CPTnet stories

HEBRON UPDATE: 1-16 January 2010

kathy_kern — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:27:19 -0600

CPTnet

8 February 2009

HEBRON UPDATE: 1-16 January 2010

[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 Nina Chibi, Johann Funk, Fathiye Gainey (intern), Drew Herbert, Kathleen Kern, and Paulette Schroeder.

1 January 2010
On night patrol, Funk and Herbert came across a squad of soldiers detaining a young man, who was facing the wall with his legs spread far apart. One soldier held the young man’s hands behind the back and pushed him hard against the wall. Two soldiers down on one knee in firing position guarded access in both directions. Herbert asked soldiers why they were detaining the men. When they did not reply, he reminded them of military rules specifying that soldiers need cause to stop anyone. Another soldier said something in Hebrew and the man was released. Herbert and Funk followed them to gate 4/5.

2 January 2010

While Kern was monitoring the turnoff from Shuhada Street to Ibrahimi School, a tour group of South African Muslims walked by. One man engaged her in conversation, and asked if she was hopeful that something might change here. When she said that she did not harbor much hope, he said, "There is no hope for this place." She asked him if in the 1980s he would have believed that Apartheid would end and Mandela would be President in the early 1990s, and he said, "Not in my wildest dreams."

Hani Abu Haikel, Schroeder, and Kern went out to al-Bweireh to do follow-up interviews after the demolitions (See 13 January CPTnet release, AL-KHALIIL/HEBRON: Israeli military demolitions further threaten al-Bweireh neighborhood.) When Kern asked one of the residents whether the attention CPT has been trying to bring to the situation in al-Bweireh might have been the cause of the demolitions, he said the settlers and army will attack regardless of how much al-Bweireh's profile is elevated.
The three then visited members of the Sultan family, who reported that settlers had attacked neighborhood farmers on the previous day, and the settlers sent in the army to demolish the buildings. Settlers are now coming down into the neighborhood and walking between homes, so the Sultans are afraid to invite guests to visit.

At a visit to another member of the Sultan family, who had been an active union leader, they learned about the tortuous process he went through to build a union headquarters on his land, for which he has a deed from the time of the Ottoman Empire. He went to court nine times to get permission and spent thousands of dollars on a lawyer. In response, the Israeli DCO (District Coordinating Office) cut water and electricity to Sultan's house to punish the family. He now has to buy water.

While out walking, the team came upon a young man from one of the shops in the Old City who was blindfolded behind the gate at the Beit Romano settlement. (See HEBRON: Israeli military targets Palestinian children for searches and detention.)
The team learned that Israel had refused entrance to leaders of the CPT January delegation and began discussing with the At-Tuwani team how they were going to replace the leaders.

4 January 2010
Herbert responded to a report that soldiers were detaining a nine-year-old boy in front of the gate near the Beit Romano settlement. According to the soldier that Herbert engaged, the boy was detained for making a rude hand gesture to the soldiers. A family member of the boy argued with the soldier for a few minutes about the legitimacy of the boy’s detention, and then he and a few other young men pushed open the gate behind which the boy was being held, grabbed him, and proceeded to walk away.

5 January 2010

Kern went to the Association for International Development Agencies (AIDA) meeting in Jerusalem. Most of the meeting was about the worrying development of Israel granting only B-2 visas (which would not allow internationals to enter Jerusalem or Israel) to people working in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This limitation could eventually mean organizations having to shut down offices in Jerusalem. Aid organizations are already having difficulties working in Area C—the majority of the West Bank, which Israel controls. Participants were adjured to be talking to donors and the diplomatic community about the chilling effect this restriction will have on movement, attracting competent workers, etc. Since the governments providing the aid to this region have directed these agencies to do their work, noted a leader of AIDA, they should speak to Israel about these prohibitions.

Lawyer Shlomo Lecker told the gathering that Israel is legally and morally obligated to let workers into Jerusalem. East Jerusalem is the Occupied Territories and the Geneva Convention applies; in fact, it is illegal for the Israeli Ministry of the Interior to operate in East Jerusalem. Israel signed an international treaty in the 1990s stating it would allow international humanitarian work to continue. He said the worst possible people to run the Interior Ministry are now running it and that “they are lying all the time.”

6 January 2010

After the noon patrol, Funk and Schroeder received word that soldiers were detaining a young boy from their neighbor's shop at Baab il Baledeyya. They found the fourteen-year-old sitting behind the settlement gate with his father. When Schroeder peered through a crack in the gate to take a picture, one of the soldiers threw or kicked a rock against the tin gate and Schroeder jumped back thinking it sounded like a gunshot.

Before the neighbor's boy was released, four more soldiers brought in two more boys, one eight, and the other ten-years-old. They were also accused of throwing stones and the soldiers insisted that the father come from his work outside of Hebron, even though their mother arrived and presented her ID. During the time when Schroeder was asking the soldiers why they had detained the children, the main soldier came out of the gate and showed her spots of blood on his hand. Schroeder saw there was no wound on his hand; blood had been applied. She then told the soldier he was lying about his injury. (See 23 January CPTnet release, “HEBRON: Israeli military targets Palestinian children for searches and detention.”)While in the market, Herbert came upon multiple bales of unspooled razor wire. Palestinian men told him that the Israeli soldiers had only moments earlier pushed it off the roof, nearly missing patrons below.

Funk and Schroeder went to a meeting at HRC with EAPPI. During the meeting, Funk heard some activity and went outside to film it. The soldiers were searching an SUV with Israeli plates but found nothing. They also stopped two young Palestinian men in a sporty car and found a butter knife. A soldier held up the knife and told the CPTers "Take a picture of this." When Schroeder remarked that it was a butter knife and not dangerous, he replied, "Don't tell me what is dangerous.” They forced one of the young men to drive his car to the Mosque soup kitchen and park his car and then took him to a nearby police station. When the Captain of the soldiers saw the knife, he smiled, gave the knife back to the young man, and let him go. The soldiers seemed embarrassed.

Soon after, the team encountered three young men whom soldiers were detaining in Friendship Park. When asked why they were being detained the soldier said, "This is a routine ID check." When reminded that they needed a cause to stop anyone, he responded, "We have information. We have orders to stop all young men." Funk then took out his passport and showed it to the soldier, saying, "Check my ID, don't I look suspicious?”
On their afternoon walk, Funk and Herbert came across six Israeli Border Police stopping four young men. Purportedly they stopped the men because they wanted to check their identification. After further probing, the lead officer suggested that Funk and Herbert were not aware of whether the men had done anything and that the only way to know was to check their ID cards. Herbert reminded the officers that not knowing whether the young men had done something is not equivalent with probable cause and that the soldiers need more information to stop people on the street.

7 January 2010

At 11:45 a.m., the team received a call about a home invasion near the Qitoun Checkpoint. Funk and Herbert responded and they made their way to a fourth floor apartment with the local Palestinian partner who had called them. They found the family confined to the kitchen and the soldiers occupying the front room.

When the door opened, Funk and Herbert were ushered into the kitchen while the partner stood on the threshold and engaged the soldiers. He emphasized that the encounter was not personal but that unless they had a signed Closed Military Order or a search warrant signed by their commanding officer, he and the team would not leave. The lead soldier said, "I am the law, get the f__k out of here," and, “If you don't leave in one minute I will do something I don't want to do."
After a five-minute standoff, the soldiers left. Herbert followed to ensure they left the building. The resident then took the team on a tour to view the damage. The soldiers had kicked in a door to a small upstairs room, damaging the doorframe, even though the key was visible in the lock.

9 January 2010

Funk and Schroeder monitored an unusually large settler tour through the Old City. At one point, a settler swiped a finger across his throat at those observing the tour. While passing through the Old City, the same settler spit on a shop owner, something he had done before. She began screaming. Two young Palestinian men and a French tourist who spoke Hebrew talked to one of the soldiers. The youth accompanied the soldier back to the shop. When the soldier returned to the group he mounted a platform and announced (according to the French tourist), "If any one of you does anything like that again, I will stop this 'show.'"

10 January 2010
The military came to CPT's rooftop again and Schroeder encountered them first. She asked them to leave unless they had a warrant. They said that soldiers on the opposite rooftop had said that children were throwing stones. Since the soldiers were changing their shirts as they spoke, Schroeder accused them of using the stones as an alibi for illegally entering a private residence to change their clothes.

11 January 2010

Gainey and Funk went to al-Bweireh in the morning. They observed settlers carrying roofing material to a new, more permanent structure on Hill 18.
A policeman briefly detained Gainey and Herbert and informed them that their unofficial status does not allow them monitor soldiers. Specifically, he said the area around the Qitoun checkpoint was off limits. Gainey and Herbert returned to the apartment in a roundabout way to avoid being stopped again.

12 January 2010

BBC came to interview CPTers at the same time the British paper, The Guardian, arrived to interview CPTers. They wanted to concentrate on American CPTers reflecting on Obama’s first year in office, but Herbert and Schroeder urged them to interview several Palestinian shopkeepers who have stories to tell to the larger audiences about life under the Occupation.
In the afternoon, Funk responded to a request to accompany a small boy to his home. When he arrived, soldiers were standing on the stairway to the roof of a house next to the Israeli settlement of Avraham Avinu. TIPH was also present. A tourist was loudly arguing with a soldier about his right to take pictures from the roof. The soldier objected to the tourist taking pictures of a military installation (one of the guard posts that dot the rooftops of the Old City.) The soldier refused to talk to TIPH. After half and hour, the soldiers left, having reiterated that the roof was off limits to tourists.

Funk and Gainey met several delegates near the Ibrahimi Mosque for the afternoon patrol. Within minutes, the same policeman who stopped Gainey and Herbert the night before stopped to repeat the lecture about CPT’s lack of authorization to be in the area.

When the group returned to the apartment, soldiers, CPTers and several delegates were on the roof. After a brief confrontation, the soldiers and delegates engaged in an extended discussion until dinner. The soldiers declined the invitation and followed the delegates down the stairs. (See one of the delegates’ blog entries on the conversation.)

Funk, a former member of Operation Dove who had worked with the At-Tuwani team, and friends went on night patrol. As they approached the area around Qitoun Checkpoint, a local informed them soldiers were detaining four men at the checkpoint. When they approached and asked the soldiers why they were detaining the men, the soldiers claimed not to understand. They called one of the detained men and asked him to tell the internationals that everything was fine. As Funk and his companions backed away, the men motioned for them to stay.

While they watched from a little distance, a border police asked for their passports. When the group hesitated, he called the regular police. The same policeman who had stopped the CPTers in the afternoon arrived twenty minutes later. He repeated the lecture about CPT’s lack of authority and told them they were only tourists and should behave like tourists. He said he had been on vacation in Geneva and had not used his time observing soldiers. Funk explained, "CPT was invited into Hebron by the Municipality in 1995 and our presence has not been a problem." The police officer threatened stronger action if he saw the team in the area again. Funk replied, "I can't guarantee we will comply but I will talk to the team and our partners on what we will do." As he handed back the passports, the border police handed back the IDs of the four detained men and released them.

13 January 2010

Gainey, Kern, and Schroeder went on night patrol. At the falafel stand near the Ibrahimi mosque gate, a young man asked the women to accompany him past the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee (HRC) office, because of soldiers stopping young Palestinian men there. They indeed came upon a group of soldiers who had four young men against the wall. While Gainey accompanied the young man back past the soldiers, Schroeder and Kern engaged with the soldiers, who said they had stopped the young men, because they never knew when one might be carrying a knife. "You need to let us do our job," one soldier said, Kern smiled and said, “I'm sorry, but we just can't do that." One soldier laughed. Schroeder noted that given how heavily armed they were, their fear of a knife was ridiculous.

16 January 2010

Kern and Schroeder went to Al-Bweireh with Hani Abu Haikel in the afternoon. They met with women of the Dwaik family, who have lived in the neighborhood for seventeen years. They said because of the fence around the Israeli settlement of Givat Ha Harsina, they have not been able to access their farmland for seven years. They used to raise grapes, wheat, vegetables, olives, and melons. Settlers have also cut down the trees that were on the land and enclosed the family’s well behind the settlement fence. Al-Bweireh residents used to share their water freely with the settlers, before the fence went up, according to the women.

In November 2009, the people of the Wadi came together determined to remove the blockade. They brought all their heavy equipment they could and for three days, they had a road that gave them access to the main highway. Then, the settlers came, brought a bulldozer, and constructed larger blockades. "Anything we have, they will eventually steal it," said the mother of the family.

When asked what they would like the rest of the world to know, one of the women in the family said, “Tell the rest of the world, we hope to live in peace with others. We want all the people to feel peace in their heart and that God makes the settlers go far away from here."

When Abu Haikel walked away from the Dwaik family's home, he said, “We have a saying. Women are a net," meaning they hold everyone together.

The three then met with another family, the mother of which has severe diabetes. They said that the blockade is a real problem for her because she cannot walk the required distance beyond the blockade to access transportation. The blockade also forces children in the family to carry heavy propane canisters from the local shop uphill a long distance.

CHICAGO/TORONTO: CPT announces release of As Resident Aliens: Christian Peacemaker Teams in the West Bank, 1995-2005

kathy_kern — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 10:19:36 -0600

CPTnet

6 February 2010

CHICAGO/TORONTO: CPT announces release of As Resident Aliens: Christian Peacemaker Teams in the West Bank, 1995-2005

As Resident Aliens: Christian Peacemaker Teams in the West Bank, 1995-2005 is now available for order. Beginning with CPT’s initial project in Hebron, the book covers the work of CPT’s Palestine teams over the next ten years as team members adapted to changing political realities and forged relationships with Palestinians, Israelis, and internationals who were nonviolently resisting the Israeli military occupation of Palestine.
In its publicity materials for the history, Cascade Books includes the following:

"As the crucifixes drenched with Jewish blood drop from our hands, we stand impotent and wordless before this tragedy of Israel and Palestine … In the name of the crucified Messiah, we must struggle against the conditions which make history a trail of crucifixions. Only then, in solidarity with Jews and Palestinians, can we dream of Messianic times, of shalom without victims."

With these words, theologian Rosemary Radford Reuther laid out the pitfalls for Christians entering the arena of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Nevertheless, in 1995, a small cohort of pacifist Christians decided to paddle against the currents of history, against the crusades, pogroms, and colonial enterprises of their co-religionists, toward that goal of "a shalom without victims"… As "resident aliens" (See Exodus 23:9) they have sojourned in the Holy Land to support Palestinians and Israelis who reject violence as means of solving the conflict, who think that one nation has no right to subjugate and exploit another, and who believe all the residents of the region are entitled to the same, exactly the same, human rights.

Marc Ellis, who directs the Center for Jewish Studies at Baylor University, writes, "In these pages, Kathleen Kern pens a fascinating and important account of the founding and history of the Christian Peacemaker Teams in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict . . . Enlisting dissenting Jews and Palestinians in a struggle for human and political rights, Kern stands as a dramatic Christian witness of the possibility of justice and reconciliation between and among peoples of different faiths. This book narrates the difficulties and sacrifices involved in such a task, a revolutionary task if you will, that continues today."

Ramzi Kysia, Arab-American pacifist, essayist, and one of the organizers of the Free Gaza Movement, writes, "As Resident Aliens is a gripping narrative of Christian Peacemaker Teams' attempts to transform prayer into practice as they stand with both Palestinians and Israelis in their struggles for peace …This book is a significant addition to our understanding of both the crisis in the Middle-East as well as the need for international accompaniment"

Rabbi Jeremy Milgrom , co-chair of Palestinians and Israelis for Nonviolence writes,
"A meticulous, painful, and trustworthy account, written with faith, love, and concern, of ten years of peacemaking efforts under unbelievably difficult conditions-when every person who opens this book makes an effort to get it into the hands of those perpetrating this mess and the …politicians who not only close their eyes to it but actually fund and defend it, we'll be a lot closer too peace."

The book is available for a suggested donation of $35 from CPT. See http://www.cpt.org/resources/books#11

CHICAGO/TORONTO: Invitación para aplicar y expresar interés en hacer servicio como traductoras e intérpretes de Español e In

kathy_kern — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:45:40 -0600

CPTnet

5 Febrero 2010

CHICAGO/TORONTO: Invitación para aplicar y expresar interés en hacer servicio voluntario y pago como traductoras e intérpretes de Español e Inglés

Equipos Cristianos de Acción por la Paz (ECAP) está buscando personas que puedan traducir material escrito de inglés al español y viceversa. Los materiales a traducir pueden incluir notas de las reuniones del Equipo de Apoyo que resumen los avances de la organización, del Comité de Dirección de ECAP, políticas organizacionales en sus versiones preliminares y finales, comunicaciones de varios tipos, materiales para la página electrónica de ECAP y artículos cortos de los equipos de Irak, Palestina, Colombia, Canadá y los Estados Unidos. Algunas de estas tareas deben ser realizadas en tiempo corto. Algunos de los materiales a traducir son internos y confidenciales y deben ser tratados con discreción, otros son públicos. Interpretación verbal simultánea también puede ser requerida en ocasiones para conversaciones, reuniones o llamadas telefónicas.

Esperamos contar con una combinación de intérpretes y traductores voluntari@s y pagad@s. Animamos a las y los reservistas a considerar esta como una oportunidad para llevar a cabo su servicio voluntario. También pedimos otros y otras colaboradores de ECAP a unirse en este importante trabajo. Por favor responda si está interesado o interesada, y circule esta invitación a otros y otras que puedan tener interés.

Para obtener un formulario de solicitud o más información, póngase en contacto con: Claire Evans, Christian Peacemaker Teams, PO Box 6508, Chicago, IL 60680-6508, teléfono 773-376-0550; correo electrónico clairee [at] cpt [dot] org. FECHA LÍMITE DE APLICACIÓN 1 DE MARZO.

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CHICAGO/TORONTO: Request for applications and expressions of interest from volunteer and paid English/Spanish and Spanish/English translators and interpreters

Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) is seeking several individuals who can translate written materials from English into Spanish and from Spanish into English. Materials to be translated include notes from Support Team (staff) meetings that summarize CPT-wide developments; notes from Steering Committee (board) meetings; organizational policies as they are being drafted and final versions; communications of various sorts; background material on CPT's website; and short articles from teams in Iraq, Palestine, Colombia, Canada, and the U.S. Some items require a quick turn-around time. Some are confidential internal communications that must be treated with discretion; others are public. Simultaneous verbal interpretation is also sometimes needed for gatherings and/or for phone calls.

We hope to recruit a combination of volunteer and paid translators and interpreters. We encourage CPT Reservists to consider this work as a way to fulfill their service. We also ask other CPT supporters to join in this sustaining work. Please respond if you are interested and circulate to others you know who may be interested.

For an application form or further information please contact: Claire Evans, Christian Peacemaker Teams, PO Box 6508, Chicago, IL 60680-6508; phone 773-376-0550; email clairee [at] cpt [dot] org. APPLICATIONS DUE BY MARCH 1.

CHICAGO/TORONTO: Request for applications and expressions of interest from English/Spanish and Spanish/English translators

kathy_kern — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:35:11 -0600

CPTnet

5 February 2010

CHICAGO/TORONTO: Request for applications and expressions of interest from volunteer and paid English/Spanish and Spanish/English translators and interpreters

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INVITACIÓN PARA APLICAR Y EXPRESAR INTERÉS EN HACER SERVICIO VOLUNTARIO Y PAGO COMO TRADUCTOR@S E INTÉRPRETES DE ESPAÑOL E INGLÉS

COLOMBIA: “Tell us where we are supposed to go”; 196 families near Barrancabermeja displaced again.

kathy_kern — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:46:32 -0600

CPTnet

4 February 2010

COLOMBIA: “Tell us where we are supposed to go”; 196 families near Barrancabermeja displaced again.

by Gladys Gomez Niño

translated by Phillip Hart

Over the last four months, 196 families have occupied an area called Villa Dignidad on the outskirts of Barrancabermeja in search of better living conditions. These families were all unemployed and had no means of paying rent. In December 2009, police evicted them, but they returned within a few days.

Following a stand-off with police on 15 January 2010, representatives from the community, social organizations, including Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), and the municipal government met and agreed that to postpone the eviction process until the 19th – 22nd of that month in order to give people time to look for solutions that would permit a voluntary exit and provide security for the community. On 21 January, the families and city representatives signed an agreement specifying that families would leave voluntarily, and the municipality would provide new land for them to live on.

On the following day, three members of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) witnessed most of the community dismantling their homes and preparing to leave their familiar surroundings, with no clear idea of where they were supposed to go. Tearful men and women asked CPTers, “Tell us where we are supposed to go. We have children, and we don’t know anyone here in Barranca. Where are we supposed to take these few things we own?”

Although the families were following through on their agreement with the city to leave voluntarily, riot police surrounded the area. Late in the morning with the temperature rising, the authorities had still not provided a space to where the people of Villa Dignidad could relocate. They asked for more time, but the authorities turned them down, although they provided trucks to “help” the people collect their belongings. At 5:00 p.m., at least thirty families had yet to leave. Police had entered the community earlier in the afternoon and a backhoe stationed at the entrance raised fears that the destruction of the barrio was immanent.

On the morning of the 23 January, CPTers returned to verify the relocation process and met with various families who had stayed in Villa Dignidad overnight guarding their belongings. A hard rain had fallen during the night, and families who no longer had roofs were soaked. Others went to a promised shelter and were turned away. By the evening of 23 January, the neediest families had relocated to a shelter or received enough money to find temporary housing. The rest were expected to find lodging with extended family or friends while they waited for the city to follow through on its promise of land for relocation.

CPT has developed contacts with the families of Villa Dignidad, because it is a member of the Human Rights Workers Forum (ESPACIO). Team members are worried about the status of these families, who are looking for a life that includes not only shelter, but also employment, education, healthcare, and public services. According to Colombian law, the government has the obligation to respect their rights and meet their basic needs of living space, protection against violence, and security against continuing displacement.

Prayers for Peacemakers, Wed., Feb. 03, 2010

doug_pritchard — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 18:32:34 -0600

PRAYERS FOR PEACEMAKERS, Wed., Feb. 03, 2010

As the winter Olympics open in Vancouver, pray for greater public understanding and action on concerns raised by local indigenous peoples about the denial of their land rights and damage to the environment.

Doug Pritchard
Christian Peacemaker Teams
Toronto, Canada

AT-TUWANI: Palestinians plant olive trees to protest settler vandalism, despite Israeli military attempts to stop them

kathy_kern — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 12:28:41 -0600

CPTnet

3 February 2010

AT-TUWANI: Palestinians plant olive trees to protest settler vandalism, despite Israeli military interventions and arrest of a journalist

On 23 January 2010, Israeli soldiers declared Palestinian land south of the Israeli settlement outpost Havat Ma’on (Hill 833) a closed military zone, and then arrested a Palestinian journalist from Pal Media. The journalist was reporting on a demonstration organized by Palestinians from the village of At-Tuwani protesting the recent destruction of an olive grove. Despite the Israeli military interventions, the Palestinians successfully planted twenty olive trees during their demonstration.

While Palestinian farmers, accompanied by internationals, were planting olive trees, fifteen settlers approached the area, some carrying slingshots. Israeli soldiers and police also entered the area. The soldiers informed the Palestinians that the area was a closed military zone, showing them a map that encompassed a large area south of Havat Ma’on outpost. Police arrested the journalist, saying he had violated the closed military zone order.

At-Tuwani residents organized the demonstration in response to recent property damage. On the afternoon of 14 January, Palestinians discovered that a family-owned olive grove in Khoruba valley had been destroyed. Twenty mature olive trees were broken at their trunks. The family believes that Israeli settlers from the Ma’on settlement and Havat Ma’on outpost are responsible for the vandalism.

This incident marks the fifth time since 1997 that settlers have destroyed the olive trees in this grove. The attack follows a month of Israeli settler violence and harassment aimed at preventing Palestinian farmers from plowing their fields and thus earning their livelihoods. The Israeli military has also consistently used closed military zone orders recently to prevent Palestinians from working their lands.

HEBRON UPDATE: 17-31 December 2009

kathy_kern — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 05:08:53 -0600

CPTnet

29 January 2010

HEBRON UPDATE: 17-31 December 2009

17 December 2009

Shortly after morning worship, the team’s neighbor told them that soldiers were on the roof of the apartment building. When Herbert, Schroeder, and Shiffer filmed them and asked why they kept coming up to the roof, they did not respond. Kern brought up tea and cookies, but none of the soldiers accepted this hospitality.

The team decided next time the soldiers came up to the roof again, they would videotape themselves singing “Joy to the World” there for a digital Christmas greeting. (When soldiers did not subsequently appear, the team decided to record a digital greeting anyway. To watch, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eq2n43R1p28.)

18 December 2009

After consulting with their neighbor, team members decided to keep the stairwell door locked through the morning in case the soldiers arrived again. A lawyer from the Association of Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) told the team that legally, the soldiers have no right to enter the house without a warrant.

19 December 2009

In the afternoon, Schroeder, Kern, Shiffer and a member of EAPPI went to al-Bweireh with Hani Abu Haikel, a member of the team’s advisory committee. They continued to interview families regarding the affect of the Hill 18 (26) settler outpost on the neighbourhood students returning from school. One mother said that the thing she would like most to change is the opening of the main road into al-Bweireh, currently blocked in three locations. She also said that international accompaniment of children walking home will help bring peace of mind.

20 December 2009

Shiffer and Schroeder went to al-Bweireh to accompany the children coming from school. Boys from the Za’atari family told Shiffer and Schroeder that on 17 December settlers had attacked them. The youngest boy had visible scrapes on his face and hand.

21 December 2009

Schroeder and Funk monitored school patrol from outside and inside the Ibrahimi Mosque Checkpoint. At 7:25 a.m., an Israeli policeman approached Funk and asked, “What are you doing here?”

“Keeping an eye on school children on their way to school.” “You have no right to stand there, only TIPH [See http://www.tiph.org/] can legally stand there.”

“We have been here for years and it has never been a problem.”

“You have no right to be watching soldiers.”

“We do not interfere with the soldiers. We were invited to be here by the municipality.”

“You have no right to be here.”

“I believe we do, but I will respect your wishes today.”

“Bring a paper next time to show you have the right to be here.”

In the afternoon, Kern, Herbert, and Schroeder went to al-Bweireh to accompany the children and to interview the mother of a child who had been attacked by the settlers the previous week on Wednesday. A member of the team’s Advisory Committee drove the team there and translated for them. From the interview they learned the following:

The seven-year-old was with a brother and cousin when the settlers attacked. As they ran toward a nearby house, he tripped and fell, which caused the wound on his face and hand. His brother ran back to pick him up and carry him to safety. The injured boy is especially afraid of settlers, so much so that he sits beside his brother in 7th grade for an hour-and-a-half after his own school dismisses, rather than walk home without him. A settler on horseback tried to snatch up his younger sister a few weeks ago, and the house is attacked two to three times a week. The settlers who chased the boys on 17 December could have been anywhere from sixteen to twenty years old. They had a dog with them. The police refused to allow Mr. Za'atari to make the complaint the next day without the seven-year-old present and then asked the boy, when he arrived, if he had taken pictures of the settlers.

22 December 2009

Schroeder and Funk visited Tel Rumeida this morning. While they were at Hani and Reema Abu Haikel’s house, Reema stood watch by the doorway in case settlers or soldiers caused trouble for men the Abu Haikels had hired to prune grapes and do other yard work. . After about ten minutes, Reema alerted Funk and Schroeder that soldiers were in the yard and had ordered the workers to go home. When asked why, the lead soldier said: "This is neither Arab or Jewish land. When people clean the land, the next thing is they begin to build for the land in question.” The Abu Haikels hold clear legal title to the land from the time of the Ottoman Empire.

24 December 2009

During morning school patrol, team members received Christmas greetings from a number of Palestinians who passed them while they were monitoring checkpoints. After the patrol, the team packed up special foods they had prepared and travelled to At-Tuwani to celebrate Christmas with CPTers there. The taxi driver who drove them back to Hebron from At-Tuwani, in honor of the holiday, tuned to a radio station that played only “Jingle Bells” over and over.

25 December 2009

The team went to St. Catherine’s Church in Bethlehem for the Christmas morning service. People from six different continents were worshipping there. One of the priests had the task of preventing photojournalists from trampling the worshippers.

26 December 2009

At about 12:00 p.m., the team heard soldiers walking up to CPT's apartment roof. Herbert and Shiffer asked the unit commander for a warrant, his name, and the name of the individual who ordered the roof occupation. The commander failed to show a warrant or offer the necessary information. Two members of TIPH arrived ten minutes later, and within a few minutes of their arrival, the soldiers left the roof.

Kern, Schroeder, and Hani Abu Haikel went out to visit al-Bweireh families. At the entrance to the neighborhood, a man said settlers had been stoning houses at 2:00 a.m. Friday morning. One house that received the worst stoning belonged to a family whom the team had known in 1995-96 and who had since moved to Jerusalem. A neighbor called the police in Kiryat Arba, who did not come. Then he called the owner in Jerusalem, who called the police in Jerusalem, who called the police in Kiryat Arba and told them to come to the house.

At a house directly across from the Givat Ha Harsina settlement house, a woman told them that settlers threw stones daily and about twice a week at night--usually after midnight. The children in the household are not allowed to play in the yard, because of the constant stoning. She said they leave the gate open so that children coming home from school can run to safety in their yard when the settlers start stoning them, but that settlers then stone their house even more.

In the taxi on way home, a man had several sacks of firewood. Abu Haikel said wood fires are called "the fruit of winter" in Arabic.

27 December 2009

At al-Bweireh, Herbert videotaped a brief interaction between a settler boy and older male settlers. During their discussion they passed a knife back and forth.

In the evening, the team got a call from their neighbor, saying that she had heard shots fired and heard that settlers had beaten someone at the Qitoun checkpoint. [See 5 January 2009 CPTnet release, http://www.cpt.org/cptnet/2010/01/05/al-khaliilhebron-soldiers-beat-father-and-son-checkpoint.]

28 December 2009

Kern and Funk went out for school patrol in al-Bweireh a little later in the afternoon than usual. (The team had decided to stagger the times they went out to the neighborhood so that settlers would not anticipate their presence.) At the top of the road that descends into al-Bweireh, they saw three of the older girls running toward their home in the distance and then spotted a settler who was the cause of their flight. They learned that earlier in the day, a settler had chased one of the boys, who fell off a stone wall trying to escape, and then aimed a pistol at the boy.

Later in the afternoon, while Kern was checking in with Hani Abu Haikel, he said in an urgent manner that he had to go because he heard yelling at the checkpoint. Herbert, Shiffer, and Schroeder rushed to the scene, and found Abu Haikel, who said that soldiers had stopped his cousin and told him to stand up against the wall. Abu Haikel told them the soldiers had been targeting his family (See the 22 December 2009 entry.) On another night, the Abu Haikel family had a party and the military arrested several people who attended and sent his uncle to the police station where he was detained for several days.

31 December 2009

Around 9:00 a.m., a local human rights activist called to report that the Israeli military was demolishing buildings in al-Bweireh. Kern and an EAPPI arrived in time to document the military loading a small Bobcat bulldozer onto a truck after demolishing a barn, dovecote and garage (13 January CPTnet release, http://www.cpt.org/cptnet/2010/01/13/al-khaliilhebron-israeli-military-demolitions-further-threaten-al-bweireh-neighbor)

Prayers for Peacemakers, Wed., Jan. 27, 2010

doug_pritchard — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:39:17 -0600

PRAYERS FOR PEACEMAKERS, Wed., Jan. 27, 2010

Pray for the 4.6 million Colombians displaced by armed conflict since 1985. Most now live in severe poverty. Christian Peacemaker Teams reports that another 300 were displaced from the city of Barrancabermeja this week.

Doug Pritchard
Christian Peacemaker Teams
Toronto, Canada

AT-TUWANI: Israeli settlers and soldiers invade At-Tuwani, attack and injure villagers

kathy_kern — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 06:23:05 -0600

CPTnet

27 January 2010

AT-TUWANI: Israeli settlers and soldiers invade At-Tuwani, attack and injure villagers

On Tuesday, 26 January 2010, approximately ten-fifteen Israeli settlers from the Israeli settlement of Ma’on and the Israeli outpost of Havat Ma’on attacked Palestinians in the village of At-Tuwani. Israeli soldiers in three army jeeps and the settlement security agent of Ma’on accompanied the settlers. Villagers from At-Tuwani gathered to protest the settlers coming into their village and entering their homes. An Israeli soldier punched a Palestinian villager, breaking his nose. Immediately thereafter, Israeli settlers began throwing stones at the Palestinian villagers while soldiers fired three canisters of tear gas at the Palestinians. Afterwards, the settlers drove to the entrance of At-Tuwani, and began throwing stones at passersby on the road.

The day’s incident began at 9:20 a.m. when three army jeeps and a pickup truck with an Israeli settler from Havat Ma’on and the settlement security guard from Ma’on drove into At-Tuwani. The settler accused the villagers of stealing goats. Palestinians in the village told him to call the police and let police officers search village. However, the settler continued to walk throughout the village, entering Palestinian homes, accompanied by the soldiers and settlement security guard. He then made phone calls until other settlers arrived.

Women of At-Tuwani told CPTers that during the attack, soldiers threatened them and their children, saying that if they did not leave the area, soldiers would arrest all of the men of the village and kill at least one. Despite their fear, the women remained where they were and told the soldiers they were welcome to arrest them as well as the men.

The day after the attack, doctors reported that the Palestinian who was punched in the face will need surgery.