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A FARMER WENT OUT TO SOW
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Four
busloads - later joined by a fifth - of mostly
Israeli
peacemakers.
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The presence of 200 Palestinians, Israelis, and Internationals was
required in order to enable a few Palestinian farmers in the south
Hebron Hills to sow some seed and to do a little work with a
donkey-drawn plough and one pulled by a tractor. Why so much public
accompaniment to make it possible for farmers to work their own land?
The parcel in question lies close to an illegal Israeli settlement
“outpost” – too close to allow Palestinian presence in any form, much
less for the purpose of working the terrain. The settlers, who occupied
the land some years ago, receive support from the Israeli government not
only in terms of financing and water and electricity services but also
military protection. Roads to the settlement are off-limits to all
Palestinians, as is a no-Palestinian zone – since Israeli soldiers are
authorized to shoot any Palestinian who ventures closer to the
settlement border than about 1500 yards (almost a mile!). |
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Settlers talk with Israeli soldiers...
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It was inside that “security” zone, but by no means representing any
threat to the settlers, that the farmers wanted to work their land. For
years this had not been possible. In fact, in 2005 some settlers sowed
rat-poison soaked barley in the fields, which immediately began to take
its toll on the sheep. After testing the chemical,
Birzeit University found that it
was highly poisonous to both water and vegetation and that a miniscule
amount would be fatal to human beings1.
A Christian Peacemaker
Team member told us that over 100 sheep died and over 300 became
sick from the rat-poison soaked barley. The people had to search the
area to pick up all the poisoned grain. At Tawani, herders were unable
to sell any milk products to customers in Yatta for one year because
people feared sickness resulting from the poisoning2.
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...and Israeli activists talk with settlers |
On Dec.1 the group
of 200, including David, Joe, and Martha, accompanied by media people,
walked up and down steep hills about a mile from the main highway to
arrive at the plot of land in the village of Tuba. Israelis and
internationals were participating to show support for the Palestinians’
right to till their land; some Israelis brought their small children to
be part of this impressive display of unity in defense of human rights. |
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Speaker explains situation in Hebrew and
Arabic... |
Of course, the mere presence of
all these civilians, explicitly committed to nonviolent struggle, would
not have insured the safety of the Palestinian sowers and ploughers nor
their own security. On our entire march from the village of At Tuwani to
Tuba, walking within a stone’s throw of the settlement, we were
accompanied by about 35 combat-ready Israeli soldiers with 10 army jeeps
as well as 14 Israeli border police and their 4 white vehicles. |
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...while our translator puts it into English. |
Arriving at Tuba, we listened to some very
informative talks, with good translations in Arabic, Hebrew, and English
as needed. We were told that the settlement “outpost” is an “illegal”
settlement, meaning that it was not previously authorized by the Israeli
government. Some Israelis simply poached on this land. It is an
“outpost” of a larger, more established settlement,
Ma’on,
which is legal in the eyes of the Israeli government3,
but totally illegal according to international law, especially the
Geneva Conventions,
which forbid an occupying power to put colonists into the land it had
seized4. |
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David takes pictures. |
An Israeli speaker expressed his passionate devotion
to democracy for his country but also his outrage at the travesty of
democracy which he is seeing. Within Israel itself, about 20% of the
population is Palestinian, but they are clearly second-class citizens.
In the occupied territory, Palestinians can be arrested and imprisoned
without specific charges and are often abused in detention. They are
insulted and inconvenienced, sometimes with serious consequences (e.g.,
not getting to a hospital in time), at myriad Israeli checkpoints in
their own territory. Houses and even mosques are demolished by army
decree. In fact, there is a recent order for demolition of the
mosque in At Tuwani. |
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The moment of truth, and
of hope, came when some local Palestinians started to walk through a
field, sowing seed as they went. A donkey-drawn plough was also at work,
plus one pulled by a tractor. |
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Among the organizers of the day’s action was
Combatants for Peace
– former Israeli soldiers, some of whom had participated in the
repression of the Palestinians, and former Palestinian militants. All
have opted to work together using nonviolent methods to struggle for
justice. The Israeli ex-combatants are convinced that the only way to
assure the security of their country is to give full recognition to
Palestinian rights.
The other Israeli group organizing the action was
Ta’ayush, which has frequent
presence in the area, helping farmers herd their animals and harvest hay
and other crops.
The Palestinians’ local nonviolent organizing committee, headed by
Hafez, was the main Palestinian group responsible for organizing this
action. Many of them were present at the action. They put themselves at
great risk because they stay in the area after the action and receive
the harsh retaliation of the angry Israeli settlers. |
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David and Martha stayed
overnight in the cave home of a shepherd family, along with two members
of Christian
Peacemaker Teams (CPT),
in case the settlers decided to take some reprisals on the Palestinians.
Fortunately, they experienced no threats or violence that night. We saw
at a distance and later heard reports, however, that some settlers beat
up a Palestinian farmer and stole his donkey.
AN EARLIER VISIT
Joe along with David and Martha had spent the night of November 28th in
the home of the same shepherd family, who received us graciously and
generously, offering us tea and later supper. One of the boys, who has
advanced quite well in his study of English, was able to do some basic
translation.
The next day, our mission was to observe the village children walking
off to the road near the settlements on their way to school and to note
whether the army jeep was at the road to accompany and protect them as
they walked about 15 minutes on the no-Palestinian road. In the past
some settlers had beaten up the schoolchildren and thrown rocks at them.
Our binoculars helped us to see the jeep and its departure with the
children. At that point we phoned the CPT team in At Tuwani near the
school who would be looking for the children and the soldiers to arrive
at that end.
The fact that the army is needed to protect these children is just as
telling, and equally troublesome, as the fact that 200 Israelis and
internationals are needed for a few farmers to work a bit of their own
land. |
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