WEST BANK: Christian Peacemaker Teams stay in the West Bank village of Litwani to monitor often violent relations between Palestinians and Jewish settlers

Record ID: 349032

  • Title: WEST BANK: Christian Peacemaker Teams stay in the West Bank village of Litwani to monitor often violent relations between Palestinians and Jewish settlers
  • Date: 30th November 2006
  • Summary: (MER1)TUWANI, WEST BANK (NOVEMBER 27, 2006) (REUTERS) MAON SETTLEMENT IN THE DISTANCE/ CPT MEMBERS GATHERED AND TALKING TO VILLAGE RESIDENTS IN TUWANI VARIOUS OF CPT MEMBERS WALKING IN VILLAGE (SOUNDBITE)(English) HEIDI SCHRAMM, COORDINATOR OF THE CHRISTIAN PEACEMAKER TEAMS (CPT) PRESENCE IN TUWANI, SAYING: "(Our mission is) mostly to observe and also to accompany. We go o
  • Embargoed: 15th December 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA32EAIWGQC79EYKP38YQZ6PQZT
  • Story Text: Fearing attacks by Israeli Jewish settlers, Palestinian residents of the village of Tuwani near the West Bank city of Hebron have resorted to seeking protection from Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) members.
    The group is composed of north americans and europeans who have set up camp in the village to monitor interactions between settlers from the nearby Jewish settlement of Maon and schoolchildren, shepherds and farmers in the tiny village of Tuwani which is home to some 200 Palestinians.
    "They (the Jewish settlers) confiscated our lands. When we go to plant, they come and cut the plants. When the plants grow high and are almost ready be harvested, they come with a bulldozer and destroy the plants. Since they came here we have had problems with them," said Tuwani villager Fatima Rabah.
    "Now they come to our houses, they do not want the sheep to leave the houses. They poisoned our livestock, they poisoned the livestock twice, once with green wheat, and once with a red coloured mixture," Rabah added.
    Coordinator of the CPT presence in Tuwani, Heidi Schramm, corroborates Fatima Rabah's story of violence from the settlers.
    "We've been here since the fall of 2004. We were invited to begin a permanent presence here by some Israeli peace activists from the organisation Ta'ayush. And since 2004 we have been living here everyday, we've had two members of our organization in the village everyday," Schramm said.
    "(Our mission is) mostly to observe and also to accompany. We go out into the fields with shepherds and farmers, who have also experienced problems of settlers coming from the outposts and settlements to attack them (Tuwani villagers). The unofficial motto of CPT is 'getting in the way of violence.' So there have been times when we have physically put ourselves between the violent settlers and the Palestinians to afford some sort of protection for them, hopefully," she explained.
    Tuwani is home to the only school for youngsters in the area, and for the past two years, Palestinian children from neighbouring villages have been escorted to the Tuwani school by Israeli soldiers and police.
    An Israeli military source said the decision was taken in the light of attacks on Palestinians by Jewish settler youths.
    The Israeli military referred to two "severe incidents" which took place in the spring. In the most serious one, Jewish settler youths, believed to be from the area, had attacked the force and Palestinian children with stones and tried to set a dog on them.
    Tuwani villagers say CPT members try to be present at such incidents to offer protection to the Palestinians.
    "They (CPT members) are good, they are very respectable. Whenever we need them they come with us. They observe the students who walk to school. The shepherd who wants to herd his sheep, he wakes up early. They wake up early too, even if it is raining. They wake up early and accompany the students," Fatima Rabah explained.
    "There is a good relationship between this organisation and the people of the village. Because this area faces severe attacks from the settlers and the soldiers. They observe these attacks and tell the world," said another villager, Hafez Hirini, who says he has personally been attacked by settlers in the area.
    The World Court has branded all Israeli settlements built on land captured in the 1967 Middle East war as illegal. Israel disputes this.
    About 240,000 settlers live in the West Bank among 2.4 million Palestinians.
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