Urgent ACTION ALERT for our GAZA TEAM Dec 25-Jan 2, 2010

Please see the GAZA TEAM BLOG at MPTinGAZA.blogspot.com.

To: All of our Friends and Readers

From: MPT by Sheri Wander
MPT President, Nonviolence Trainer and
Member of our 2009 Gaza Freedom March Team- departing in just a few days

Thanks to all of you who have offered your support (emotionally, spiritually, financially...) and well wishes for our team to Gaza. I must again ask for your help.

ACTION REQUESTED: Can you send a fax, an email or make a phone call to the following authorities help break the blockade of Gaza?

Contact your local consulate here:
http://www.mfa.gov.eg/MFA_Portal/en-GB/mfa_websits/

Contact the Palestine Division in Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cairo
Ahmed Azzam, tel +202-25749682 Email: ahmed.azzam@mfa.gov.eg

In the U.S., contact the Egyptian Embassy, 202-895-5400 and ask for Omar Youssef or email omaryoussef@hotmail.com

(Also, see a simple sample letter below.)

MORE INFORMATION: Using the pretext of escalating tensions on the Gaza-Egypt border, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry yesterday informed those traveling to Gaza for the Freedom March that the Rafah border will be closed over the coming weeks, into January. We responded that there is always tension at the border because of the siege, that we do not feel threatened, and that if there are any risks, they are risks we are willing to take. We also said that it was too late for over 1,300 delegates coming from over 42 countries to change their plans now.

This is frustrating, but not entirely unexpected: no delegation, large or small, that entered Gaza over the past 12 months has ever received a final OK before arriving at the Rafah border. Most delegations were discouraged from even heading out of Cairo to Rafah. Some had their buses stopped on the way. Some have been told outright that they could not go into Gaza. But after public and political pressure, the Egyptian government changed its position and let them pass.

My efforts and plans will not be altered at this point. But I need your help! Public Pressure does work!

Those of us who are going on this historic march have set out to break the siege of Gaza and march on December 31 against the Israeli blockade. We are continuing in the same direction.

Egyptian embassies and missions all over the world must hear from us and our supporters (by phone, fax and email)** over the coming crucial days, with a clear message: Let the international delegation enter Gaza and let the Gaza Freedom March proceed.

Again, here's what you can do to help:

Contact your local consulate here:
http://www.mfa.gov.eg/MFA_Portal/en-GB/mfa_websits/
Contact the Palestine Division in Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cairo
Ahmed Azzam, tel +202-25749682 Email: ahmed.azzam@mfa.gov.eg

In the U.S., contact the Egyptian Embassy, 202-895-5400 and ask for Omar Youssef or email omaryoussef@hotmail.com

Thanks friends!

In Peace and Solidairity,
Sheri

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear [ ],

I am writing/calling to express my full support for the December 31, 2009 Gaza Freedom March. I urge the Egyptian government to allow the 1,300 international delegates to enter the Gaza Strip through Egypt.

The aim of the march is to call on Israel to lift the siege. The delegates will also take in badly needed medical aid, as well as school supplies and winter jackets for the children of Gaza.

Please, let this historic March proceed.

Thank you.

Your Name (and where you reside, if you wish to add this).

MPT Gaza Team Dec 27-Jan 1, 2010 for Freedom March

Remember our friends in Gaza this Holiday Season,
and check our blog at
MPTinGaza.blogspot.com
regularly for updates from our team.

Six Michigan residents, members of Michigan Peace Team, are preparing to travel to Gaza and take part in the Gaza Freedom March. Over 1,000 participants from countries around the world, and more than 50,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are expected to join the December 31^, 2009 march inside Gaza.

This march is a historic initiative to demand that the borders of Gaza are opened, ending the siege that has imprisoned the 1.5 million people who live in Gaza. It is inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s Great Salt March, Martin Luther King’s civil rights actions in the United States, and the nonviolent efforts of Palestinians over the years.

Dorothy Ritter says “I believe in the power of non-violent resistance in the face of inhumanity. I stand in loving solidarity with the people of Gaza and the international community to join the demand for justice and human rights. .."

READ MORE ABOUT THE TEAM, AND MEET THEM HERE.

Contact us at: Nicoler.mpt@gmail.com if you are interested in supporting our team by volunteering to host a speaking engagement when they return, donating funds, or finding other ways to show your support.

For more information from CODE PINK, who organize hundreds of activists for this March, click here: GAZA FEEDOM MARCH- CODE PINK WEBSITE.

Also- read about MPT's participation at our website: http://www.michiganpeaceteam.org/Gaza_Freedom_March.htm.

Thank You WB Teams 2009, and Newsletter

Thank You MPT WB Team Members- and especially our Anchors!

Thank you to every volunteer who went to Palestine/Israel with Michigan Peace Team this year, and all of our friends at home and abroad that make our teams possible. It was a very successful year for MPT as we continue to expand our program in this region and beyond. We look forward to the day when our third party nonviolence work is unnecessary, and we can visit simply as friends.

Now that all team members are home until after the new year, we continue to plan our teams for 2010 and beyond. For more information, CLICK HERE to read our December Teams Insider News, or read our welcome newsletter with basic information about applying, training, budget and more. Anyone committed to nonviolence, teamwork, and our vision can be a member of an MPT Team.

Sincerely,

Nicole Rohrkemper
International Teams Coordinator
Michigan Peace Team

nicoler.MPT@gmail.com

Team Safe on the way home!

The team has contacted us to let us know they are all safely on their way home. It looks like all have cleared customs, and should arrive at their destinations as scheduled.

Thanks to the fall team for all their hard work and commitment!

Watch for updates on our 2010 teams soon.

Settler Harassment and a Closed Checkpoint Mar Start of Eid

Thursday, November 26, was Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. In Palestine it was the day before the Muslim holiday of Eid Al Adha. Eid al Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice, marks the end of the Hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, and also commemorates Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son in obedience to God. Traditionally, gifts are given and a cow, goat or sheep is killed and shared with family, friends and the needy. The holiday lasts three or four days, depending on the country. This holiday is akin to Christmas in the United States. (See http://islam.about.com/od/hajj/a/adha.htm)

Three MPTers and two international guests were preparing a Thanksgiving dinner, when three other invited internationals called to say that Huwwara checkpoint just north of the village of Huwwara, on the main road into Nablus, was closed to outbound traffic. The service they were riding had had to take a back road through Awarta checkpoint. Between the extra holiday traffic, the detour and the heightened security at Awarta, what should have been a 15 minute trip from Nablus to Huwwara had taken over an hour. MPTers were also told that there were two army jeeps on the main road in the center of Huwwara. The three MPTers and two guests went to observe what was happening at the town intersection, while the other internationals continued back to observe at Huwwara checkpoint.

Approaching Huwwara Checkpoint from Nablus,

photo taken a different day.

Two jeeps were parked on the main road in Huwwara, and the soldiers were directing traffic, an incredible amount of both Palestinian and Israeli cars, the latter a rarity in Huwwara. (Palestinian and Israeli cars can be distinguished by the color of their license plates: green, Palestinian; yellow, Israeli.) It was difficult to tell if the soldiers were facilitating the flow of traffic, which was disrupted by people’s need to take an alternate route from Nablus, or if they were randomly preventing people from continuing south on the main road. At various times, different MPTers perceived the situation differently. The group decided to split with some staying in Huwwara to keep watch on the soldiers’ activities and the rest going up to Huwwara checkpoint, from where the internationals had called to say that settler youth were attacking Palestinian cars.

The group arrived to discover many Palestinian cars pulled off alongside the road, hoping the checkpoint would open to allow them into Nablus. MPTers were told by Palestinians that the settlers had been throwing stones at Palestinian cars, and this was confirmed by the internationals who also said the settler youth had been banging on Palestinian cars and spitting on the Palestinians. The internationals also said the soldiers were yelling at and pointing their guns at Palestinians who had gotten out of their cars to see what was happening. The MPTers saw a group of 15-20 teenage settlers, both male and female, much closer to the closed checkpoint than the soldiers permitted the internationals (the use of the term internationals will now include MPTers in the remainder of this blog) to position themselves. Upon seeing the influx of internationals, the settler youth started to walk aggressively towards them. The soldiers positioned themselves between the two groups and walked towards the teens, forcing them back to where they had been.

The soldiers then ordered the internationals to move behind one of the jeeps, which they refused to do as they would then have been a considerable distance from the checkpoint, not been able to see events occurring, and not been able to intervene expeditiously should a problem arise. Moreover, as they told the soldiers, they were not the problem and the soldiers should focus on the settler youth and keep them from attacking Palestinians. When asked why the settler teens were not ordered to leave, the soldiers gave no clear answer but said Israeli police would be arriving with a van to take them back to the settlement. Eventually the Israeli police arrived but the teens were not ordered onto the van. At times the soldiers’ aggressiveness seemed more aimed at the internationals than at the settler youth, as though they had to demonstrate their authority to someone since the settlers enjoy virtual free rein.

About this time the settler teen-age girls started hitting and shoving the soldiers. While the soldiers did at times put out their hands to stop them and push back, it was without any significant force and just enough to get the girls back on the curb. Several of the teens then sat down in the street to force passing cars to veer around them.

Settler youth sitting in the street in an attempt to block traffic.

When the internationals had begun taking pictures, several of the settler youth held up their hands and ordered “No pictures.” They were ignored. Later, one of the young men came over to talk to some of the internationals. He said among other things that his parents are both from the United States, that Israel does not need any money from the United States, that he does not care about international law concerning the illegality of settlements, and that all the land belongs to the Jews. He related what he would like to do to Arabs if he had a knife and the opportunity, while calling all Arabs a word that does not bear repeating.

The young man who told internationals not to take pictures.

When the checkpoint re-opened, Nablus-bound traffic slowed as it passed the police jeep in the road. A group of about seven teenage settler girls stood at that point, yelling at and kicking passing cars. The soldiers and police made only occasional attempts to stop them. The internationals stood maybe twenty yards away, taking pictures and filming. A little later the settlers started towards the internationals, yelling at them in Hebrew. The soldiers finally came and directed them back.

Young settler women standing where cars slowed down in order to pass the police jeep, a good location for kicking the cars.

After about three hours, the settler youth began hitching rides to their settlement, and left the area in small groups. When most of them were gone, most of the internationals left as well, with two of the men staying to see the last of the settlers leave. Unfortunately, the military and police also left, and the remaining two internationals later said they had been shoved by the remaining youth, called names – gay, Nazi, anarchist -- and threatened with death.

It seems probable that the closed checkpoint was timed to disrupt the Palestinian holiday, just another of the many harassments and humiliations that accompany the Occupation. A Palestinian activist who had gone from Bethlehem to Jenin early Thursday seemed to confirm this supposition as he found the road closed when he went to return home. MPTers also read about other checkpoint closures and delays on that day. Moreover, on the last day of the three day celebration, the Qalandia checkpoint to Jerusalem was closed for a time, creating a terrible backup of traffic as Palestinians were making their way home.

It’s not uncommon for Israeli soldiers and police to at least allow if not also participate in settler violence against Palestinians. The MPTers heard speculation that the settlers were angry about Netanyahu’s recent announcement of a ten month partial settlement freeze. It should be noted that this freeze will only affect new settlement homes in the West Bank. Public buildings, homes and buildings already under construction, and settler homes in East Jerusalem will continue to be built (see http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1130636.html).

As the MPTers and their international guests finally gathered for a very late Thanksgiving dinner, they reflected on what would happen to Palestinian youth who tried similar tactics. Undoubtedly, they would be beaten, arrested, possibly shot. The evening’s events also raised the question: What are the consequences for the future of Israeli society when its settler youth can flaunt their arrogance and disdain with such impunity?

Pruning Accompaniment

On November 18, 19 and 23, MPTers responded to requests for accompaniment for pruning olive trees. Farmers in Quarawat Bani Hassan and Kufr Qaddum felt the need to have internationals present when they went to their groves in case they encountered settlers from the nearby illegal settlements of Kiryat Natafim and Qadumim and/or soldiers of the Israeli Occupation Army.

Olive groves needing pruning and plowing

Both Palestinian villages, Quarawat Bani Hassan and Kufr Qaddum, have similar populations, approximately 3,000. Both villages have suffered from the establishment of the nearby illegal settlements of Qadumin, established in 1975, and Kuryat Natafim, established in 1983, respectively. Both settlements confiscated hundreds of acres of land from the villages and a further large percentage of land is used as a protective barrier area around the settlement and therefore is unusable by the villagers.

The villagers simply are unable to plow their land or graze their animals or harvest their olives in many areas because of the violence and intimidation of the armed settlers should the villagers come too close to what the settlers claim is their land -- even though it’s private Palestinian land. Indeed, many villagers are scared to venture out of their village for fear of settler violence. But the threat of violence also comes from soldiers who patrol the roads, driving in and out of the settlements, and who have a close working relationship with the settlers.

In addition to losing their land, thousands of olive trees were uprooted to make room for the settlements, imposing great economic hardship on the farmers whose income is largely dependent upon olive production. In addition, the villages have had their wells poisoned by settlers as well as their springs polluted by the sewage and industrial run-off from the settlements. Their sheep and goats have been killed or stolen and arson has destroyed their crops and olive trees.

As recently as mid-October, fire set by the settlers destroyed close to 7 acres of land in Bani Hassan. Fire brigades were denied direct access to the burning fields via a settlement road, thus necessitating their approaching from the other side of the village, causing a 3-4 hour delay in extinguishing the fire which, of course, resulted in more extensive scorching of earth and trees.

Burnt olive trees (reddish brown in picture) in Kafr Qaddum

A similar situation occurred about the same time in Kafr Qaddum: about 50 trees burned in a fire that lasted all night because the settlers would not allow any fire truck to enter the area

When MPTers accompanied the farmer in Qarawat Bani Hassan, the farmer asked that they not take photographs. It would be easy to identify the grove from the perspective of the settlements in the pictures and the farmer feared retaliation. For two days, MPTers stayed with the farmer, keeping watch for soldiers and settlers while helping with the simple pruning of his olive trees, while he and a hired man did the more extreme pruning. Both days passed without incident.

On the 23rd, because the MPTers arrived before the farmer at the olive grove they thought was his, they sat on a boulder beneath an olive tree. They had noticed a settler on the hill watching their hike to the area. Soon, three young male settlers approached them, asking who they were, what they were doing, and why they were on “their” land, although the grove was in a valley, next to the road away from the settlement, clearly not settler land. After the MPTers nonchalantly responded that it was a beautiful day for a hike, and surely there was no problem just sitting in the shade for a rest, the settlers left -- to get reinforcements, the MPTers were sure. Not wanting to endanger the possibility of the Palestinian farmer being able to plow his field, the MPTers slowly walked across the road to the grove they realized was their destination. Meanwhile, on the hill a significant number of settlers had gathered.

Settlers gathering on the hill to watch the MPTers

It was evident that this farmer had not pruned many of his trees for a couple of years. The proximity of the settlement makes his olives groves an easy target.

Settlement in close proximity to the olive grove

While some trees had minimal sucker growth, the majority had suckers of more than a year’s growth growing from the base of the trees, indicating perhaps that the farmer’s field work last year had been interrupted. Hatchets had to be wielded to cut the growth.

MPTer wielding a hatchet to cut the suckers from the base of the tree

Moreover, the trees had not been shaped and there were several dead almond trees that had to be cut down.

Palestinian farmer cutting down a dead almond tree

Again, MPTers, while keeping watch for settlers and soldiers, helped the farmer and his brother prune, using clippers and axes to cut the unwanted growth from the bases of the trees and along their trunks. They also helped load the wagon with the wood from the fruit trees the men cut down.

MPTer helps load wagon with wood from felled tree

Again, fortunately, the work progressed without incident.

The farmer returns home after a day of hard work and without harassment from either settlers or soldiers. (Note the burnt olive trees on the terraced hillside)

Ni'lin: 87% Land Loss

To protest the loss of 87% of their land, Ni'lin villagers hold weekly demonstrations. In response, the villagers and the earth receive huge amounts of tear gas and live bullets from the Israeli Occupation Forces.

Ni’lin is a village nestled in the hill country near the green line [border], not far from the village of Bil’in in the west of the Ramallah District. Until 1948, Ni’lin village was comprised of 14,500 acres; however 10,000 acres were annexed to Israel after the 1948 War leaving Ni’lin with only 4,500 acres. After the 1967 War, 2000 more acres were confiscated. Five illegal Israeli settlements, now with a total population of over 40,000, and a larger military base have been built on this land. In May of 2008, more than 600 acres were taken from the 2,500 acres left to the village after the 1967 confiscation. These confiscations included prime agricultural land with many productive olive trees. (For more detail see: http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article439)

After the May 2008 land confiscation there were almost daily demonstrations by a large number of villagers, and later there were twice weekly or weekly demonstrations. The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) began by reacting to the demonstrations with extreme violence, including firing massive amounts of tear gas using a new weapon mounted on a jeep that could fire 15 -20 tear gas canisters simultaneously. The IOF has continued to respond very violently to the Ni’lin demonstration, even using live ammunition. Five villagers have been killed including one ten –year- old. An American, Tristan Anderson, was hit by a tear gas canister in March 2009 and is now living in a vegetative state.

The Ni’lin villagers have responded creatively to the land confiscation and the apartheid wall to the south of their village. In one demonstration they banged empty pots and pans to demonstrate the hunger and poverty caused by the land confiscation and the wall. In November 9, 2009, the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the villagers tore down a section of this illegal concrete wall. http://jfjfp.com/?p=7234

On Friday, November 20, 2009, 4 MPTers joined a demonstration of more than 200 people including Palestinians, Israeli peace activists and internationals who walked to the apartheid wall in Ni’lin. The previous week, a new addition the length of two city blocks had been added to the previous wall. The wall is constructed by connecting 3 story-high cement slabs. Canisters with billowing clouds of tear gas greeted the approaching demonstrators. Gun shots were heard and the conjecture of some people was that 22 caliber rifles were being used against the demonstrators. It is probable that tutu bullets were used. Tutu bullets are said to be a bit larger than BB pellets, which could cause the loss of an eye. Two Palestinians were injured – one had his leg grazed and the other, who was shot between the legs, was taken to the Ramallah hospital, but is now in good condition. (See: http://www.israel-palestinenews.org/2009/11/previously-banned-tutu-bullets-return.html)

MPTers spoke with one villager who told them that he had lost all of his 8 acres of land in the 2008 confiscation. Two of his children need olive oil for a skin condition , so now he must buy olive oil for them. The monthly cost is exorbitant. The MPTers also met a young man who lost his university scholarship after spending time in prison probably for resistance activity. He said his family had lost their land in Israel in the Nakba and now he has lost his UN scholarship, so what is there to do except wait to die.

The following pictures document the Friday, November 20th, demonstration.

Villagers and internationals wait for the demonstration to begin.

[Click pictures to enlarge.]

Village men pray before the demonstration.

Israeli Occupation Forces stand prepared behind the huge cement apartheid wall.


Constant volleys of tear gas send demonstrators running.




A huge volley of tear gas from 15 - 20 canisters shot simultaneously fills the area with tear gas.

The tear gas fills the valley and drifts towards the settlement

just to the south.

MPTers use onions to help ease breathing.

Villagers set tires afire to the west, near a fenced area, being prepared for the cement slabs of the wall. The wind carried this heavy smoke toward the Israeli soldiers.

Young Red Crescent [Red Cross] aides are alert to injuries.

They face the separation wall and the huge illegal Israeli settlement across the valley.

Some tear gas canisters collected from the area.

Two men are injured. One needs hospitalization.

The Palestinian flag is held aloft throughout the demonstration. Israeli soldiers observe from a jeep up the hill on the road.

A tear gas canister rests among the rocks.

What is the future of this land and its people?

More Burin Settler Violence

Burin, nestled in the valley

Responding to reports of settler violence in the picturesque valley village of Burin, two MPTers once again visited that beleaguered community to offer solidarity and accompaniment. In recent years the villagers have suffered an increase in harassment, intimidation and violence at the hands of the settlers from the illegal Israeli settlements of Yitzar and Bracha and the nearby outposts of those settlements.

Incidents have ranged from cars being set on fire, electrical wires cut and home windows smashed to houses being set on fire, fields burned and livestock killed. Villagers have been abducted and assaulted. Even mortar shells and a rocket have been fired at the village from the Yitzar and Bracha settlements (www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1001565.html), home to ultranationalist Israelis who believe all of the land from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea was promised to the Jews by God.

Senseless act of violence

In late September (see mptinpalestine.blogspot.com/2009/10/burin-tree-massacre.html) settlers from the illegal settlement of Yitzar cut more than 95 trees in one grove of the village. This time, 81 trees had been cut in another grove. Besides causing economic privation to the landowner, such a cruel and senseless act is difficult to comprehend and to view without being reduced to tears. All the spiritual traditions teach respect for Mother Nature and to live in harmony with one’s environment. That the olive tree is the universal symbol of peace makes the violation ever more egregious. The landowner estimates it will take 5 to 10 years for the trees to recover; many may not survive.

Devastation triggered by intolerance

Mother Nature weeps

The MPTers also visited the home of Palestinians who have been subjected to harassment, rock attacks and home invasion by settlers from Yitzar, just up the hill from them. One afternoon, a week ago, 25 settlers threw stones at the house and water tank, cut the plastic water pipe leading to the house, and harassed the family, leaving only when villagers came to the aid of the family. Soldiers of the Israeli Occupation Army and the District Commissioner’s Office arrived three hours later.

Solar panels destroyed by rock-throwing settlers

The family has owned their land since the Ottoman Empire and built the home they now live in 14 years ago. Their problems with settlers have exacerbated since 2000. They have had sheep stolen, their car set on fire, roof-top solar panels destroyed, windows broken, and gasoline poured under one of the doors to the house and set on fire.

The door under which gasoline was poured and set ablaze

Burned floor from the gasoline set on fire

Not long ago settlers ransacked the house, terrorizing the family. Most of the harassment occurs on the Jewish Sabbath, so that every Friday from sundown until Saturday sundown, the family lives in a state of agitation, the children unable to sleep, everyone anticipating settler violence.

One of the many metal window screens in the house damaged by the settlers

Addressing such violence, the Israeli human rights group, Yesh Din, has asserted: "The increase in the incidents in which Israeli citizens harass Palestinians in the area of the village of Burin and the West Bank in general, recently highlights the lack of action on the part of the authorities to contain the basis of Jewish terrorism that has taken hold in those areas. The authorities must act assertively against the violators and bring them to justice." (Ha'aretz, August 15, 2008, Special feature / The land of unchecked settler harassment by Avi Issacharoff).

Cactus Watering Protest at At-Tuwani

A young villager watering a cactus pad

On Saturday, November 7, the Fall MPT Team went to At-Tuwani to participate in a symbolic protest of watering cactus. The cactus is an appropriate plant for a protest, as the Palestinian word for “cactus” derives from the same root as “patience”: sabra. Thus the cactus has come to represent the steadfastness and inner strength of the Palestinians, as resistance to the Israeli Occupation takes time and patience. Cacti are found all over Palestine, along highways, demarcating property boundaries, and marking the location of long-ago destroyed or abandoned villages.

Early homes of At-Tuwani

At-Tuwani is a 1,000-year-old village near Hebron in the south of Palestine. Its population of approximately 250 people consists mainly of four families. Its oldest homes are between 300-500 years old, and some of the caves are believed to date from Roman times. At-Tuwani has witnessed a “building boom” in the past year which has transformed the landscape of the village. Modern cement homes are replacing the old stone structures and caves.

New homes replacing the ancient

At-Tuwani is surrounded by the illegal Israeli settlement of Ma'on, established in 1982, and the illegal Israeli outposts of Havat Ma'on and Avi Gai. The settlement of Ma’on continues to expand, having flattened a nearby hillside, putting up 6 caravans (term for a pre-fab type trailer; this first step toward the establishment or expansion of a settlement is called an "outpost") and building new homes. Since its establishment, Ma’on has confiscated close to 400 acres of land from At-Tuwani villagers.

Caravans expanding the illegal settlement of Ma'on

In 2004, after 20 years of enduring violence and harassment from the settlers, At-Tuwani invited Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) and the Italian peace group Operation Dove to serve as a permanent international presence in the village The internationals spend their days monitoring Palestinian children walking near the settlements to and from school, accompanying the village farmers and shepherds in their fields where they are subject to assault by extremist settlers, and being a presence as the villagers improve the infrastructure of their community.

Land to right of fence confiscated by settlement last year

(fence is to the left of the poles)

Last summer the settlers destroyed the village’s wheat crop (crops and farm machinery are regularly destroyed by the settlers) and erected a fence, confiscating one-fifth of the area. Instead of replanting wheat, the villagers planted cactus along the fence to occupy the land. Each week, as a form of protest, internationals join the women and children of the village in watering the cacti “pads,” using soda bottles filled with water carted down to the field in a wheelbarrow. Other internationals stand watch with cameras to document any military or settler interference. It’s a small action, designed for visibility, but bears testimony to the steadfastness of the Palestinians.

Carting the water in soda bottles to the field

The men do not join in the protest for fear of arrest. At a recent village protest against a demolition order for one of the village homes, soldiers randomly arrested one of the men who was fined 20,000 shekels, or $5,000, an astronomical amount for the impoverished villager. The man’s family pooled their resources, villagers contributed, and one neighbor even sold his sheep and some furniture to help his friend. In addition to the fine, the man was imprisoned until his court date, which kept being postponed for several months. Because of this villager’s experience, the men are cautious about being upfront in the protests.

A young lad resets the stones around a cactus pad

At-Tuwani has one diesel generator that provides electricity for the village for four hours every night. Earlier this year former British Prime Minister Tony Blair promised the villagers they would have electricity and the villagers started building pylons to string the wires, only to receive demolition orders from the Israeli Army which confiscated materials and tools, including a truck, mechanized lift, and large spool of electrical cable.

Homes in At-Tuwani do not have running water. There is one spring-fed well that provides water for drinking and cooking, but does not provide enough water for washing. Rainwater is collected in cisterns for washing and for the animals. Because of years of drought and settler actions against their water sources (in the recent past, settlers poisoned the well with dead chickens), villagers have to buy much of their water, at prohibitive cost, from tankers that come to the village.

There is a well on a small hill not far from the cactus planting. However, even though it is on Palestinian land, the water is only for use by the illegal settlement and outposts. When villagers ask if they can have some of the water, officials tell them there’s “too little water,” not enough water for the villagers although the settlement has planted large numbers of cherry trees and rose bushes, two water-intensive crops.

Fields of cherry trees consume precious water

In its October 2009 report, Troubled Waters: Palestinians Denied Fair Access to Water (www.amnestyusa.org/pdf/mde150272009en.pdf) Amnesty International accuses Israel of denying Palestinians the right to access adequate water by maintaining total control over the shared water resources and pursuing discriminatory policies. The report states that on average Palestinian daily water consumption (for drinking, bathing, cleaning, farming and for animals) reaches 18 1/2 gallons a day, compared with 79 ¼ gallons for the Israelis, and that some Palestinians barely get 5 ¼ gallons a day - the minimum recommended even in humanitarian emergencies. Numbering about 450,000, the residents of illegal settlements use as much or more water than the Palestinian population of some 2.3 million.

Amnesty International’s report also states that Israel denies Palestinians the right to dig wells, and has even destroyed cisterns and confiscated water tankers. In contrast, Israeli settlers who live in the West Bank in violation of international law have intensive-irrigation farms, swimming pools, and lush gardens and lawns. Amnesty International also charges that Israel uses more than 80% of the water from the Mountain Aquifer - the main source of underground water in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.

Each precious drop of water carries life ...

for the cactus and the Palestinian.

Thus the cactus planting and watering represent a fitting metaphor for the patience and forbearance required to live under Occupation.

Standing Watch in Iraq Burin

Two MPTers went the nearby village of Iraq Burin on late-morning Saturday, November 14, 2009. This village has had many demonstrations against the confiscation of their land by an illegal Israeli settlement and Israeli Occupation Forces harassment. As the crow flies, one could be there in no time from Huwwara. Walking, though possible, would be long, over high hills, rough and through areas of potential risk. The most direct road has been blocked. So the trip involved two rides in vans (“services”) and significant time loss negotiating the city streets of Nablus. Such is life in the OPT – Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Iraq Burin appears to be typical small village. Sheep are herded through the streets.

This is quiet rural village is frequently harassed by the illegal Israeli settlement on hilltop in the distance. [Click picture to enlarge.]

This settlement is about one mile from Iraq Burin.

Settlers for this settlement attacked Iraq Burin on both of the last two Saturdays. On Friday, November 13, Israeli Occupation Forces entered the village during prayer time at the mosque. Boys responded with stones; Israeli soldiers responded with tear gas. Internationals arrived on Saturday to provide a protective presence and a possible deterrent.

Soldiers [10 men] on about midway up the hill, slightly to the left. The white object at the bottom is the village well.

Soldiers appeared on the hillside across a valley from the village at 11:30 and remained until after 4:00 p.m. Village youth, preteen and teen-age boys, and a few village men stayed in the village watching across the valley from the soldiers.

At first the settlers appeared like sticks on the horizon, but young men in white shirts (common settler dress) could be clearly seen with binoculars.

Settlers arrived later and seemed to disappear from the hilltop horizon about 3:30. Binoculars were needed to see clearly who was present in the distance.

At one point the soldiers approached the village well which is part way down the distant hill side. That movement was met with loud calls and shouts from the villagers. Villagers reported that settlers had bathed in the water at previous times. The soldiers backed off a bit. The villagers, internationals, soldiers, and settlers watched each other from across the valley for the entire afternoon. MPTers and the other internationals left at about 4 PM. Concern was expressed that the settlers might return after internationals left. It may have been that the presence of internationals was a deterrent for this Saturday, since there was no settler or soldier attacks that day.