Category: Hebron

CPT-Palestine closes At-Tuwani project

November 2, 2011 | Christian Peacemaker Team – Palestine

In 2004, the village of At-Tuwani and its Israeli partner, Ta’ayush, approached CPT’s Hebron team and the Italian peace group, Operation Dove, asking if they could provide accompaniment for the children of the village whom settlers regularly attacked as they walked to school.

Although CPT had made regular visits to the South Hebron Hills villages over the years, the team on the ground and the organization as a whole deemed it important to respond to the villagers’ request for a permanent presence in the village of At-Tuwani.

Seven years later, CPT-Palestine is closing its At-Tuwani project. The growth of the South Hebron Hills nonviolent organizing work has made the presence of CPT less critical. The shepherds of At-Tuwani and surrounding villages now are part of a large nonviolent resistance network encompassing various regions of Palestine. They are part of the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee, and South Hebron Hills leaders regularly plan nonviolent actions to which they invite Israeli and international groups and offer nonviolence trainings to men and women in the region.

The village has grown significantly since 2004, when all the homes were living under threat of demolition. Defying these threats, At-Tuwani has constructed ten new homes, a health and community centre, electrical infrastructure, a paved road through the village, a new cistern, and a mosque. It has a woman’s co-op that sells traditional crafts to groups that come to the village, which helps to support families and the new infrastructure. The village has also received grants from various agencies, one of which it used to buy several computers to provide IT training for village youth.

The end of CPT’s permanent presence in At-Tuwani does not mean the end of its relationship with the South Hebron Hills villagers. CPT-Palestine will continue to support them by maintaining media and public awareness of the area, participating in actions organized by the nonviolent Popular Struggle Committee and bringing CPT delegations to the South Hebron Hills.

Because of the villagers’ stalwart nonviolent resistance, they now have relationships with hundreds of Israelis, Palestinians and internationals who support their efforts. Two international groups will continue to have a physical presence in the area. The Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) now has an office in Yatta, the urban hub of the South Hebron Hills, and Operation Dove will continue to live in At-Tuwani.

AT-Tuwani team member Laura Ciaghi writes, “I think we have done a good job of empowering the community in doing nonviolent resistance, mostly by creating a safer space for people in Tuwani and lifting some of the heavy pressure of living under occupation, so that they had the time, the energy and the space to organize themselves. The olive tree we planted in our courtyard on Christmas 2005 this fall has yielded for the first time, a full bucket of big olives, and maybe this tells the story better than anything else.”

Israeli prison industrial complex in motion

by Lisa

30 October 2011 | International Solidarity Movement West Bank

During a settler tour around the old city in Hebron on Saturday, where dozens of Israelis were guided around in a sort of parade, a Palestinian man named Yousef Salim Issa Al Batch, passed by and was stopped by Israeli police. He had a small fruit knife in his pocket and had forgotten his ID. As a result he was arrested and taken to the police station at the Kiryat Arba settlement at 4:15 PM.

Earlier in the day Al Batch had been cutting apples with a small knife and forgot to take it out of his pocket. When stopped by the police he was asked for his ID. He did not have it with him, and so, Al Batch called his mother to ask her to give him the ID number. The officer who had stopped him suggested that this would be acceptable so long as Yousef  had not been in any trouble in the past. If he did have a previous record with Israelis, they would have to bring him to the police station.

Although Al Batch has never been arrested before and never been in trouble, the police officer decided to bring him to the police station anyways.

Al Batch was released at 8:30 PM after his cousin paid 1,000 shekels in cash to the police.

His cousin, Amer, called International Solidarity Movement on Sunday evening and said with an anxious voice:

“This is not normal, I think it’s pocket money for the police men”.

 

Lisa is an activist with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

New Israeli military tactic: Headbutting in Al- Ma’asara

by Alistair George

28 October 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

The Israeli military violently obstructed a peaceful demonstration against the Israeli separation wall in Al-Ma’sara, near Bethlehem, today.

Around 25 Palestinians and a similar number of international observers marched from the village at 12:20 PM today and attempted to reach olive groves on Palestinian land just outside of Al-Ma’asara in time for this year’s olive harvest.  A line of thirteen soldiers, backed by reinforcements in three armoured vehicles, pushed and shoved protesters, including a small Palestinian boy, in order to prevent them from leaving the village.

As demonstrators attempted to walk around the line of soldiers, one officer snatched a Palestinian flag from a protester and then head-butted him.

Mahmoud Alaaelddin, President of Al-Ma’sara local council and member of the Popular Resistance Committee, said “Every Friday we try to go to our land and the soldiers always prevent us from going.  They don’t care if there are children at the demonstration; they use more and more violence every Friday.”

After being prevented from peacefully marching to Palestinian land, protesters chanted, sang and remonstrated with the Israeli military for around 30 minutes.  The protest dispersed at 1:00 PM, with Mahmoud Zawahra, member of Al-Ma’asara’s Popular Committee of Resistance, alerting the soldiers of their continued persistence.

“Next Friday we will come with more people and we will fly kites with Palestinian flags.  And for the hundredth time we tell you – you are not welcome here. You are killers and occupying forces,” he said.

Around five minutes after today’s protest ended, a small group of Palestinian youths threw stones at the military, who responded by firing a tear gas canister, causing billowing gas to enter a house and garden at the edge of Al-Ma’asara.

Demonstrations take place in the village every Friday in protest against the separation wall – illegal under international law – which has been used by the Israeli military to expropriate much of the village’s land since 2005.  Work had ceased on the wall near Al-Ma’asara in 2008 after an Israeli court ruling, but it is scheduled to re-commence on 1 January 2011.

If completed, the barrier will expropriate more Palestinian land and will result in the closure of the main road that links Al-Ma’asara to nearby cities in the West Bank.  Al-Ma’sara residents will be forced to take alternative routes, tripling the length of time it takes to drive from the village to Bethlehem or Hebron.

Alaaeldin says that over the past few years Israeli soldiers have come into the village late at night before the Friday’s protest; forcing entire families – including children – to stand in the cold, often for 2-3 hours.

According to Alaaeldin, the Israeli military “wants people to be afraid [to protest].  They say ‘we will arrest you, we will kill you ‘but more people come to the demonstrations and refuse to be scared.”

The Israeli military has not carried out such incursions into the village for three months, but Alaaeldin is concerned that they may start again as soldiers have taken advantage of the cold winter nights to harass people in previous years.

Alistair George is an activist with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

Tel Rumeida: International observers and Palestinians alike targeted by checkpoints

by Alistair George

27 October 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

 The Israeli military is continuing to harass and intimidate Palestinians and international volunteers at checkpoints throughout Tel Rumeida, Hebron.

 On 25 October 2011, around 7.15pm, a Palestinian woman was held at checkpoint56 inTel Rumeida for around an hour after refusing to pass through the metal detector.  The woman claimed that she was unwell and had been instructed by her doctor that it was not safe to pass through metal detectors.  Although she produced papers from the doctor showing that she was ill, the soldiers refused to let her pass.  She was eventually allowed to continue her journey, without passing through the metal detector, after the Israeli police were called and allowed her to return home.

Since 11 October 2011, the Israeli military has stated that pregnant women, people with heart devices and those with medical conditions are required to pass through the metal detector, despite the health risks posed.  Furthermore, teachers at Qordoba school have also been forced to pass through the metal detector and submit their bags for inspection, despite passing through a separate gate for the last seven years.  Six children were sent to hospital on 11 October 2011 after being injured by the Israeli military during protests against the treatment of the school’s teachers.  On October 16 2011, Israeli soldiers shot tear gas at a group of young schoolchildren and female teachers, who were attempting to hold a lesson outside of the checkpoint as an act of protest.

However, the Israeli military has repeatedly attempted to confiscate the passports of international activists as they pass through the checkpoints of Tel Rumeida; a practice which is illegal under Israeli law and appears designed to harass international observers going about their work in the area.  The military has the right to ask to see passports and record details if deemed necessary – provided that the passports remain in the possession of the owner  In several instances where international activists have refused to hand over their passports, the Israeli police have been called to intervene – often resulting in a 30 minute delay at the checkpoint.

On 25 October 2011, at around 12.50pm, an international activist was assaulted by the Israeli military after refusing to comply with an illegal demand to hand over their passport.  The soldier pushed and then kicked the activist with significant force; the activist stated that “It seemed that perhaps my awareness of Israeli law and my refusal to comply to his illegal demands antagonised the solider.”  Again, the police were called and looked at the passport before allowing the activist to continue their journey.

On 27 October 2011, several international activists were held at checkpoint56 inTel Rumeida for over an hour after refusing to hand over their passports to the Israeli military.  The police were called – however, in this instance they colluded in the military’s illegal activity by taking the passports and then handing them to soldiers for inspection.  The Israeli military confiscated three of the passports and kept them at the checkpoint for around 20 minutes.  The senior police officer, who gave his name as ‘Assaf’, threatened to arrest any international visitors to the area who refuse to hand over their passports to the military in the future; effectively threatening to arrest international activists for obeying Israeli law.

Alistair George is an activist with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

Settlers desperately try to fit the role by stealing olives

by Aida Gerard

 25 October 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On Tuesday, illegal settlers from the Susiya settlement harvested the olive trees belonging to the Abu Sabha family from Susiya and Yatta, South Hebron Hills.

Settlers pick olives from Palestinian trees – Click here for more images

Around 12 o’ clock a villager from the area spotted two settlers picking olives from the land of Abu Sabha. He alerted the police, the District Coordination Office (DCO) and international observers who then were the first to arrive at the scene. When the settlers were asked to stop stealing the olives they claimed ownership of the land and warned the observers from setting foot on the land.

Israeli military arrived and they reluctantly called the police and the DCO for the second time, who then arrived and engaged in a lengthy discussion with the settlers. After a couple of hours the picked olives were confiscated and the land declared a closed military area.

The DCO said that the olives would stay in their custody until the Israeli court makes a decision on who is the rightful owner of the land. Except from the few olive trees next to Road 60, all of the Abu Sabha land in Susiya is occupied by the settlers who built a settlement there in 1982 and have continued to expand since then. The fear expressed by the villagers, is of course that when the police and army leave the land, the settlers will immediately return and continue their violation against the Palestinians and their land.

Last year when the Abu Sabha family had picked their olive trees, the settlers stole their harvest. When the family complained to the Israeli police, the police closed the case citing that the settlers had already turned the olives into oil.

 Aida Gerard is an activist with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).