November 10,
2004 - “Go home, you don’t belong here!”
This morning, the
children continued with their heavily armed escort but it didn’t stop the
settlers. We saw two settler men and one woman follow the convoy of
military, Civil Administration, settler security and the five children.
From the opposing mountain, we videotaped the settlers move around the
group, shouting and blowing a loud horn. The children reported that the
settlers said things like “Go home, you don’t belong here!” They said that
earlier there had been over 10 settlers yelling at them, and that one
woman had pulled the hair of Asophia, the
oldest Palestinian school girl. Neither the soldiers nor the Civil
Administration did anything to stop them, and the children were very
frightened. After the convoy passed the trees into Tuwani, the settlers
followed until they were very near the house of Jamal. Given the proximity
of his house to the settlement outpost, Israeli settlers have terrorized
Jamal and his family for years. The hummer of soldiers stopped and waited
there for awhile and the settlers went back into the woods. Two soldiers
got out and followed them, but did not go into the trees to find them.
Palestinians speculate that the settlers did this today because the police
weren’t there as they have been in the past. Israeli police are the only
ones who can arrest settlers.
Saber walked with
the children and convoy on the way home, and then the army escorted him
back. We observed from the mountain and no settlers appeared.
We observed a
little work on the clinic, which is coming along beautify. What was a hole
in the ground when I came now has a foundation and supportive pillars, and
they’ve begun laying forms for the roof. It should be finished by
mid-December.
November 11,
2004 - School's Out for Mourning of Palestinian President Arafat
Just before 7, we
went out to the mountain to watch the children. After waiting there for
over an hour, a man on a donkey came along, and looked at us strange. I
gave him a Salaam Alakium (peace be upon you)
so he knew we weren’t settlers, and he asked what we were doing. I told
him that we’re waiting for the children to come to school, but they’re
very late. He laughed and told us school has been canceled for the next
week in mourning for Arafat. We went home and crawled back into bed.
At noon, I was
awakened by a truck unloading concrete blocks outside our little house.
Apparently, some the village men are going to get some projects done while
the boys (free labor) aren’t in school. They’re building us a patio area
on our house which will be warmer in the winter, and they’ve promised us a
better roof, and a real window and door to replace the sheets we’re using
now. I’m sure I’ll get to help them build it.
I am fasting again
now. I hadn’t been the last few days because I was traveling and sick,
which are valid reasons to not fast. The strangest part of this diet is
getting up at 4am to eat before going back to sleep. I knew this would be
the hardest part for me, so I prepare food the night before (usually
dinner leftovers) and put them right next to my bed, so I don’t even have
to get up. It’s still difficult to wake up enough, but I manage to shove
some food in my face before passing out again.
I’d like to think
a week of no school patrol would mean more chill time, but things are
never boring in Tuwani. I’m sure they’ll have plenty of projects for us.
I’m becoming Tuwani Coordinator, which means I am in charge of organizing
who’s coming and going, staying in touch with
our contacts in the community, networking with all the groups involved,
making sure the team has its material needs met, and organizing trips for
groups and journalists. This last one I am especially excited
about, and I intend to spend several days in
Jerusalem next week faxing and meeting with folks.
This issue is hot
in Israel right now, as the fanatical right-wing settlers upset average
Israelis by challenging the already fanatically right-wing Israeli
Government. Many Israelis fear civil war, and we wonder with whom America
would side. The left obviously supports neither side,
and some welcome a civil war as the final downfall of the
oppressive Israeli state. For obvious reasons, this is many Israeli’s
worst nightmare, though I see collapse as an inevitable part of
unsustainable Apartheid. I only fear the civil war because of how close we
work to settler-dominated areas, and if I thought I didn’t like living
under Israeli Military Occupation, I’m terrified of Israeli Settler
Occupation. We’ll just have to wait and see.
November 12,
2004 - Today we planted trees
I’m
growing to enjoy this physical labor for political purposes. Four years
ago, Saber (a Tuwani village leader) planted olive trees on his land just
above his house. While doing so, a group of Israeli settlers and soldiers
harassed him and told him not to plant there, that it was Israeli state
land. He insisted it was his land and continued to plant. There weren’t
any problems after that, and he continued to water and care for the trees.
Then last September, the Israeli military came and destroyed and uprooted
around fifty of his trees. Apparently the trees were too close to the
settlement. (photo: Lu Ann digs a hole to plant an olive tree in order to
replace those destroyed by the Israeli Military. You can see Tuwani in the
distance behind her.)
In an act of aid
and resistance, CPT and Operation Dove decided we would replant some of
these trees. The entire team came down from Al Khalil (Hebron), and some
Israelis had planned to join us but were afraid to drive on the settler
roads due to reports of Palestinian rock throwing. In mid-afternoon, we
dug the holes, hauled the water, and planted twelve trees.
When
it came to the last tree, we did a blessing ceremony to try and heal the
hurt from the previous wound. We are working with Israeli activists to
plan a larger action in two weeks and plant over a hundred trees in this
area. It is a tense place, because it lies right next to the settlement
and the settler fields. I joked that now all the settlers have to do is
move their fence a hundred meters south to annex all the trees we just
planted. I hope that they won’t do this, and they’ll allow the trees as a
gesture of renewal. I’m not holding my breath.
Much love to you
all,
-joe
Joe "Yousef" Carr
Al Khalil, Palestine
Christian Peacemaker Teams
011-972-54-685-1014
joecarr@riseup.net
www.cpt.org
