CPTnet
13 July 2011
AT-TUWANI:
Palestinians protest expansion of Havat Ma’on Outpost; Israeli Military
responds with violence
[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. Most settlement outposts are considered illegal under
Israeli law.] 
Carrying a large banner that read “We want to
live in Peace and Dignity,” over one hundred Palestinians, internationals and
Israeli activists marched in protest of an extension to the Israeli settlement
of Havat Ma’on on the morning of 9 July 2011.
In response to the nonviolent march, Israeli
soldiers declared a closed military zone, fired tear gas, and threw sound
grenades. One Palestinian man suffered minor burns on his legs when a sound
bomb landed at his feet.
The extension of the Israeli outpost consists of a
tent that settlers built about two months ago. Settlers built the tent on
ground that belongs to families in the nearby Palestinian village of At-Tuwani.
The police detained one Palestinian and one
international, but released them when activists refused to leave the area
without them.
