Thursday, May 28

Eric Graham and Claire Miller, accompanied by Abdel Hadi Hantash of
the Palestinian Land Defense Committee, traveled to the Yatta area, 15
miles south of Hebron. They stopped at the construction site of an
unfinished elementary school that would serve the children of
Palestinian shepherds and farmers in the vicinity. The Israeli
government issued a stop work order on the school about a month ago,
citing the lack of a building permit. However, in Area C, the 70% of
the West Bank still under full Israeli control, building permits are
routinely denied. The over 100 prospective students of the school
currently travel more than 6 km to Yatta to attend school.

At about 8:45 p.m. a neighbor of the team knocked on the door of the
CPT apartment. His friend's 17 yr. old son had just been arrested by
border police at the family's home. Pierre Shantz and Jamey
Bouwmeester went with the men to check on the situation. The police
had given no reason for the arrest, except that the young man's name
was "on a list." He was released that night but was given an order to
report to the police station in a couple days.

May 30, Saturday
Bouwmeester, Graham, and Miller went to the Beqa'a Valley south
of Hebron, the site of many incidents of encroachment on Palestinian
land by the Jewish settlement of Harsina. The previous day, a new road
had been bulldozed near a gas station currently under construction on
confiscated land. Electrical towers are being erected. Abdel Jawad
Jabber, upon whose land the new road is being built, expressed dismay
that this was one more step in the settlement taking over his entire
farm.

June 2, Tuesday
Upon returning from Bethlehem, Anne Montgomery reported that it is
becoming common practice for Israeli soldiers to stop buses
transporting Palestinians while going through the villages of Beit
Ummar, Al Aroub, and Halhul. The women stay on the bus, while men are
forced off and sometimes stand by the roadside for hours while
identity checks are conducted. She observed such an incident the
previous Thursday evening.

June 3, Wednesday
Graham, Bouwmeester, Montgomery, and Miller, accompanied by a
translator, went to the Yatta area and assisted an old Palestinian
man and his family in rebuilding a stone wall that was destroyed 3
months ago by Israeli soldiers. Because of its proximity to the
Jewish settlements of Karmel and Ma'on and to an Israeli military
zone, people in this area experience frequent incidents of harassment
by both settlers and soldiers. This day, fighter jets were frequently
flying very low over the area. The family said they experience these
planes day and night.

CPT Hebron welcomed a 6-member Rebuilders Against Bulldozers (CPT-RAB)
delegation and two Canadian visitors who will be introduced to the
situation in Hebron and join in the team's work for the next four
days. The delegation, led by Julie Hart of Newton KS, includes Faith
Eidse, Tallahassee FL; Mitch Kingsley, Bluffton, OH; Elizabeth
Pearson, Albany, NY; Kerry Saner, Hillsboro, KS; and Sydney Stigge,
Newton, KS. Hart and Stigge, CPT Reservists, will continue with the
team for three more weeks.