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Mar. 1st, 2005
The following article from CPTnet reports the action we did while I was on my delegation trip, planting olive trees in the village of At Tuwani, in the south Hebron district.
CPTnet
December 7, 2004
HEBRON/AT-TUWANI: Palestinians and internationals plant olive trees
On December 1, 2004 in the 1000-year village of At Tuwani, the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) delegation and the Hebron team assisted Palestinian farmers in planting over 100 olive saplings. The saplings replaced trees that the Israeli military had razed months earlier. Volunteers from other
international organizations also participated in the planting.
As the Palestinians and internationals worked in the hills south of Hebron, donkeys brayed, children laughed, an unhappy camel bellowed* and jet fighters roared overhead. Watchers kept vigil for armed Israeli settlers, army jeeps, and police. Children engaged the workers and watchers while the trees, donated by the YMCA, found their places in the rocky soil. One of the village women climbed the rocky hill to bring falafel and tea.
When the tree-planting neared completion, Fatima, the Palestinian who owns the field where the community was planting olive trees, caught an Israeli settler plowing one of her fields nearby--a first step toward land confiscation. CPTers and other internationals went to help. A confrontation ensued but Palestinians and the presence of CPT de-escalated it. Finally the settler youth took the tractor and left the field. Israeli army and settler security quickly arrived, and, after questioning the owners of the land, they left without further incident.
While some CPTers stayed to observe the army interaction, others continued planting olive trees. After the soldiers left, all gathered and offered a blessing for the newly planted grove. A member of the family receiving the trees explained that olive trees represent peace. He offered his thanks and reminded the group how the Palestinians continue to suffer. Carol Rose, Co-Director of CPT, told him "the world heard the cry of your olive trees as they were uprooted. We have come today from the United States, Sweden, France and Canada to help replant as a symbol of our solidarity."
The following article appeared in my email inbox a few days ago. Please pay special attention to the paragraph that has been bolded
CPTnet
26 February 2005
AT-TUWANI: Hard Day in At-Tuwani
by Art Gish
21 February 2005, about twenty shepherds from from around At-Tuwani met Israeli officials on the hill
above the town of At-Tuwani. The Israeli officials, all armed with M-16 assault rifles, along with a dozen soldiers also armed with M-16s, had come for a conversation about where shepherds would be or not be allowed to graze their sheep. Twenty settlers, some also heavily armed, observed the conversation.
The Israeli authorities informed the shepherds that they are forbidden to graze their sheep on vast tracts of their own land. There was no proposal from the military as to how the shepherds can now feed their sheep.
I asked the military official in charge why the shepherds cannot go on their land. I received no answer. I tried to point out that the Israeli government keeps taking more and more Palestinian land.
After the soldiers and settlers had left and the shepherds and their flocks were making their ways home, shepherds noticed two settlers walking on the road above them toward their village. When the settlers approached the village, they circled a field near the village, and then returned the way they had come.
Two hours later, villagers discovered that one hundred fifty young olive trees had been uprooted the night before in the field which the settlers had encircled. Those olive trees were donated by the YMCA in
Jerusalem and had been in the ground about three months.
At-Tuwani villagers then learned that another hundred olive trees that had been planted just two days
earlier were also uprooted.
Israeli soldiers came to investigate. I asked them again what the shepherds were doing wrong, why they
couldn't be on their land and why they couldn't have olive trees. The soldiers did not answer my questions.
When asked what this means for the village, one shepherd said, "What the soldiers and settlers did today is what we expect. They destroyed our olive trees, but we will plant more olive trees." Another shepherd said, "We will keep going back on our land even if they arrest us."
*Ed. note: I rode this camel while he was making the unhappy bellowing noises!
CPTnet
December 7, 2004
HEBRON/AT-TUWANI: Palestinians and internationals plant olive trees
On December 1, 2004 in the 1000-year village of At Tuwani, the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) delegation and the Hebron team assisted Palestinian farmers in planting over 100 olive saplings. The saplings replaced trees that the Israeli military had razed months earlier. Volunteers from other
international organizations also participated in the planting.
As the Palestinians and internationals worked in the hills south of Hebron, donkeys brayed, children laughed, an unhappy camel bellowed* and jet fighters roared overhead. Watchers kept vigil for armed Israeli settlers, army jeeps, and police. Children engaged the workers and watchers while the trees, donated by the YMCA, found their places in the rocky soil. One of the village women climbed the rocky hill to bring falafel and tea.
When the tree-planting neared completion, Fatima, the Palestinian who owns the field where the community was planting olive trees, caught an Israeli settler plowing one of her fields nearby--a first step toward land confiscation. CPTers and other internationals went to help. A confrontation ensued but Palestinians and the presence of CPT de-escalated it. Finally the settler youth took the tractor and left the field. Israeli army and settler security quickly arrived, and, after questioning the owners of the land, they left without further incident.
While some CPTers stayed to observe the army interaction, others continued planting olive trees. After the soldiers left, all gathered and offered a blessing for the newly planted grove. A member of the family receiving the trees explained that olive trees represent peace. He offered his thanks and reminded the group how the Palestinians continue to suffer. Carol Rose, Co-Director of CPT, told him "the world heard the cry of your olive trees as they were uprooted. We have come today from the United States, Sweden, France and Canada to help replant as a symbol of our solidarity."
The following article appeared in my email inbox a few days ago. Please pay special attention to the paragraph that has been bolded
CPTnet
26 February 2005
AT-TUWANI: Hard Day in At-Tuwani
by Art Gish
21 February 2005, about twenty shepherds from from around At-Tuwani met Israeli officials on the hill
above the town of At-Tuwani. The Israeli officials, all armed with M-16 assault rifles, along with a dozen soldiers also armed with M-16s, had come for a conversation about where shepherds would be or not be allowed to graze their sheep. Twenty settlers, some also heavily armed, observed the conversation.
The Israeli authorities informed the shepherds that they are forbidden to graze their sheep on vast tracts of their own land. There was no proposal from the military as to how the shepherds can now feed their sheep.
I asked the military official in charge why the shepherds cannot go on their land. I received no answer. I tried to point out that the Israeli government keeps taking more and more Palestinian land.
After the soldiers and settlers had left and the shepherds and their flocks were making their ways home, shepherds noticed two settlers walking on the road above them toward their village. When the settlers approached the village, they circled a field near the village, and then returned the way they had come.
Two hours later, villagers discovered that one hundred fifty young olive trees had been uprooted the night before in the field which the settlers had encircled. Those olive trees were donated by the YMCA in
Jerusalem and had been in the ground about three months.
At-Tuwani villagers then learned that another hundred olive trees that had been planted just two days
earlier were also uprooted.
Israeli soldiers came to investigate. I asked them again what the shepherds were doing wrong, why they
couldn't be on their land and why they couldn't have olive trees. The soldiers did not answer my questions.
When asked what this means for the village, one shepherd said, "What the soldiers and settlers did today is what we expect. They destroyed our olive trees, but we will plant more olive trees." Another shepherd said, "We will keep going back on our land even if they arrest us."
*Ed. note: I rode this camel while he was making the unhappy bellowing noises!
(no subject)
Mar. 1st, 2005 03:46 pmI'm leaving for teaching in a few minutes. Here is a quick update of my life so far:
-I am sniffly and a little sneezy, and hoping desperately I'm not coming down with a cold
-I'm a little tired, but I can't imagine anything I'd actually cut out of the next week in order to not be tired
-Tomorrow is the Big Day, and I'm a little nervous. We have an extended breakfast meeting tomorrow morning with the four of us and some legal counsel. I'll let everybody know how it goes.
-I'm missing choir a lot these days. That sucks. I'll be back in a couple weeks, I hope. I don't know if I'll make it tomorrow night or not. I'm not banking on it.
-If I haven't seen you recently- I miss you!
-I am sniffly and a little sneezy, and hoping desperately I'm not coming down with a cold
-I'm a little tired, but I can't imagine anything I'd actually cut out of the next week in order to not be tired
-Tomorrow is the Big Day, and I'm a little nervous. We have an extended breakfast meeting tomorrow morning with the four of us and some legal counsel. I'll let everybody know how it goes.
-I'm missing choir a lot these days. That sucks. I'll be back in a couple weeks, I hope. I don't know if I'll make it tomorrow night or not. I'm not banking on it.
-If I haven't seen you recently- I miss you!
