
Filmed and produced by Cat Rabenstine for the Christian Peacemaker Teams in Palestine.
Life in the West Bank
Filmed and produced by Cat Rabenstine for the Christian Peacemaker Teams in Palestine.
CPTnet Digest
4 January 2011
A newsletter written by members of Christian Peacemaker Teams and Operation Dove.
Operation Dove (Nonviolent Peace Corps of Association “Comunit” Papa Giovanni XXIII) and Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) announce the publication of the 2009-2010 report on the Israeli military escort to the Palestinian schoolchildren from the villages of Tuba and Maghayir al-Abeed.
An average of eighteen Palestinian children from the villages of Tuba and Maghayir al Abeed attend school in the neighbouring village of At-Tuwani.
To reach school, the children typically use the primary road that connects their villages with At-Tuwani and passes between the Israeli settlement of Ma’on and the Israeli outpost of Havat Ma’on (Hill 833).
Since 2001, Israeli settlers from Havat Ma’on have routinely attacked the children on their journey to and from school, but it was not until November 2004 that Israeli authorities established a daily military escort.
Despite the Israeli military escort, the children have been victims of violence 104 times between November 2004 and June 2010.
The soldiers carrying out the escort have at times failed to protect the children and have frequently arrived late, causing the children to wait, sometimes for hours, before and after school.
During the 2009-2010 school year, children missed almost twenty-seven hours of school and waited fifty-three hours for military escort after school.
In addition, the soldiers regularly failed to provide a complete escort of the children, almost always leaving the children to walk unescorted beside settlement buildings, in an area where settlers have attacked them.
Despite the children’s right to access education, the military fails to provide a consistent escort for the children. When the military does not arrive, the schoolchildren must take alternative routes that take up to two hours by foot through a rocky, hilly landscape. Furthermore, settlers attack the children and their relatives on these longer paths.
Members of Operation Dove and Christian Peacemaker Teams have had a continuous presence in the village of At-Tuwani since 2004 and daily monitor the military escort of the schoolchildren.
The report, “The Dangerous Road to Education. Palestinian Students Suffer Under Settler Violence and Military Negligence” is available as a PDF. Click here for the PDF document.
CPTnet AT-TUWANI UPDATE: October 2010
The At-Tuwani team had between two to three CPTers serving during the month
of October.
School Patrol
Together with the members of Operation Dove, the team monitored the Israeli
military accompaniment of the school children from the Tuba area as they
passed near the Israeli settlement of Ma’on. Twice the soldiers failed to
arrive in the afternoon, and the internationals accompanied the children back
to Tuba. Four settlers, with faces masked, chased the children during one of
these accompaniments, but no verbal or physical contact with the settlers
occurred, and no one was injured. On another occasion, two high school
students were returning to Tuba when two masked settlers stole the donkey
they were riding. Â Later the donkey appeared back in Tuba missing its
saddle.
Shepherd Accompaniment
Team members often spent Friday or Saturday nights at Tuba and accompanied
young shepherds in the morning as they grazed their flocks near the Ma’on
settlement barns. When settlers approached, the shepherds generally left the
area quickly. Israeli soldiers on one occasion chased young shepherds back to
Tuba and arrested their brother, a university student, when he videoed the
soldiers’ actions. He was taken to an army base and held for five hours. On
one occasion, two masked settlers attacked two members of Operation Dove as
they returned from accompanying shepherds, but did not injure them. The next
day, a settler on horseback challenged two CPTers and warned them to stay off
the road to Tuba. Three more settlers appeared and watched the CPTers as they
took a longer route.
Israeli Army Checkpoints
Soldiers often set up a temporary army checkpoint at the junction of the
settler-only highway and the road from At-Tuwani to Yatta. They stopped
most vehicles and checked IDs, possibly looking for labourers travelling to
or from Israel illegally across the nearby green line. Â CPT and/or the Doves
monitored the checkpoint and intervened when soldiers detained Palestinians
for a longer time than usual. Sometimes they were able to engage the soldiers
in conversation about what they were doing and why.
Advocacy
A visitor from England spent a day with the team, and a delegation of thirty
Mennonites from the U.S. and Canada visited to see and hear the stories of
nonviolent resistance practiced by the people of At-Tuwani to the occupation
and confiscation of their land by Israeli settlers and soldiers. The team
helped a Palestinian couple from At-Tuwani prepare for a November speaking
tour in Italy.
Olive Harvest
The army seemed to have orders to protect the farmers from settler attack
during their olive harvest. While the families from At-Tuwani were in the
Humra valley near the Ma’on settlement, two army jeeps remained on the road
between the valley and the settlement for the entirety of the olive harvest,
which passed without incident.
We may not currently have the might of the Israeli army nor the power of traditions confining us in certain roles, however, we know that one woman standing behind another in a line of solidarity is a force more powerful than both.
Dear friends and supporters of At-Tuwani village,
We would like to invite you to support a force more powerful than violence: the voices of Palestinian women. In late November 2010 , Humanity Together will host Keifah Addera and her husband Nasser on a speaking tour in Italy. Keifah will be speaking about the experiences of women in At-Tuwani as they nonviolently resist both the Israeli occupation and sexism. We hope that you will consider financially supporting this exciting project.
The people of At-Tuwani have often told their allies that the most important way we can support their struggle is to share their stories in our own communities. Keifah Addera, the organizer of the At-Tuwani Women’s Cooperative, is a powerful voice uniquely able to speak about the resistance of Palestinian women. While in Italy, Keifah will speak about the effect of the Israeli occupation and settler violence on women and children in Tuwani as well as the women’s cooperative’s work for justice and gender equality. Keifah’s husbandwill speak about his experiences as a prisoner in Israeli jail after being arrested for his participation in nonviolent demonstrations. Keifah and Nasser will present at the annual Italian Pax Christi peace conference as well as other public meetings in Rome, Trento, Ravenna, and several other locations.
Few Tuwani residents are as experienced in speaking with visitors as Keifah. She often hosts groups in Tuwani and has a rare talent for creating relationships with the people she meets. For this reason we are excited by the opportunities for building international support and women’s solidarity that this trip will provide. We are trying to raise 2,500 euros to cover the cost of flights, visa procedures, lodging, transportation in Italy, and food expenses. To donate, follow this link to our Pay Pal. Thank you so much for your support
In solidarity,
Read more about the folks in At Tuwani.