AT-TUWANI UPDATE: February 2008
March 6th, 2008
in:
CPTnet
6 March 2008
AT-TUWANI UPDATE: February 2008
[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 are illegal.]
On team during this time were Tarek Abuata, Joy Ellison, Art Gish, Eileen
Hanson, Sean O’Neill, Cassandra Dixon, Doug Pritchard, and members of
Operation Dove (Doves).
The team continued to monitor the military escort of children to school in
At-Tuwani. The team also observed additional construction in the Hill 833
settlement outpost.
7 February 2008
The Israeli military blocked the road near At-Tuwani, using concrete blocks
and earth mounds. This road is the only vehicle route connecting the South
Hebron Hills area with the town of Yatta, which serves as the economic hub
for the entire region. The roadblock prevents people from purchasing basic
supplies such as firewood or animal feed. Many of the teachers and students
at the primary school in At-Tuwani pass on his road, and now must climb over
the roadblock and walk the rest of the way to school, and older children
living south of the roadblock must climb over it to reach school in Yatta.
The blockade also cuts off the people of the region from medical care.
The Israeli military has often closed this road as part of the Israeli
government’s pressure on the Palestinian population in this area to leave.
As a result of this pressure and of settler harassment, people have already
abandoned several smaller villages. For pictures of these abandoned
villages, see
http://www.cpt.org/gallery/Abandoned-and-demolished-Palestinian-homes-and-vi
llages-in-the-Southern-Hebron-Hills-area
Saturday, 23 February
Israeli soldiers and settlers harassed and threatened Palestinian shepherds
grazing their flocks. Several Palestinian shepherds from the village of
At-Tuwani and nearby villages in the South Hebron Hills attempted to graze
their flocks on Palestinian land near the Hill 833 Israeli settlement
outpost. Soldiers arrived and took the ID of one of the shepherds,
threatening arrest. They also kicked and injured several sheep. One had
teeth broken, and another miscarried two lambs after receiving a kick in the
stomach. Settlers from the outpost harassed shepherds as they grazed sheep
in the nearby valley.
Sunday, 24 February
Israeli soldiers again tried to prevent At-Tuwani shepherds from grazing
their flocks. They chased the sheep and threatened to arrest at least one
of the shepherds. The District Coordinating Officer (DCO) arrived and ruled
that the Palestinian shepherds could graze in that area. One lactating
sheep was injured in the foot, and was bleeding into its milk from the
stress of the day’s events. Its lamb was unable to nurse.
Friday, 29 February 2008
Palestinians in the South Hebron Hills gathered to open the main access
road to Yatta, which had been bulldozed closed by the Israeli military two
weeks earlier. See 3 March CPTnet release, "AT-TUWANI: Nonviolent
demonstration opens road in South Hebron Hills."
6 March 2008
AT-TUWANI UPDATE: February 2008
[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 are illegal.]
On team during this time were Tarek Abuata, Joy Ellison, Art Gish, Eileen
Hanson, Sean O’Neill, Cassandra Dixon, Doug Pritchard, and members of
Operation Dove (Doves).
The team continued to monitor the military escort of children to school in
At-Tuwani. The team also observed additional construction in the Hill 833
settlement outpost.
7 February 2008
The Israeli military blocked the road near At-Tuwani, using concrete blocks
and earth mounds. This road is the only vehicle route connecting the South
Hebron Hills area with the town of Yatta, which serves as the economic hub
for the entire region. The roadblock prevents people from purchasing basic
supplies such as firewood or animal feed. Many of the teachers and students
at the primary school in At-Tuwani pass on his road, and now must climb over
the roadblock and walk the rest of the way to school, and older children
living south of the roadblock must climb over it to reach school in Yatta.
The blockade also cuts off the people of the region from medical care.
The Israeli military has often closed this road as part of the Israeli
government’s pressure on the Palestinian population in this area to leave.
As a result of this pressure and of settler harassment, people have already
abandoned several smaller villages. For pictures of these abandoned
villages, see
http://www.cpt.org/gallery/Abandoned-and-demolished-Palestinian-homes-and-vi
llages-in-the-Southern-Hebron-Hills-area
Saturday, 23 February
Israeli soldiers and settlers harassed and threatened Palestinian shepherds
grazing their flocks. Several Palestinian shepherds from the village of
At-Tuwani and nearby villages in the South Hebron Hills attempted to graze
their flocks on Palestinian land near the Hill 833 Israeli settlement
outpost. Soldiers arrived and took the ID of one of the shepherds,
threatening arrest. They also kicked and injured several sheep. One had
teeth broken, and another miscarried two lambs after receiving a kick in the
stomach. Settlers from the outpost harassed shepherds as they grazed sheep
in the nearby valley.
Sunday, 24 February
Israeli soldiers again tried to prevent At-Tuwani shepherds from grazing
their flocks. They chased the sheep and threatened to arrest at least one
of the shepherds. The District Coordinating Officer (DCO) arrived and ruled
that the Palestinian shepherds could graze in that area. One lactating
sheep was injured in the foot, and was bleeding into its milk from the
stress of the day’s events. Its lamb was unable to nurse.
Friday, 29 February 2008
Palestinians in the South Hebron Hills gathered to open the main access
road to Yatta, which had been bulldozed closed by the Israeli military two
weeks earlier. See 3 March CPTnet release, "AT-TUWANI: Nonviolent
demonstration opens road in South Hebron Hills."
