Closures, Olive Trees, and Racial Profiling

Many of you must be wondering what it has been like here since Arafat died. On Thursday, the day oafter he died, the Israelis closed the West Bank and Gaza, so things were back to the way they were before they caught the Hamas guy in Hebron. Soldiers created more roadblocks out of dirt piles, and more random check points, and made it very difficult to go anywhere.

On Friday the whole team went to Tuwani so we got to experience what it was like. To get out of Hebron we had to take a cab to an enlarged dirt pile/road block. We had to cross the paved settler road and go over another dirt pile to catch a cab on the other side. There was a tank at the paved road and soldiers checking IDs and refusing to allow Palestinians to cross. They let us cross, but we had to convince them, and we weren't sure we would be able to get back later. Palestinians were flying black flags as a sign of mourning, and schools were closed for a week, so people were out and about. Later, when we came back to Hebron the tank was still there, but we had no problem crossing the road. At that point, Palestinians had stopped trying.

One team member went to Jerusalem the next morning and it took three hours (normally a half hour) because the van had to drive all over the place to find a way in. He had to get out and walk several times, because the roads truly were blocked.

It seemed odd to me that the Israelis thought it was a good idea to intensify oppression of Palestinians as a fitting way to mark Arafat's death. All it does is get people angry.

We planted trees in Tuwani on Friday. You may remember in an earlier email I talked about how settlers and soldiers had uprooted olive trees there. The land belonged to Saber, the village leader, or mayor, but the Israeli army confiscated it, naming it state land, because it sits right next to the settlement fence. So as an act of nonviolent resistence, we replanted the trees. We don't know how long they will last, but now that so much attention is being paid to Tuwani, they have a better chance. The team will plant more in two weeks.

There is hope for Tuwani, but it is too soon to tell if the improvements that have been made as a result of the assault will last. They are building the clinic now without disturbance from the army. This is a major victory, because with the infrastructure of a school and a clinic, it will be much harder to destroy. Because of the attention after the assault, Israeli public opinion is less likely to stand for it. I may have mentioned earlier that two small villages close to Tuwani were evacuated several years ago due to settler harrassment. All the people moved to Yatta. The settlers have taken the land and plowed and planted it.

The children are getting to school with a three-jeep escort, but are still getting harrassed by settlers, who do not seem to care if army and civil administration are present. The only time the settlers behave themselves is when police are present, and this is rare.

Tuwani is improving its road as part of the clinic construction, and this is unimpeded by the army. They have been promised water and electricity, but it has not yet been delivered. I have my doubts, but we will keep up the pressure. I'm proud of the progress that has been made, due largely to pressure from US government officials and media attention.

I have no evidence that there is a real investigation of the assault happening. I doubt it.

Meanwhile, one of my teammates was detained again at the checkpoint near our house. We were walking through it to get to the van service the Jerusalem, and they stopped him. He fits a profile they are told to look for: young, dark, male. They detained him for about 30 minutes while they called the police, who came within five minutes. Eventually they let him go, after they realized they had no evidence he is a terrorist. I doubt that the Israelis would appreciate it if similar racial profiling was done against them.

Machine Guns and Holy Sites

On Saturday the settlers in Hebron were celebrating what they called Sarah's Day. Masses of tourists were here from other parts of Israel, because Sarah is buried here. When we went on our usual morning school patrol, accompanying Palestinian children to school here in Hebron, settlers and tourists were streaming to the synagogue, and there were at least triple the number of Israeli soldiers and military police present. What I noticed was that the Palestinian kids who would normally have to cross the street that the settlers and soldiers were using, were simply not coming out. They skipped school that day because it was too threatening.

As I was standing on the corner monitoring the situation, I noticed a few young men wearing prayer shawls and machine guns coming out from the synagogue. I have learned that this is common dress for many young settler men. One of them walked by me and said "fuck you bitch," in perfect American English. This was a religious Jew, with earlocks, a prayer shawl, and a machine gun, coming home from synagogue.

This was a change from the usual. Most of the Hebron settlers refuse to speak to us at all or even look at us when they walk by.

I had another illuminating encounter with settlers and machine guns in West Jerusalem on Thursday. I was there for a meeting with the US Consulate about holding the Maon settlers accountable for the beatings. Another CPTer and I were standing in line at the central post office to pay my ambulance bill. In order to go into the post office, as with other public buildings in Jerusalem, one has to pass through a metal detector and be frisked by armed security guards. Two young settler men walked in, dressed in prayer shawls and machine guns, and stood in line with us. Apparently settlers with machine guns are exempt from security precautions. The rules really only apply to Palestinians.

Later on Saturday, the settlers continued their celebration of Sarah's Day by organizing a march to some holy stone located outside of their settlement compound. In order to facilitate this, the Israeli army, police, and civil administration shut down the street where the march was to take place, forced all the Palestinians off the surrounding streets, and closed all the shops in the busiest market area of the city. There were six or eight military, police and civil administration jeeps with six people each, plus an armored personnel carrier with a bunch more soldiers enforcing this. I saw two military police officers fire shots into a crowded market, and I saw a jeep drive into a crowd in order to get them off the streets. The street they closed is lined with Palestinian homes and shops. Things remained closed for about three hours. No notice was given.

After they got all the Palestinians out of the way, the settlers lined up behind the military check point that separates their compound from the Palestinians. About 250 of them marched out, singing and clapping. They were all dressed as religious Jews. They were escorted by this large contingent of soldiers to their holy stone where they were to pray, and then escorted back. Many brought their own machine guns as well.

One man stopped to talk with us. He was not from this settlement, but from Tel Aviv. He basically blamed the whole situation on Palestinian terror. I asked him what he would do if the village his family had inhabited for 500 years was destroyed, his home bulldozed, his family herded at gunpoint to a refugee camp, and his land confiscated in order to create a new country. This is what happened to half of Palestinian villages in 1948. He said I was condoning terror. I do not get it. Obviously, I do not think that violence gets anyone anywhere, but one can imagine the desperation that has led to it. I can also imagine the desperation that has led Jewish people to want their own state. What I cannot understand is what they have done in order to get it.

And what they have done in the name of holy sites. My attitude toward holy sites is a bit different. I did see the place in Bethlehem where Jesus supposedly was born, but it is not the actual site that matters to me. They could destroy the site, and it would not affect my faith a bit. It is the spirit of the site that matters, not the actual place. Control over the place is not so important as is the way we live our lives.

Gaza Disengagement

Palestinians whom I have spoken to are cynical about the Gaza withdrawal plan, for a variety of reasons.

Most importantly, it won't lead to any kind of real independence for the Palestinians in Gaza. Israel will still control the borders, and therefore the economy, and freedom of movement. Gaza is basically one big refugee camp, and this plan holds out little hope for improvement.

Also, they are offering the settlers somewhere between $200,000and $300,000 each to vacate the settlements. This was land stolen from Palestinians originally, for which they were never compensated.

Finally, and probably most importantly, Sharon has stated that along with Gaza disengagement will come consolidation of control over the West Bank, where the majority of Palestinians still live. The settlements here will not be dismantled, but will be allowed to expand "naturally." The illegal expansion outposts are supposed to be destroyed according to a promise made to the Bush administration, but we have seen that this has not happened, and in fact, more are being built.

The roadblocks are supposed to be eliminated, but we have also seen that that is not happening. Israel continues to place more and more restrictions on freedom of movement for West Bank Palestinians, primarily through construction of the separation wall and of roadblocks. This effectively destroys any possibility of real economic life because Palestinians cannot get across borders for jobs or trade.

All of this is being done with the blessing of the Bush Administration, although at this point I don't believe that the Democrats would do much better, at least not according to what they say.

Most of what goes on here is done via negotiations with the U.S. government, because our aid makes up about 15-20% of their annual budget. Most Americans don't know enough about the situation here to effectively influence policymakers, even if they want to.

And so it goes. I do not foresee a successgul Gaza disengagement.

The Role of Accompaniment

Village of at-Tuwani

Sunday morning the head of the Israeli Civil (Military) Administration for the entire southern West Bank came to Tuwani and met for an hour with village leaders. Such a high-level visit is unheard of, and villagers believe the attention is a result of the efforts of CPT and its supporters.

The high-ranking visitor asked village leaders to, "tell me your needs." The village leaders listed these concerns:

*Water: Villagers draw by bucket from a small spring that only provides enough for drinking and cooking. Water of poor quality from rainwater cisterns is used for washing. A large water supply line for Ma'on settlement passes only sixty meters from the village. The village wants water from this supply line.

*Clinic: The village wants to complete the construction of their clinic, currently under a stop-work order from Israeli authorities.

*Safe passage to the Tuwani primary school for the children of Tuba: The children are currently using a circuitous five-mile mountain path. They are afraid to use the direct one-mile path because settlers from Ma'on attacked them and the accompanying internationals.

*Electricity: Though grid power extends to Ma'on settlement, Tuwani only has power from a diesel generator for a few hours each evening.

*Road access to Kirmil: The Israeli military maintains three dirt barricades blocking the only road from Tuwani to Kirmil, Yatta and Hebron. These barricades prevent the villagers from access to a hospital, secondary schools and stores.

*Improvement of the road to Al Mufakra and villages to the south: Several small villages south of Tuwani have access to Tuwani only through a rough path. They travel through Tuwani to reach schools, stores, and medical care. Five years ago, when the villagers of Tuwani tried to improve this road, Israeli authorities forbade it.

"These are humanitarian needs; under occupation, the Israelis are responsible for these," said one village leader. He continued, "The civil administrator responded to all these concerns. He asked us to provide engineering drawings for connecting our village to water and electricity. He told us to go ahead and build the clinic, and he promised to come for the opening celebration, but we still don't have a permit in writing. He said he would look into the questions about the roads, and that he would send Israeli soldiers to accompany the school children. He did not refuse on any of the concerns."

"This meeting today didn't just happen. We have had these problems, and many attacks by settlers for years, but no one outside knew. Thank you for being here, you have brought us attention. Please thank all the people who have helped us, the media, the US government and consular officials who visited, and the Israeli and international peace groups. Your help made this visit happen."

Of course, today the army did not show up in the afternoon to walk the children home from school, so they had to go the long way again. In the morning, they showed up late, so the CPTers there walked them on the short road. When the army finally showed up, they again called the police and threatened the CPTers with arrest for doing so. So we will see what really comes of all this. But the high-level interest is a good sign.