CPTnet
28 September 2006
AT-TUWANI UPDATE: 1-15 September 2006
During this period, the team accompanied shepherds from At-Tuwani and
surrounding villages as they grazed their sheep in the morning. The team
conducted school patrol on 2 September 2006 only, due to the nation-wide
Palestinian teachers' strike. In addition to members of Operation Dove
(called Doves), CPTers on the project during this time were Matthew
Chandler, Claire Evans, Joel Gulledge and Sarah Scruggs.
Saturday, 2 September 2006
Despite reports of a teachers strike throughout the West Bank, school opened
as scheduled. Chandler, Evans and Scruggs monitored the morning Israeli
army escort of children from Tuba, and all went smoothly. However, classes
finished about 10:30 a.m., after the teachers decided to honor the strike
until further notice. Chandler informed the army of the situation, and the
escort promptly arrived to accompany the children back to Tuba.
At about 5:30 p.m., four Israeli soldiers arrived in At-Tuwani and
confronted one of the men of the village, accusing him of driving his car
through the "checkpoint" (the cement blocks cutting off access to the
Israeli Route 317). Chandler, Evans, and two Doves responded. The soldiers
said they could arrest the man for driving through the checkpoint because of
the scratches on his car and paint on the cement blocks, and if he tried it
again, they could shoot him. Chandler asked what law was being violated,
but did not receive a clear answer. The soldiers returned the man's ID
after a brief check, and then left.
Tuesday, 5 September 2006
In the late afternoon, Chandler and two Doves responded to reports of a
bulldozer by Route 317. By the time they arrived, the army had moved the
cement blocks that had closed the gap in the barrier cutting off access to
the Palestinian road that crosses Route 317.
Wednesday, 6 September 2006
While Chandler and one of the Doves accompanied a shepherd near Khoruba, two
settler men came down the hill toward them from the outpost on Hill 833
(near the Ma'on settlement). The settlers threatened the two peace workers,
saying, "If you don't leave, your head will be on the stone." Chandler
recorded the incident on videotape, and left without further incident. The
shepherd also left the area safely.
Chandler later went to the Kiryat Arba Israeli police station to report the
threat. The police investigator refused to take his statement, saying the
evidence was not sufficient for a conviction. Chandler gave the officer a
copy of the tape.
Thursday, 7 September 2006
The lawyer involved in the Israeli court case about the barrier along Route
317 reported to Chandler that the hearing had been held as scheduled on 6
September, but the court had not yet rendered a decision. The Israeli High
Court has a maximum of three months to make a decision, she said.
Two representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
arrived in the village about 11:30 a.m. CPTers, Doves and villagers
conversed with them about thirty minutes.
At about 4:00 p.m., several representatives from United Nations agencies,
including Kevin Kennedy-the Deputy Special Coordinator for the Office of the
United Nation Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process
(UNSCO)-visited the village. Chandler, Evans and Gulledge described the
work of CPT and Operation Dove in the area, and several village men gave an
overview of the difficulties the Palestinians in At-Tuwani face from the
Israeli authorities and settlers.
Saturday, 9 September 2006
Officials from the UN agency concerned with refugees (UNRWA) visited
At-Tuwani in the morning, and spoke with CPTers and Doves.
Chandler and Gulledge spent the night in the nearby village of Suseya, which
has seen frequent harassment from Israeli settlers and military personnel
over the years.
Sunday, 10 September 2006
As a Palestinian friend from Suseya drove Chandler and Gulledge back to
At-Tuwani about 9:45 a.m., an Israeli army humvee pulled over at the road
entering At-Tuwani. The soldiers inside sternly ordered the CPTers and
Palestinian to turn the car off and get out. All three passengers complied.
The CPTers pulled out their cameras, and the soldiers immediately told them
to turn the cameras off and put them away. One soldier pushed Gulledge on
the shoulder, and the CPTers then lowered their cameras. Chandler notified
the rest of the team about the situation, and three Doves arrived a few
minutes later. In the meantime, the soldiers took the Suseya man's ID card.
The CPTers showed their passport information but did not relinquish their
passports. The soldier copied all three persons' identification information
on a scrap of paper. When the soldiers completed their notes, they returned
the Suseya resident's ID and departed.
Following up on the incident of 6 September, Chandler called the Kiryat Arba
police to see if they had decided to carry out an investigation regarding
the threats from the Hill 833 settler. The investigator he spoke to before
said that the position of the police had not changed: they would keep the
videotape, but had no plans to pursue an investigation into the threats or
to take a testimony from Chandler.
Monday, 11 September 2006
A construction crew began working on the second level of the village clinic.
Over the years, the villagers have had difficulty building the clinic
because building permits are not available for Palestinians in this area of
the West Bank, Area C, which is under full Israeli military control.
However, no problems occurred.
Tuesday, 12 September 2006
Work continued on the clinic without incident.
About 3:30 p.m., the team's translator came to the CPT/Dove house to report
that a truck carrying water donated by Oxfam to Suseya had gotten five flat
tires because someone had strewn metal spikes onto the road into the
village. He showed the team three of the spikes. (See 14 September
release, " Water truck to Suseya village disabled by metal spikes.")
Wednesday, 13 September 2006
An At-Tuwani man called the team about 7:00 a.m. to report the presence of
six settlers on the hill behind his house. Gulledge and two Doves
responded. The settlers had left by the time they arrived, but not before
threatening the At-Tuwani man.
About 10:40 a.m., the Palestinian driver of the water truck who had
encountered the spikes on the road in Suseya the previous day stopped to
talk with CPTers and Doves. He said that as he was collecting the spikes,
four women, probably from the nearby Israeli settlement of Suseya, looked
on. He thought it likely that the spikes were made at an iron factory not
far away that serves the settlement. Despite the delay, he had managed to
deliver the water Tuesday. He had not notified the Israeli police, because
the community has found they are not helpful in investigating these
incidents.
Thursday, 14 September 2006
Two visitors from Germany arrived in the village at midday and stayed the
night.
A large group of women and girls from the village gathered near the museum
for sewing lessons in the afternoon. They stayed around for more than two
hours, and toward the end, some of them played volleyball.
Between 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m., IDF soldiers were at the bottom of the hill
on the At-Tuwani road near Route 317 searching for something. They used
flashlights, and fired three flares in the air. After about twenty minutes,
they left.
Friday, 15 September 2006
Before lunch, the team got word that settlers were out near the house
closest to the outpost on Hill 833. Chandler, Gulledge and three Doves met
an IDF army jeep on the way there. Soldiers were friendly, and told them
the presence related to a dispute between two groups of settlers, one of
which was traveling by tractor from At-Tuwani towards the Avigail outpost.
The soldiers stepped out of their jeep for a few minutes, two using their
rifle scopes to identify an object lying on the road ahead. Gulledge told
them it was only trash in the road, and that they should not be waving their
rifles with children around. After confirming that the object was indeed
trash, the soldiers climbed back into the jeep and left.
Two international visitors from Scotland and England as well as a
Palestinian representative of the Alternative Information Center joined the
team for lunch. The team spent the afternoon informing them of the
situation in At-Tuwani and the work of CPT and Operation Dove.
Chandler received a call from an At-Tuwani resident who said that soldiers
had stopped several persons down at the At-Tuwani road near Route 317. The
whole team responded. Upon arrival, they saw that an IDF humvee had stopped
people in a tractor and truck. Gulledge asked what the problem was, and the
soldiers said a there was no problem. The soldiers left shortly afterward.
Saturday, 16 September 2006
The newly formed independent Palestinian Regional Committee held a meeting
at 11:30 a.m. with Ta'ayush (an Israeli peace group), Operation Dove, and
CPT to discuss relations among the organizations.
CPT and the Doves responded to a call after 5:00 p.m. that the IDF had
stopped some people down at the At-Tuwani road and Route 317. Walking down
the hillside, Chandler and Gulledge saw that a group of Israeli soldiers had
stopped two Palestinian men. Chandler and Gulledge witnessed one Israeli
soldier kick one man in the knee and force him to the ground by the head and
shoulders. The soldier became upset when the observers arrived, and
demanded that they stop filming. When told that team members witnessed what
happened from the hill, his response was, "I told him to sit down, and he
wouldn't."
The soldier put his hands on Gulledge, who then asked the soldier not to
touch him. Soon women and children from At-Tuwani arrived and stood by the
men. The soldiers began to leave shortly afterward. But as they were
pulling onto the road, the soldiers then stopped a vehicle belonging to two
young Israelis from nearby Kibbutzim (intentional communities inside
Israel's 1967 border) whom a Palestinian resident of Suseya was showing
around. After speaking to each other in Hebrew for a while, the soldiers
finally left, and everyone else went home.
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