Roadblocks and Checkpoints

I just returned from two days in Bethlehem. It looks like many of the other Palestinian cities I have been in, except there are way more Christians, and Christian holy sites. It is not falling apart like Hebron, and there are also more foreigners. But getting in and out is like everywhere else--a huge hassle. Going through military check points and climbing over dirt piles. They are building the separation wall between Bethlehem and Jerusalem, and in the process they are trying to claim as much of Bethlehem for Israel as they can possibly squeeze in. Just recently two Jewish settlers grabbed some land close to Rachel's Tomb, on the outskirts of Bethlehem, to turn it into an Israeli settlement. This is likely an attempt to force the wall to go around Rachel's Tomb and make it part of Israel. I have a hard time enjoying any of the holy sites because the people in charge here do not act very holy. I was really glad to see the Church of the Nativity, though.

On Monday I travelled to Tuwani for the first time since the attack. There are two ways to get to Tuwani from Hebron. The way we went on Monday, you take a cab through an industrial area of Hebron to the Yatta roadblock. The roads are blocked by Israeli soldiers. You climb over the roadblock (dirt pile) and walk about a half mile to cross the paved settler road that Palestinians are not allowed to drive on. Across the paved road you climb over another dirt pile and take a van service to Yatta which winds around the hills on narrow sometimes paved, sometimes gravel, roads. We negotiated with the driver to take us through Yatta and Karmel all the way to Tuwani. However, when we got close to Tuwani, we got a surprise: another dirt pile!

On Saturday, the bulldozer had come through on the road to Tuwani from Yatta and dug up the road just before it reaches another paved settler road that the Palestinians can't use. You have to cross that paved road to get to the gravel road that goes into Tuwani. These paved roads are part of a highway system used by settlers, soldiers and other Israelis and foreigners to get around the West Bank. They were funded by U.S. aid. Palestinians can't use them and have to find ways to drive around them, since the army often blocks the access roads as well. So we got out and walked the half mile or so uphill to Tuwani.

This new dirt pile blocks the main and shortest road to Yatta from Tuwani. There are back ways to get there. On Tuesday this week, Naim, a man from Tuwani, was driving his car on one of the back roads and was stopped by the army and handcuffed, blindfolded, and taken to their headquarters, where he was held this way for five hours. Why? Because he was driving on the back roads to Yatta, and they didn't want him doing that. I don't know why. Control? He is also not allowed to use the settler roads, and cannot use the roads that have been blocked. Yatta is the nearest decent sized city to Tuwani, where they go for food shopping and medical care.

The children that we accompanied to school are now going two hours in each direction because the army has branded the shorter roads a "closed military zone." This is in response to the settler attacks on us. The settlers attack, and the Palestinians are punished. I don't get it. It looks like the settlers may also be trying to claim the long road. On Thursday this week the children saw settlers on the long road and ran home, too scared to go to school. We don't know for sure what the settlers were doing there, but the children seemed to think they were planting trees. This is not a good sign, because if the settlers are planting trees, then they are trying to extend the grove of trees which is their outpost even further into Palestinian lands. We haven't been accompanying them on the long road because the army has promised to protect them only if we are not there.

This week some officers from Shin Bet, the intelligence agency, came to Tuwani because they are now in charge of investigating the attacks on us. They spoke a few minutes to the CPTers who were there, and went up and looked at the grove of trees where the attackers came from. But they refused to go in! They are afraid of them, too. Funny, though, a van from Doctors Without Borders was in Tuba at the time, and they drove back on the road that goes right through the outpost without incident. One of my teammates got a ride with them and was able to see what it looks like. They are living in small, rusty trailers and lean-tos made of canvas. Clearly, nobody lives there full-time. People from the settlement itself are rotating in and out in order to retain the land they stole. No question that people from the settlement know who is responsible for what happened to us.

I really don't understand why the government of Israel puts up with them. I guess because they only really adversely affect the local population, the Palestinians, and Palestinians can't vote.

Life With Israeli Soldiers

On Friday I traveled back to Hebron from Tiberias with one other team member. Hebron is now relatively open since about 10 days ago, when they captured the Hebron head of Hamas. In order to humiliate the man completely, they put him on television in his underwear. It reminded me of what US soldiers were doing to detainees in Iraq. It would humiliate anyone, but in Muslim culture, it is especially degrading.

Anyway, the main road to town is open now, which makes things much easier. But on Friday, our service van went up an access road to get across the main bridge into Hebron, and it was blocked with a barrel. The army commander said he didn't want Palestinian cars blocking the road because then his soldiers couldn't get through. I wanted to ask him, "but isn't it you that is blocking the road?"

A little later we were walking to our apartment in the Old City. We came across a group of eight soldiers, one of whom was breaking down the door of a merchant with a sledge hammer. It was Friday, Muslim holy day, so all shops were closed. So we asked the soldiers why they were doing this. The young Israeli soldier who spoke to us was from the U.S. and spoke English. He said some kids threw rocks at them from the roof. In this part of the Old City, the passageways are covered with tin or with netting, so that anything thrown from the roof would not hit anyone. I asked the soldier, "Did the rocks hurt you?" Immediately he demanded to search our bags. After the search, I asked him again, "Did the stones hurt you?" He hurled an insult at me and walked away. They continued their work with the sledge hammer.

Later, some other members of out team went out, passing through the army checkpoint nearest to our apartment, called Beit Romano. Beit Romano is named after the Jewish settlement that the army is there to protect. There they found a large group of detained Palestinian children. We do not know this for sure, but we guess that they randomly rounded up children in the Old City after the stone incident. The soldiers threatened the CPTers with arrest if they stayed. There was also a group of settlers there, watching the whole thing. Once the CPTers moved out of view of the settlers, the soldiers stopped threatening. A little while later, the children were released. We do not know if it was because we were there.

Yesterday we went out to the checkpoint again because we learned that among a large group of Palestinian detainees was Atta, a longtime friend of the team. The soldiers routinely stop and search any man who looks under 35. The search often includes making them raise their shirts to expose themselves in some way. Atta had refused to submit to this, so they detained him. In the entire time I have been in Palestine, only one weapon has been found on someone going through Beit Romano, and it was a knife, probably not going to be used as a weapon at all.

Also yesterday, the police went to Tuwani and threatened my teammates there with arrest for helping to work on building a medical clinic. The villagers had repeatedly applied for a permit to build, but Israeli civil authorities refused to accept their application. Then, about 10 days ago, the civil authorities granted verbal permission for them to build, but would not put it in writing. Now yesterday the police came and took everyone's IDs and threatened them with arrest. Only the settlers from Ma'on could have called the police. So the police are this responsive to settlers calling, but have done nothing about the settler attacks on us. Eventually the civil authority was called, and he again told the police that Tuwani could build the clinic. The police let everyone go, but told them they could not work on the clinic or they would be arrested.

So, who is in charge? Israeli civil authorities, or settlers? We think it is the settlers, who in fact act like armed paramilitary groups making their own rules. The army and police are afraid of them. Obviously, so are the Palestinians. Settlers control about half of the land inside the green line, meaning inside the borders of the occupied territories, and continue to illegally grab more. We read in the newspaper this morning that Sharon's government is negotiating with the US over dismantlement of illegal settlement outposts, like the one that my attackers came from, and they have agreed to leave large settlement areas alone for the time being. Meaing they will not dismantle them. So you can see how much influence the US government has over this situation. Our government pretty much controls it.

I have been wondering lately how many Israeli citizens vote in our elections. I have come across soldiers and settlers who are American. The Haaretz reporter who interviewed me was from Florida, and she talked openly about voting. The last time I was at the consulate there were several groups of Israeli citizens applying for US social security benefits, because they are also US citizens.

With respect to my case, if we want to call it that, I believe that the US Consulate is pressuring the police to act, but is not getting anywhere. I spoke to the consular official yesterday, and he told me he met with the police on Friday, and the police told him that they do not have the time to pursue this investigation. Notice that they had the time to threaten CPTers and Palestinians with arrest for building a medical clinic. An important fact is that these police officers are based at a station located inside another settlement, Kiryat Arba, on the outskirts of Hebron. Kiryat Arba is the oldest Jewish settlement inside the occupied territories. They tell us now that the investigation has been shifted to Shin Bet, Israeli intelligence. We do not yet know what they will do. I think that pressure has to be placed on the Israelis at a much higher level before anyone will act, and we are working with some members of Congress to get that to happen.

I do not know if it will do any good, because it seems that too many people are too invested in keeping the truth about the settlements from getting out. I think that if most Americans knew the extent of the violence and human rights abuses against Palestinians perpetrated by the settlements, then they would be outraged and would not want their tax dollars used to fund it. Tomorrow I go back to Tuwani for the first time since the attack. I will only go for the day, for a team meeting. I cannot yet stay there, because I cannot use what we call the squatty potties and I cannot yet sleep on the floor, because of my knee. But I am walking pretty well, so I can now do most of the things I was doing before. Not ready for a bike ride yet, but I hope to be sometime soon.

The Gory Details

I was supposed to leave Tuwani on September 29. The evening before,Chris asked who would do the school accompaniment with him, and I agreed to do it before I left. I got up before six, packed my back-pack, woke up Chris, and we set off to escort the kids from Tuba to their school in Tuwani.

Tuwani is a Palestinian village of about 350 located in the hill country south of Hebron. Tuba and Tuwani are two of a cluster of six small Palestinian villages. Many of the families here are shepherds and others tend olive groves or fig trees. Some families live in caves that are part of an ancient way of life. CPT was invited by the villagers in Tuwani to stay with them as a deterrent to the violence they experience from the nearby Israeli settlementof Ma'on.

Since 1967 Israel has built over 200 illegal settlements, or colonies in the occupied territory of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. All of this land was confiscated from Palestinian owners, creating terrible economic hardships and despair among the Palestinian people. Even worse, almost everyone in Tuwani can tell a story about Ma'on settlers beating or harassing them. The people are frightened, but they are also determined to resist. They think the settlers are trying to intimidate them into abandoning their land and way of life.

One community priority is providing safe passage of the children from the nearby village of Tuba to their school in Tuwani. Their path to school passes through the settlement area. We accompanied the children on Monday and Tuesday without incident.On Wednesday morning the 29th I was feeling anxious, because I wanted to finish in time to catch a van to Yatta at 7:30. We were hoping that the kids would meet us halfway, because the settlement area is at the Tuwani end of the path. Although the path is only two kilometers long, it feels like much more in the desert heat and rough terrain, and I was anxious about being late. Chris and I both grumbled about the kids not coming out to meet us.

On the way to Tuba I started to pray. I wish that I could say I was praying for the children, but mostly I was praying because I was feeling anxious. I prayed that I would get back in time for the van. I also prayed that I would be able to accomplish God's will for the morning accompaniment, whether or not that included getting to the van on time. We arrived in Tuba at 6:30 a.m. in plenty of time for my planned departure. However, the children were not yet ready to leave. Some parents offered us tea which Chris politely accepted, but I refused. Chris made it very clear that we were in a hurry and needed to leave, and by ten of seven, I had waited long enough and (stupidly) set off on my own.

I thought that if I left, it would hurry the process along. Shortly thereafter Chris and the five children left Tuba. Due to a previous knee injury, I walk more slowly uphill than I would like, so I hoped and assumed they would catch up with me. Before long the two girls were next to me and Chris was not far behind with the three boys. The girls, Miriam and a-Sophia , and I chatted as best we could with my practically nonexistent Arabic and their practically nonexistent English. I shared my water with them.

As we approached the settlement area, the girls and I were still 20 or 30 feet ahead of Chris and the boys. This did not worry us, because there had not been any problems the last couple of days. On the right side of the path is the settlement of Ma'on surrounded by a chain link fence with barbed wire. Inside the fence is the paved settlement perimeter road. Onthe left side of the dirt path is a grove of trees containing a settlement expansion outpost called Ma'on Ranch. Settlers live there in trailers and mobile homes. The Israeli army prevents Palestinians from entering this area, and none dare attempt to enter for fear of arrest, beatings or worse. It is a strictly settler area; the children are the only exception so they can go to school.

A few minutes after we entered into the settlement area, the girls next to me started to scream. I looked up and saw a man dressed in black swinging a chain coming out of the trees about thirty feet ahead. He had on a black face mask that looked like two scarves, one over the bottom half ofhis face and one over his forehead, leaving a slit for his eyes. The girls immediately turned around and started running back toward Tuba, and I followed them. Just as we reached Chris and the boys, at least four other men emerged from the trees similarly dressed. The children continued to run toward Tuba, and Chris started yelling, "Don't hurt the children, don't hurt the children!"

It seemed that Chris and I were their targets, because they headed straight for us and let the children go. I learned later that the men had thrown rocks at the children as they ran toward Tuba, but that they did make it back safely. We tried to run off the path, away from the masked settler men, but it was hopeless. They were bigger, faster, and stronger. I tried to pull out my cell phone to call for help, but they were on top of me immediately, tripping me, throwing me to the ground and beating me. I don't remember much of the actual beating, or feeling any pain while it was happening. I remember thinking to myself that if I just lie very still and pretend that I am unconscious or dead, maybe they will go away. I also remember hearing Chris scream, realizing that he was taking a much worse beating, and knowingthat there was nothing that I could do for him.

I can piece together what happened from my injuries. I must have fallen on my face, where I have cuts and bruises on my jaw and above my lip. I must have broken the fall with my left arm, which is fractured just below the elbow. They must have kicked or beat me on the left side of my right knee, where I have an enormous bruise, a lot of swelling and pain, and an undiagnosed injury. They also must have kicked or beat me on the top of my head and my left upper arm where I have bad bruises. I also have other minor cuts and bruises on my hands and other parts of my body. I don't know if they used their feet, rocks or chains. I am relieved that they got my already-bad knee instead of ruining my good one.

When they finished beating Chris, they started to head back into the grove of trees. One of them said in English, "Take her phone," and someone came over and picked up my phone from where it had fallen. They also grabbed my fanny pack from around my waist. When I heard them walking away, I ventured a look up. I saw the group go back through the grove of trees and into Ma'on Ranch. One of them looked back at me and I quickly put my head back down.

After a few minutes, I sat up and Chris walked over to me. I do not remember exactly what we said to each other in that moment. Chris' face was streaked with blood and I felt some dripping off of mine. I couldn't walk. Chris pulled out the cell phone concealed in his pocket and called Diane and Piergiorgio, who were back in Tuwani. He told them that we had just been attacked "really bad" by settlers but the kids were okay. I cannot remember what else he said, but I know that Diane and Piergiorgio said that they were coming out to join us, and that they would call the police immediately.

I called Cal in the Hebron office and told him to call the US consulate to report that my passport had been stolen. Looking back, I cannot believe this is what I was thinking about! Chris and I sat alone for 10 or 15 minutes in the spot where we had been beaten. We were both really scared. I knew the attackers were still in the trees somewhere and I was afraid that they were going to come back and finish the job. We heard and then saw vehicles driving along the settler perimeter road and I was convinced it was them coming back to find us.

Looking for a place to hide, I scooted on my butt over to a rock and propped myself up against it. But on that side of the road there was nowhere to hide, nothing but a chain link fence and small rocks. I will never forget Piergiorgio and Diane for risking their livesto come to meet us that morning. A few minutes after they arrived, I finally burst into tears. I was just so scared and so happy to see them. In that moment Piergiorgio did exactly the right thing: he gave me a big hug. I got tears and blood all over his shirt.

Maybe ten minutes after Diane and Piergiorgio got to us, settler security drove up. Every settlement has its own private security force armed with machine guns. None of us had called settler security. The man got out of his car and asked us what happened. We told him that people from his settlement attacked us. He did not offer us any assistance or first-aid, even though we were bleeding and obviously in pain. He said that they attacked us because we had upset the balance of power between the settlement and Palestinians. He understood immediately, as we did, that the perpetrators were settlers attacking us because of our presence in the area.

Five or ten minutes after settler security arrived, the police and army came, and shortly behind them an Israeli ambulance. In all it tookabout 30 minutes for help to arrive, even though the region is swarming witharmy and police and no doubt they could have been there much sooner. TheIsraeli police or the army did not search the grove of trees for our assailants. By taking so long to get to us, they effectively let the perpetrators get away. The police asked us to explain briefly what happened. They gave us a piece of paper summoning us to the Kiryat Arba police station that same day. Kiryat Arba is an Israeli settlement located on the outskirts of Hebron. The paramedics checked us over, put me on a stretcher, and took Chris, who had a punctured lung, and me to Soroka hospital in Beersheva. Diane rode with us and Piergiorgio remained in Tuwani.

I was grateful tohave Diane's steady presence with us during the emergency room ordeal. Later that afternoon the police came to the hospital to take statements from us. The US consular officer was appalled that the police insisted we come visit them at another settlement and instead insisted thatthey visit us. I gave a statement which the officer wrote out in Hebrew. I refused to sign it because I did not know what it said. I do not know what has happened to that statement. I heard later that the police had gone to the court for a search warrant for the settlement but they were denied. I do not know if Ma'on or Ma'on Ranch were ever properly searched.

That same day, two more CPTers went to Tuwani to take our places. Operation Dove, the Italian Catholic group to which Piergiorgio belongs, sent down an additional person. We all agreed that if the settlers were going to escalate the violence, then we would escalate the nonviolence. The next morning the team reported that they did the school accompaniment on schedule, and the police were present to provide security.

About one hour later, an Israeli army jeep drove through Tuwani and soldiers told the villagers that CPT was endangering their children. They threatened that if the children walked home from school through the settlement area,then the violence would be even worse. They blamed CPT for the violence and not the settlement attackers. We have a quality CPT team here in Hebron. Everybody did what was needed: being with us in the hospital, speaking to the press, phoning familyand friends, and bathing and cleaning the blood off of me when I couldn't do it myself. I am grateful for their care. I am also grateful for my extraordinary network of family and friends who have given me much love and support.