day but it is celebrated the night before. Therefore the first day of each holiday is like a Friday. In the long Holidays, the ones that last a week - Sukot and Pessah, the "official Holidays" are the second day and the day before the last day. The rest of the days are called "semi holidays" - schools and government offices don't operate but business are open at least half a day. Hanuka and Purim are also "semi holidays" when only schools are closed; government offices usually work half a day.

⁷On rare occasions both the military and the police escorted the children.

Appendix I

Aerial Map of School Escort

Appendix II

Israel/Occupied Territories: Israeli settlers wage campaign of intimidation on Palestinians and internationals alike

Israeli settlers in the Occupied Territories have stepped up attacks against Palestinians and are waging a campaign of intimidation against international and Israeli human rights activists. Their aim is to eliminate the presence of witnesses to their attacks, thereby depriving the local Palestinian population of this only form of limited protection.

Two US citizens, members of the Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT), were assaulted on 29 September by masked Israeli settlers who beat them with clubs and chains as they accompanied Palestinian children to school near the Tuwani village, South of Hebron. Kim Lamberty sustained a broken arm and knee and bruising to her face, while Chris Brown was left with a punctured lung and multiple bruises. Members of the CPT and other Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have been escorting Palestinian children to school to protect them from attacks by Israeli settlers.

A group of hooded Israeli settlers attacked Amnesty International delegates and members of the CPT and the Operation Dove NGO on 9 October as they returned from accompanying Palestinian primary schoolchildren back to their home. The attackers first threw stones at the five internationals and then attacked three of them with wooden clubs. An Amnesty International delegate sustained multiple bruises on her back, arm and leg and the Operation Dove member collapsed and had to be taken to hospital by ambulance. On both occasions, the attackers came from the nearby Israeli settlement of Havat Ma'on and returned there after the attacks.

Rather than taking steps to stop and prevent such attacks and hold Israeli settlers accountable, the Israeli army and security forces have responded by imposing further restrictions on the local Palestinian population.

After the attack, the Israeli army informed the Palestinian villagers that, if the children are accompanied by internationals on their way to and from school, no army patrol will be on site to protect them from Israeli settlers. The Palestinian villagers reluctantly accepted that the schoolchildren have make to the journey without their international escort, but, two days later, on 12 October, the children were again chased by Israeli settlers from the Havat Ma'on settlement while on their way to school. The Israeli army patrol, which was present, did not intervene. Israeli settlers again threw stones as the children passed near the settlement on their way to school on 17 October.

The only alternative is for the schoolchildren to avoid passing near the Israeli settlements by making a long detour that lengthens their walk from 20 minutes to more than two hours each way.

As in previous years around the time of the olive harvest, Israeli settlers have also stepped up attacks on the local Palestinian inhabitants and farmers throughout the West Bank, preventing them from harvesting their crops and destroying or damaging their trees. The Israeli army has done little or nothing to stop the settlers' attack and has, instead, banned the Palestinian farmers from going to their fields, ultimately helping the settlers to force the Palestinians off their land.

Throughout the West Bank, Palestinian farmers are increasingly worried that their olives, one of their few remaining sources of livelihood, are being stolen, destroyed or wasted as they are prevented from working in their fields.

In the northern West Bank region of Nablus, where Palestinian villages are surrounded by Israeli settlements and settlers' roads, the Israeli army is only allowing Palestinian farmers between two and six days -- on set dates -- to go to their fields to harvest their olives. Palestinian farmers who have tried to go to pick their olives on days other than the set dates have been attacked by settlers and turned away by Israeli army patrols. In the meantime, Israeli settlers have been picking olives in Palestinian groves and have destroyed and burned olive trees in various areas.

Palestinian farmers, accompanied by internationals from the Ecumenical Accompaniment Program, were harvesting their olives in Yanun, near Nablus, on 7 October when two settlers and eight soldiers came and told them to leave. The soldiers did not intervene when armed settlers assaulted a Palestinian farmer, fired shots on the ground near him and tied his hands. The farmer was left handcuffed until a member of the Israeli peace group Taayush (Co-existence) arrived at the scene and intervened with the soldiers.

Palestinian villagers in Yanun have been subjected to attacks by Israeli settlers for years and several families have been driven from the village by repeated attacks against them and their property. All remaining inhabitants were forced to flee the village by Israeli settlers in October 2002. They were later able to return with the help of Israeli and international peace activists. Promises by the Israeli army to keep the Israeli settlers in check have produced no results and settlers have continued to attack and intimidate the villagers with impunity.

In the southern Hebron region, on 15 October, after Israeli peace activists from Rabbis for Human Rights had coordinated with the Israeli army that the Palestinian farmers harvest their olives on that day, the farmers were attacked by armed settlers. The Israeli army patrol responded by telling the Palestinian farmers to leave, claiming that they did not have sufficient forces to protect them from the settlers.

Two days later in Yassuf, near Nablus, Palestinian farmers, accompanied by Israeli and international peace activists, were once again evicted from their olive grove when Israeli settlers turned up. The soldiers, whose presence was supposed to ensure that the Palestinians could harvest their olives, told the farmers and their Israeli and International helpers to leave.

On 11 October, a 26-year-old Palestinian farmer, Hani Shadeh, was shot and seriously wounded in the neck by an Israeli settler as he was picking olives with other farmers in Asira al-Qibliya, a village near Nablus and near the Israeli settlement of Yitzhar. The day before, Israeli settlers had set fire to an olive grove near the Israeli settlement of Tapuach.

Israeli settlers responsible for attacks on Palestinians and their properties have not been brought to justice in the vast majority of cases. Such impunity encourages settlers to commit further attacks and abuses. In the rare cases when Israeli settlers have been brought to justice, they have been treated with a degree of leniency uncommon in other cases.

On 27 September, an Israeli settler from the Elon Moreh Settlement near Nablus shot a Palestinian taxi driver dead. Sayyed Jabara, father of eight, was driving his passengers between Nablus and Salem. The settler claimed that he shot Sayyed Jabara because he thought that he intended to attack him, even though Jabara was not armed. He was released on bail less than 24 hours after the murder.

Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories, established by Israel in violation of international law, are the main reason for the stringent restrictions imposed on the Palestinian population. Some three-and-a-half million Palestinians are prevented from moving between towns and villages; confined to isolated enclaves and cut off from their workplace, their land, health and education facilities and other crucial services.

This is done to keep Palestinians away from Israeli settlements and from the network of roads built for the exclusive use of some 380,000 Israeli settlers. Settlements also continue to be expanded and new ones to be set up on expropriated Palestinian land.

Israeli settlers who attack and harass Palestinian villagers frequently come from settlements established without formal government authorization and which the Israeli authorities have publicly pledged to dismantle. However, settlers are increasingly influential in the army, in government and in parliament. The rare attempts by the Israeli army and security forces to dismantle unauthorized settlements have been mostly half-hearted, with settlers simply refusing to leave or allowed to return to the site shortly after having being evacuated.

In recent months, the Israeli government has announced its intention to dismantle all Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip, one of the most densely populated places in the world where the presence of some 6,000 Israeli settlers has resulted in one-and-a-half million Palestinians being confined to less than 60% percent of the land. However, the Israeli government has no intention to evacuate more than 100 settlements in the West Bank, which take up some of the most fertile Palestinian land and best water resources. On the contrary, Prime Minister Sharon's bureau chief recently confirmed that the planned pullout from the Gaza Strip is intended to strengthen Israel's hold of large parts of the West Bank.

Amnesty International has repeatedly called on the Israeli authorities to take measures to evacuate Israeli settlers from the Occupied Territories and, in the meantime, to prevent attacks by Israeli settlers, to investigate the numerous attacks committed by settlers and to bring those responsible to justice. Amnesty International has also repeatedly called on Palestinian armed groups to stop targeting Israeli civilians both inside Israel and in the Occupied Territories.

Appendix III

Photos Relating to the Escort

CPTer Christy Bischoff waiting with children on a cold day for the escort to arrive and escort them home (escort was late). 24 December 2005

CPTer Maureen Jack walks with children from Tuba towards the place where the children wait for the escort in the morning. 20 April 2006

Schoolgirl waiting for the escort to arrive in the morning (waiting place is very close to the new settler barn construction). 20 April 2006

Padlocked settler gate blocked by boulders placed by settlers. 26 April 2006

Military escorting the children to school on the short road. 30 April 2006

Ma'on settler security blocks the short road and forces the escort to turn back and use the middle road to go to Tuba. 27 April 2006

Boulders placed by settlers on the middle road. 3 May 2006

Military removing the roadblock on the middle road. 10 May 2006

Saturday escort on the middle road after two Saturdays of severe settler attacks. Children and walking escorts are passing right below the black tarp settler house. 13 May 20

Appendix IV

Information on Settler Harassment/Attacks During the 2005-2006 School Year

Tuesday, 27 September AM
Two settlers approached the police during the escort and told the police that they should take the children the other way (the middle road rather than the short road). The police continued the escort on the short road.

Saturday, 8 October PM
After the military left the children to continue home on their own the children encountered four settlers with a herd of sheep and goat. The children ran towards Tuba, with the settlers following them for a while.

Saturday, 15 October PM
The military drove quickly in front of the children so that they had to run (no soldiers walked with the children). Five settlers approached the jeep and the children but from a distance it was uncertain if the settlers did anything.

Tuesday, 8 November PM
Settlers were working on fields in the valley along the short road. Two settler vehicles followed children and police.

Sunday, 13 November PM
Settlers were working on fields in the valley along the short road, and one man yelled at the children.

Saturday, 19 November PM
Half way through the escort along the short road, four or five settlers came out of the treed outpost and watch the escort for a while before going back into the trees, at this point three soldiers get out the escort vehicle and walk with the children.

Wednesday, 7 December PM
The police took a while to get through the settler gate, on the other side a settler vehicle briefly blocked the road. Police officers did not walk with the children, and they blew their horn and drove in front of the children to make them move faster.

Saturday, 10 December PM
Close to the place where the children continue home by themselves, seven settlers approached the children. Soldiers kept six of the settlers away from the children but one settler chased the children, hit one of the boys and threw him into thorny bushes. The soldiers filed police complaints against the settlers.

Monday, 26 December AM
After the escort arrived near the area and leaving before picking up the children, and multiple calls to the military base, at 9:30 two internationals walked to where the children were waiting and escorted them to At-Tuwani. Settlers were in the area where the children were waiting for the escort. One settler shouted at the internationals and children. As the internationals and children started walking on the short road towards At-Tuwani the Ma'on settler security guard drove in front of them on the road, blocking their passage, and screaming at the internationals and children. The internationals and children walked around the vehicle and continued walking towards At-Tuwani. The settler security guard went to Ma'on and returned with two soldiers who briefly detained the internationals.

Saturday, 4 February PM
Close to the place where the escort leaves the children to walk home alone, six masked settlers hiding behind rocks used slingshots to hurl rocks at the children. The children ran to Tuba while soldiers chased the settlers away. Police came to Tuba and took statements from the children.

Saturday, 18 February PM
After the military left the children at the place where they continue home alone, a group of 10-15 settler boys and young men (at least one with a rifle) approached and threw rocks at the children (no one was injured).

Wednesday, 22 February AM
While waiting at the meeting place for a late escort, at 8:00 a settler drove a station wagon toward children, shouting at them. The children ran back towards Tuba until the escort arrived.

Saturday, 25 February PM
While waiting to be escorted home from school, settler children coming from Ma'on appeared on the hill across the valley from where the Palestinian children were, and each began throwing rocks at the other. When the military arrived the settler boys withdrew to Ma'on.

Monday, 17 April AM
While waiting for a late escort, a settler shepherd chased the children and they returned towards Tuba until the escort arrived.

Monday, 24 April PM
While the children were waiting for a late escort to arrive and take them home they played in an area near the settler's planted fruit trees in the valley along the short road. Six settlers came down the road yelling at the children and chasing them. The children ran to At-Tuwani, internationals tried to stay between settlers and children, and called the military and police. Much later, the soldiers who had responded to the internationals call, refused to escort the children home, however the police said that they would make sure that the military escorted the children. At 15:00, as the military escorted the children, a settler came out of the fruit trees and stood on the road by the gate watching as the children walked on the short road.

Wednesday, 26 April AM
Settlers placed large rocks blocking the short road at the point where the settler gate is. (The rocks were left there for five days.)

Wednesday, 26 April PM
When an international asked a soldier why the escort was using the middle road a soldier said it was because of 'the [settler] agriculture' and that the children had damaged trees (false because internationals were watching the children while they were waiting for the escort home on the 24th). While the escort was going past the settler caravan five male and one female settler came and shouted at the children, and at this point soldiers got out their escort vehicle and walked with children. A second military jeep arrived and those soldiers got in-between the settlers and the children. A police car arrived, but did nothing to stop the settlers.

Thursday, 27 April AM
Settlers stood on the road near the morning meeting place. When the police escort arrived they used a megaphone to instruct the approaching children to return towards Tuba. The settlers threw rocks at the police jeep, breaking one of the vehicles windows. Two of the settlers ran away and others drove away. The police took no action against the settlers. A military vehicle arrived and both police and military escorted children on the short road.

Thursday, 27 April PM
When the military starts to escort the children home along the short road, the Ma'on settler security guard approaches and blocks the road with his vehicle. After speaking with the security guard the soldiers tell the children to go back towards At-Tuwani as the soldiers are going to escort them home on the middle road. At the new settler black tarp house at the southeastern edge of the outpost a male settler comes out and shouts at the children.

Saturday, 29 April PM
Soon after the military begins escorting the children home along the middle road five adult male settlers circled around the school escort, yelling at the schoolchildren. When the school escort was close to the place where the children continue home alone, a group of about thirty-five settlers came from Ma'on and formed a circle around the escort and threw rocks and eggs. The soldiers had the schoolchildren get into the military jeeps, and sat for almost an hour. When members of Ta'ayush walked the short road towards the area, settlers also attacked them with rocks and the military threatened members of Ta'ayush with arrest; stating that the area was a closed military zone. The military and police took no action against the settlers.

Sunday, 30 April PM
The military escorted the children home on the middle road; at the caravan one male settler comes out and yells at the children and soldiers.

Tuesday, 2 May AM
The children and escort start along the middle road, but turn around and come the short road. The children report that there are large boulders on the middle road in a place where it is difficult for a vehicle to drive around the roadblock the settlers created.

Thursday, 4 May AM
As the military escort and children came past the roadblock on the middle road a settler man came from the new black tarp house, and followed the escort for a time shouting at the children and soldiers.

Saturday, 6 May AM
Children reported that settlers threw rocks and shouted at them, and that a dog was guarding the settlers.

Saturday, 6 May PM
Five male settlers shadowed the military escort of the children from the time the children came alongside the treed hill. Approximately thirty settlers ambushed the escort at the roadblock on the middle road, throwing rocks, hitting and kicking the soldiers and children. After a settler punched him, one soldier fired his gun in the air. By the time the internationals arrived, the children were far enough down the road to Tuba not to be seen. A second army jeep had arrived and five soldiers were in the trees shouting at and chasing the settlers, they returned shortly having made no arrests. Two children sustained injuries serious enough to require evacuation to the hospital in Yatta. The children and soldiers made statements to the police about the attack.

Monday, 8 May AM
A settler came out from the caravan and blocked the road, blowing his ram's horn and shouting. The escort was halted for about ten minutes.

Thursday, 11 May AM
A settler from the caravan met the escort in the road, blowing his ram's horn, singing and shouting. He followed the escort for a time before passing the escort, still singing as he emerged below the black tarp house. A second settler came down from the black tarp house to video tape the escort.

Saturday, 20 May AM
Four male settlers came down to the road past the caravan. They pushed and chased the children; children say the soldiers did very little to stop them.

Sunday, 21 May AM
When the escort passed the caravan, one male and one female settler came down to the road. The woman yelled at, chased, and shoved the children; and tried to drag a seven-year-old boy away from the group. The soldiers did not try and stop any of the settlers' actions. When the escort reached the black tarp house, the soldiers got into their escort vehicle and rode the rest of the way. Two settlers came out of the black tarp house and videotaped the escort. When internationals confronted the soldiers about why they didn't do anything to stop the attack the commander told them that according to his orders, he could do nothing to the man unless he directly assaulted the soldiers. He also said that he could do nothing about the woman's actions because the male soldiers are not allowed to touch Jewish women.

Tuesday, 23 May AM
Near the caravan one of the children walked slightly off of the road. The settler woman came from the caravan, told the soldiers that the child had stolen something from her 'yard', and chased the escort (the child hadn't taken anything.) There was no physical contact.

Thursday, 25 May AM
Two male settlers came out of the caravan right before the escort passed. They kept their distance but whistled at the children. The children had to run to keep up with the military jeep.

Saturday, 27 May AM
Five settler men came down to the road from the black tarp house and started walking towards the children as the passed on the road. The soldiers honked the horn of the escort vehicle and made the children run.

Monday, 29 May AM
A male settler came down to the road from the caravan and followed the escort for a time singing loudly.