AT-TUWANI RELEASE: Settler Youth Harass Palestinians and International
Human Rights Workers

April 9, 2010

A masked Israeli settler youth threatened and physically assaulted two
Italian human rights workers on April 5 as they walked to Tuwani after
accompanying Palestinian shepherds near the village of Tuba. The two
members of Operation Dove were walking through an uncultivated
Palestinian field near the Israeli settlement of Ma'on and were about 50
meters from Road 317 when a young man approached them. Although his face
was partly covered they recognised him as the same person who had been
verbally harassing the shepherds earlier in the day. The settler yelled
threats at them, ordered them to go back to where they came from, and
said he would call police. When the Italians told him they did not mind
if he called the police he kicked one of them on the thigh and then ran
away from them in the direction of Ma'on settlement.

In a separate incident, also on April 5, two young male Israeli settlers
brought a dog from the illegal Israeli outpost of Havat Ma'on onto
Palestinian land in Khoruba Valley where two Palestinian families were
harvesting crops, accompanied by a members of Christian Peacemaker
Teams. In previous years Israeli settlers from the outpost of Havat
Ma'on have attacked and harassed families in Khoruba valley during
harvesting. The families, which included women and small children, were
frightened by the presence of the settlers, but did not leave their
fields. The settlers continued walking with the dog and left the area.

Operation Dove and Christian Peacemaker Teams together maintain a
presence in the Palestinian village of Tuwani, and provided
international accompaniment and documentation to Palestinian shepherds,
farmers and school children. The two human rights organizations began
work in the area in 2004 in response to frequent violent attacks on
Palestinians by settlers from the illegal outpost of Havat Ma'on. For
background and more information, please see
_http://www.operationdove.org/_ and _http://www.cpt.org/_

[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 (OPT) are
illegal. Most settlement outposts are considered illegal under Israeli law.]