CPT At-Tuwani October 2010 Update

There were generally two, and sometimes three, members on the CPT At-Tuwani team 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 on one of these accompaniments. There was no verbal or physical contact with the settlers 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 on. Later the donkey appeared back in Tuba missing the 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 approach the shepherds generally leave 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 members of Operation Dove were attacked by masked settlers as they returned from accompanying shepherds . They were unharmed. The next day two CPTers were challenged by a settler on horseback and warned to stay off the road to Tuba. Three more settlers appeared and watched the CPTers as they took a longer route.

Israeli Army Checkpoints:

The team was often alerted to the presence of a temporary army checkpoint set up at the junction of the settler-only highway and the road from At-Tuwani to Yatta. The soldiers stopped most vehicles and checked IDs possibly looking for labourers travelling to or from Israel illegally – the green line is only a few miles away. CPT and/or the Doves monitor the checkpoint and intervene when soldiers detain Palestinians for a longer time than usual. Sometimes it is possible to engage the soldiers in conversation about what they are doing and why.
Advocacy:

A visitor from England spent a day with the team and a delegation of 30 Mennonites from the US and Canada visited to see for themselves and hear the stories of nonviolent resistance of 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 speaking tour in Italy next month.

Olive Harvest:

The army seems to have orders to protect the farmers during olive harvest this year and 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. The harvest was quiet and without incident.