The only family who still lives permanently in the South Hebron Hills Palestinian village of Bir Al Idd is under the continuos threat of Mitzpe Yair and Nof Nesher illegal Israeli outposts.

On May 7, in the early morning, International volunteers filmed an Israeli settler grazing his flock on Palestinian owned cultivated fields. As said by Palestinian witnesses, the Israeli shepherd has been going on that land almost every morning in the last two weeks. The owners of the land are Bir Al Idd inhabitants and the area is military closed to Israeli citizens.

Harassments and episodes of violence against the Palestinian inhabitants of Bir Al Idd are nearly daily. On March 28 the family was deprived of their only source of energy, as the settlers damaged solar panels. For more information about this incident and Bir Al Idd you can see also: http://tuwaniresiste.operazionecolomba.it/?p=3096

The military closed area to Israeli citizens

Bir Al Idd ancora sotto minaccia

L’unica famiglia che vive ancora permanentemente nel villaggio palestinese di Bir Al Idd, nelle colline a sud di Hebron, è continuamente minacciata dai coloni degli avamposti israelini illegali di Mitzpe Yair e Nof Nesher.

Il 7 maggio, la mattina presto, volontari internazionali hanno filmato una colono israeliano mentre pascolava il suo gregge su campi coltivati di proprietà palestinese. Come riportato da testimoni palestinesi, il pastore israeliano è andato su quella terra quasi ogni mattina nelle ultime due settimane. I proprietari della terra sono abitanti di Bir Al Idd e si tratta di un’area militare chiusa ai cittadini israeliani.

Gli episodi di violenza contro gli abitanti palestinesi di Bir Al Idd sono quasi quotidiani. Il 28 marzo i coloni hanno danneggiato un sistema di pannelli solari e la famiglia è stata privata della loro unica fonte di energia. Per maggiori inforazioni sull’accaduto e su Bir Al Idd potete consultare anche: http://tuwaniresiste.operazionecolomba.it/?p=3096

Go to court and listen to the police and army’s excuses for not quashing the Maon Farm settlers’ harassment of Palestinians.

Is there a connection between the regular harassment of schoolchildren by settlers from outpost X and the vandalism of Palestinian trees near outpost X? According to the IDF, the answer is no. So we learn from an April 28 deposition by Gilad Lev, who last year was a battalion commander in the southern Hebron Hills area. And do the police know what the “hilltop youth” are? No. So we learn from a March 25 deposition by Shmuel Jerbi, a commander in the Judea and Samaria District Police Nationalist Crime Department.

The statements were submitted for a preliminary hearing in a lawsuit that was heard Sunday before Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court Judge Einat Avman-Muller. The plaintiffs are the Amour family from the town of Yatta in the southern West Bank. In May 2013, half the trees in their orchard near the village of A-Tawani were destroyed by unidentified vandals. This was preceded by two similar incidents in 2006 and 2011.

Call it the “Amour test” of the sincerity of the declarations by the authorities against hate crimes. The first parts of this test took place and were already reported on in this paper (December 26, 2013 and February 14, 2014). You give the grade, we’ll give the reminder.

The IDF did not accede to the Amour family’s request for lighting to be installed around the orchard to prevent future vandalism, supposedly because the family “chose to bring the matter to the legal system.” (So what? The lawsuit concerns something that already happened, the request for lighting has to do with the future.)

The state prosecutor, via attorney Moshe Willinger, argued that the plaintiffs themselves were to blame for the vandalism of their orchard since they had not installed lighting on their own (this in Area C, where just pitching a stake in the ground, not to mention connecting to the electricity grid, entails endless amounts of red tape for Palestinians).

The police closed the investigation into the vandalism “for lack of evidence,” even though army trackers found footprints leading directly from the orchard to the home of a settler named Yissachar Mann in the nearby Maon Farm outpost.

Ahead of the hearing the family’s attorney, Itai Mack, asked the sate (i.e., the police and the IDF) to respond to 38 questions in a deposition. One of the questions was: “Please confirm that Yissachar Mann is known to the security forces and the police from previous incidents.” The police documents describing the May 2013 vandalism note that Mann was previously arrested and convicted.

The court’s online archive contains an indictment by the Judea and Samaria District Police against Mann and others who were armed, for throwing stones at farmers from A-Tawani and at leftist activists. The archive also contains a record of a case in which Mann was convicted in Jerusalem of “crimes against public order.”

But police commander Jerbi’s response to Mack’s question was: “The question is not clear.”

When Mack asked if the state “is aware of the presence of ‘hilltop youth’ and far-right activists at Maon Farm,” Jerbi answered: “The term is not clear. Jewish settlers live at Maon Farm.” Asked by Mack whether Maon Farm is an illegal and unauthorized outpost, this was his answer: “That is a legal question.” In other words: The violation of the law by their very presence there is a theoretical and abstract matter.

It was harder to obtain a statement from the IDF. Major Shai, an investigator for the Defense Ministry, wrote with total assurance: “… I conducted a review with all the relevant parties in the IDF, and found there was no IDF involvement in this event (of May 2013).”

The discrepancy between the results of this “review” and the reality led Mack to write another letter requesting that the state complete the deposition. The former battalion commander in the area, Gilad Lev, was recruited for this task.

Asked how the lessons of the previous events of 2006 and 2011 were implemented,” Lev replied: “Learning lessons [from incidents] is a matter of routine for the defense forces.”

Yet April 15 to April 28 saw a sharp increase in the number of harassment incidents by West Bank settlers on Palestinians − from an average of five incidents a week to nine. Attacks against A-Tawani villagers by their Jewish “neighbors” (who mostly come from Maon Farm) are a regular event. Between 2005 and 2013, Yesh Din filed 35 complaints with the police regarding attacks on Palestinians by Israelis in the A-Tawani area. These incidents included beatings, destruction of trees, arson, attacks on shepherds, the killing of livestock, stone throwing and trespassing.

Because of the regularity of the abuse by the Maon Farm settlers, since 2004 the IDF has been escorting a group of schoolchildren from two small nearby villages on their way to school in A-Tawani and back. Sometimes the soldiers don’t show up for the assignment and the terrified children make their way through the rocky hills below Maon Farm alone.

This is what happened on April 24. Two Israelis on quad bikes appeared from the direction of Maon Farm and hurled stones at four children and their mother as they returned from school without a military escort. A 7-year-old girl was hit in the head and had to be taken to hospital for stitches.

Lev’s response to Mack’s request for confirmation that “IDF soldiers escort schoolchildren to school in A-Tawani in wake of violence from Israeli extremists”: “The question is not relevant to the lawsuit, which is about vandalism of olive trees.”

Source: Haaretz

Israeli Supreme Court Seeks Participation for Palestinians in Area C Planning

ICAHD // Jerusalem, April 28th

The Supreme Court gave an interim decision today in response to an appeal brought by Rabbis For Human Rights, ICAHD, JLAC, St. Yves and the Palestinian village of Ad-Dirat-Al-Rfai’ya requesting that planning authority be returned to Palestinians living in Area C, the 62% of the West Bank under full Israeli control. The decision ordered the State to propose within ninety days institutionalized ways to facilitate participation of local Palestinians in Area C in the planning processes that affect their lives. Justices Rubinstein, Handel, and Solberg also expressed dissatisfaction with the current planning situation and rejected the state’s argument that participation of Palestinians exists in the current system and therefore the status quo ought to remain.

The judges also requested that the state provide explanations for the data provided by the petitioners indicating severe discrimination and a lack of adequate planning for Palestinians in Area C. The petitioners were given 30 days to comment after the state submits their proposal.

Response of ICAHD:

ICAHD normally does not initiate or join appeals to the Israeli Supreme Court regarding the situation in the Occupied Territory for the same reason it does not normally provide legal aid to Palestinians facing the demolition of their homes or help in obtaining building permits: such humanitarian assistance may help specific families in the short term (though rarely), but by legitimizing Israel’s authority to rule over the OPT in violation of international law, such interventions only perpetuate the Occupation.

Mi aspettava e appena mi ha vista e sentita arrivare mi ha dato il suo benvenuto…
Gli alberi parlano qui, in realtà probabilmente parlano ovunque ma io per la prima volta li sento, per la prima volta mi fermo ad ascoltarli, non sempre comprendo ciò che vogliono dire, ma lascio che mi entrino dentro… non mi ero mai resa conto prima di che suono magnifico emettano…anche quelli più inquietanti, sopra ai quali non splende mai il sole per colpa di chi gli infesta il cuore, anche quelli hanno una voce magica…

Anche quando ti mettono in guardia del pericolo che nascondono, già perché in questi alberi, tra le loro fronde, molte volte si nascondono loro.
Tanti tipi di alberi, abeti, pini, mandorli, ciliegi, ulivi ma non esistono alberi buoni o alberi cattivi, solo ciò che rappresentano può essere giudicato bene o male… Sì, perché tra questi ve ne sono alcuni che rappresentano la lotta altri ciò che si combatte, non l’hanno scelto loro ma qualcuno l’ha scelto per loro… a differenza di chi li ha scelti, loro non hanno avuto scelta…
Ulivi che passano di mani in mani, mani invecchiate dal sole, dal vento, dall’aria, dalla tera, dalle colline, mani vecchie anche se giovani, mani stanche ma non abbastanza, hanno comunque la forza di continuare a vivere, lavorare e lottare…
Ulivi piantati in terre aride di acqua ma non di speranza… Ulivi piantati in segno di lotta, di resistenza, piantati con la forza di una fede, intendendo per fede il continuare a credere che sia possibile, che un giorno questi ulivi diventeranno grandi abbastanza per dare frutti… frutti che a loro volta rappresentano piccole vittorie, anzi no, probabilmente grandi vittorie, grandi conquiste… Ulivi piantati sì ma anche ulivi sradicati, bruciati, rubati da chi rappresenta ciò che gli stessi ulivi combattono, da chi si nasconde nel cuore degli altri alberi, di quegli alberi che al mattino ti salutano cordialmente ma tra il vento ti intimano di fare attenzione… Alberi di confine, fatti propri da parte di chi non li possedeva… alberi di tutti e di nessuno a cui viene imposta una parte, ma loro parte non hanno, eppure dalle radici alle fronde inconsciamente sostengono il peso di questa lotta.

M.

Essere terza parte e agire come tale, va molto più nel pratico e nel quotidiano qui, rispetto alla nostra storia e ai principi di nonviolenza che ci guidano.
Questi sono solo i punti di partenza da cui si sviluppa la realtà complessa della nostra vita qui, e questo tentare di essere terza parte.
Prima difficoltà scaturisce dal nostro intenso vivere con una parte. Un vivere semplice fatto di una lingua sola che a poco a poco si impara, di una scelta chiara fatta come comunità da tanti anni, anche se poi non mancano personalità diverse e non c’è perfezione, di un’area non poi così grande come sembra alle nostre gambe in cui lo stile di vita è simile per tutti, di un’accoglienza araba davanti alla quale a noi non sono richiesti molti sforzi per entrare nell’intimità di case e famiglie che non conosciamo.
Ci si sente protetti da questi elementi e facilmente ci si sente parte di questa parte.

L’altra parte invece si apre complessa di fronte a noi. Non ha i “confini sicuri” delle colline a sud di Hebron ma quelli vasti di un popolo. E’ un popolo frastagliato in mille diversità, che con noi si sforza di parlare inglese ma la cui lingua è un altra, una di cui conosco solo 10 parole nonostante i quasi 9 mesi qui. Ha una storia profondamente intrecciata con la nostra di italiani, magari anche cattolici, che ha tante diverse interpretazioni se guardata dal presente. E’ un popolo che ai nostri occhi si presenta nei suoi estremi: dalla forza in divisa, all’attivista con un profondo affetto per noi e per i palestinesi, allo sconosciuto di Gerusalemme. Sconosciuto col quale ci sentiamo spesso più intimoriti rispetto ad un altro simile che possiamo incontrare qualche strada più in là, ma che parla arabo.

Tutto questo provoca in me una grande difficoltà nello stare a fianco a queste due parti senza farmi prendere tanto da una delle due, dall’andare spesso passi avanti a loro e perdere il semplice stare a fianco alla loro immensità, come ci è richiesto.

Vi mando questa riflessione ancora in corso insieme agli auguri per questa Pasqua. Penso all’Uomo che la sera prima di essere ucciso ha pianto su Gerusalemme e su tutti gli uomini, all’Uomo che ha sempre seguito la giustizia e la verità senza fare distinzioni tra amici e nemici, che da una croce in mezzo ad altre due ha chiesto il perdono per chi stava commettendo l’ingiustizia che su di lui si è ripercossa, all’Uomo che ha creduto così fermamente alla forza rigeneratrice dell’Amore da sacrificarsi per il cambiamento di ognuno e cambiare, infine, anche la morte in vita.

S.

Israeli settlers attacked with stones four Palestinian children who were returning home from school with their mother

(segue versione in italiano)

April 24, 2014

At Tuwani – On Thursday April 24 at around 12 pm, two Israeli settlers coming with a quad-bike from the illegal outpost of Havat Ma’on attacked with stones four Palestinian children and the mother of three of them, as they were returning from school to their homes in the villages of Tuba and Maghayir Al Abeed. A seven year old girl child was hit by a stone and fell while attempting to run away, badly injuring her head.

Her father, who witnessed the attack as he was harvesting his land situated on top of the Old Havat Ma’on hill, immediately brought her to the nearby village of At Tuwani, where an ambulance came to rescue her and bring her to the hospital.

The girl required five stitches and is now resting at home with her family.

The five Palestinians were coming from the village of At Tuwani, where the children attend school, through the only path they can use without the military escort that everyday accompanies the children from Tuba and Maghayir Al Abeed on their way to and from school since 2004. On this path Palestinians cross the hill where the outpost of Havat Ma’on was situated before it was dismantled in 2000 and moved to Hill 833. Through this hill passes a paved road used by Israeli settlers as a hiking trail. The five Palestinians were attacked by two Israeli settlers who were riding with their quad-bike on this trail.

Operation Dove has maintained an international presence in At Tuwani and the South Hebron Hills since 2004.

For further information:
Operation Dove, 054 99 25 773

[Note: According to the Fourth Geneva Convention, the Hague Regulations, the International Court of Justice, and several United Nations resolutions, all Israeli settlements and outposts in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal. Most settlement outposts, including Havat Ma’on (Hill 833), are considered illegal also under Israeli law.]

The seven years old Palestinian girl injured by the attack

The Palestinian ambulance that brought the child and her father to the Hospital

COMUNICATO STAMPA

Bambina palestinese ferita gravemente da un attacco di coloni israeliani

Coloni israeliani hanno attaccato con pietre quattro bambini palestinesi che stavano facendo ritorno da scuola con la madre

14 aprile 2014

At Tuwani – Giovedì 24 aprile alle ore 12 circa, due coloni israeliani a bordo di un quad, proveniente dall’avamposto illegale di Havat Ma’on, hanno attaccato con delle pietre quattro bambini palestinesi e la madre di tre di loro mentre, dopo la scuola, stavano facendo ritorno ai villaggi di Maghayir Al Abeed e Tuba. Una bambina di sette anni è stata colpita da una pietra mentre cercava di fuggire e, cadendo, si è procurata una profonda ferita alla testa.

Il padre di questa, testimone dell’accaduto mentre stava lavorando la propria terra situata in cima alla collina di Old Havat Ma’on, ha portato la piccola al vicino villaggio di At Tuwani dove è arrivata un’ambulanza che le ha prestato i primi soccorsi e l’ha trasferita poi all’ospedale.

Alla bambina sono stati applicati cinque punti di sutura ed ora si trova a casa con la propria famiglia.

I cinque palestinesi arrivavano dal villaggio di At Tuwani, dove i bambini frequentano la scuola, attraverso l’unico sentiero che possono percorrere senza la presenza della scorta militare che, ogni giorno dal 2004, accompagna sulla via per e dalla scuola i bambini di Tuba e Maghayir Al Abeed. Questa via attraversa l’area in cui era ubicato l’avamposto di Havat Ma’on prima di essere smantellato nel 2000 e ricostruito sulla Hill 833. Su questa collina passa una strada sterrata usata dai coloni israeliani come percorso di trekking. I cinque palestinesi sono stati attaccati da due coloni israeliani che stavano percorrendo questo sentiero con un quad.

Operazione Colomba mantiene una presenza costante nel villaggio di At Tuwani e nell’area delle colline a sud di Hebron dal 2004.

Per informazioni:
Operazione Colomba, +972 54 99 25 773

[Note: secondo la IV Convenzione di Ginevra, la II Convenzione dell’Aja, la Corte Internazionale di Giustizia e numerose risoluzioni ONU, tutti gli insediamenti israeliani nei Territori Palestinesi Occupati sono illegali. Gli avamposti sono considerati illegali anche secondo la legge israeliana.]

Palestinians harvesting in Kharrouba valley

Despite the latest violence of the settlers of Havat Ma’on Israeli illegal outpost, Palestinians have started harvesting their land in the South Hebron Hills.

In the beginning of April, Israeli settlers ruined Palestinian cultivated fields by bringing their flocks to graze on them. On April 3 a flock damaged fields in Kharrouba valley, situated in the south-western side of Havat Ma’on outpost and owned by Palestinian inhabitants of At Tuwani. On April 7 a flock damaged fields in Umm Zeitouna valley, situated in the western side of the outpost of Havat Ma’on and of the settlement of Ma’on, cultivated by Palestinian inhabitants of Tuba. On April 8 a flock damaged fields on Jabeld Off hill, situated southern from the outpost and owned by Palestinian inhabitants of Maghayir Al Abeed. On the first and on the last occasions, Palestinians reported the incidents to the Israeli police who came on the place and watched videos proving the facts but didn’t take any measure against the israeli settlers.

This week Palestinian families started harvesting these fields, accompanied by Operation Dove volunteers.

Palestinians from the South Hebron Hills keep facing the Israeli occupation through the popular nonviolent resistance.

L’inizio della stagione del raccolto

Nonostante gli ultimi episodi di violenza da parte dei coloni provenienti dall’avamposto israeliano illegale di Havat Ma’on, i palestinesi hanno iniziato la mietitura nelle Colline a Sud di Hebron.

All’inizio di aprile i coloni israeliani hanno rovinato campi coltivati di proprietà Palestinesi, portandoci a pascolare le loro greggi. Il 3 aprile un gregge ha rovinato i campi nella valle di Kharrouba, situato a sud-ovest dell’avamposto di Havat Ma’on e di proprietà di abitanti palestinesi di At Tuwani. Il 7 aprile un gregge ha rovinato campi coltivati dagli abitanti Palestinesi di Tuba nella valle di Umm Zeitouna, situata a est dell’avamposto di Havat Ma’on e della colonia di Ma’on. Il 8 aprile un gregge ha danneggiato campi coltivati su Jabeld Off hill, situati a sud dell’avamposto e di proprietà di abitanti palestinesi di Maghayir Al Abeed. Nella prima e nell’ultima occasione i palestinesi hanno denunciato l’accaduto alla polizia israeliana, che è venuta sul posto e ha visionato i video che provavano la veridicità dei fatti ma non ha preso alcun provvedimento contro i coloni israeliani.

Questa settimana famiglie palestinesi hanno iniziato a mietere questi campi, accompagnati dai volontari di Operazione Colomba.

I palestinesi delle colline a sud di Hebron continuano ad affrontare l’occupazione israeliana tramite la resistenza popolare nonviolenta.

Ruined fields in Umm Zeitouna

(segue versione in italiano)

April 14, 2014

At Tuwani – On April 11 an international volunteer was attacked and injured by Israeli army, while coming back from accompanying Palestinian shepherds near Susiya.

The Palestinian village of Susiya is surrounded by the Israeli settlement of Suseya, the outpost of Suseya’s Ancient Synagogue and the military base of Suseya North, where the Palestinian shepherds were nearby grazing. The Palestinian inhabitants of Susiya are struggling through the nonviolent popular resistance in order to gain the right to access their own lands and to live a dignified life.

At 14:10 pm, two international volunteers were leaving the place after having accompanied four Palestinian shepherds to graze on their own lands. They had just got in the stopped car on the street that connects Susiya and Yatta (where two other internationals were waiting for them), when two Israeli soldiers arrived from the military base and intimated them to get out from the car.

While the group was standing near the street, two army vehicles approached. As soon as the second vehicle arrived, the soldiers got immediately out from the jeep. The commander and four more soldiers physically blocked one international and tried to grab his camera, to handcuff him and to put him into the jeep, tugging at him and beating him. In the meanwhile other soldiers blocked the other volunteers, preventing them from taping as best the aggression that lasted for 13 minutes.

Because of the attack, the international volunteer was injured. He had a bleeding wound on his elbow and he received a hard blow on the lower abdomen, whereby the intervention of the ambulance was needed. The soldiers also tried to block the doctors to prevent the injured to get into the ambulance, until the Israeli Police came and gave the permission to leave.

The volunteer attacked was hospitalized in Yatta and the other three were detained in Kiryat Arba Police station and released after five hours. The Police held all the videos of the incident to investigate on it and the three internationals were given expulsion orders from South Hebron Hills area for 14 to 16 days.

Operation Dove has maintained an international presence in At Tuwani and the South Hebron Hills since 2004.

For further information:
Operation Dove, 054 99 25 773

[Note: According to the Fourth Geneva Convention, the Hague Regulations, the International Court of Justice, and several United Nations resolutions, all Israeli settlements and outposts in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal. Most settlement outposts, including Havat Ma’on (Hill 833), are considered illegal also under Israeli law.]

At Tuwani – On April 10 the Israeli military escort didn’t accompany the Palestinian children from Tuba and Maghayir Al Abeed on the way back from school to their villages.

The children reached the meeting point with the military escort at 12:15 pm, the escort was supposed to arrive at 12:30 pm as every Thursday. Where the children wait is a dangerous place, very close to the Israeli settlement of Ma’on and the illegal outpost of Havat Ma’on. Even if International volunteers made different phone calls to the DCL (District Coordination Liaison) and directly to the Israeli army office the escort didn’t arrive. So at 1:20 pm the children decided to reach their homes by a longer path that crosses Palestinian owned lands very close to the south-western side of Havat Ma’on outpost. Because of the danger, International volunteers accompanied the children. At 1:50 pm two young Israeli settlers attacked children and volunteers, throwing rocks with slingshots. The attack lasted about 3 minutes and forced the children to run toward the hills in order to reach the Palestinian village of Tuba.

The misconduct of the Israeli military escort often endangers the Palestinian children whom the soldiers should protect. The schoolchildren were attacked by Israeli settlers also on April 9, while the escort was present: http://tuwaniresiste.operazionecolomba.it/?p=3130

Military escort misconduct exposes Palestinian children to risk on their way to and from school

(segue versione in italiano)

April 9, 2014

At Tuwani – On April 9, children from the Palestinian villages of Tuba and Maghayir Al Abeed were attacked by settlers coming from the Israeli illegal outpost of Havat Ma’on. The children were walking to school, accompanied by the Israeli military escort that has the duty to protect them everyday on their way to and from school, as established in 2004 by the Children Rights Committee of the Knesset. During the 2013-2014 school year the misconduct this military escort has exposed the children to dangerous risks in numerous occasions.

In order to reach the school in the village of At Tuwani, the Palestinian children coming from the nearby byvillages of Tuba and Maghayir Al Abeed, aged between 6 and 17 years, usually walk through the shortest route, about 20 minutes walking, that passes between the Israeli settlement of Ma’on and the illegal outpost of Havat Ma’on (Hill 833). This route is the main road linking their villages and At Tuwani.

On the morning of April 9 at 7:40 am, two Israeli children coming from the illegal outpost of Havat Ma’on attacked the Palestinian children by trowing them stones with slingshots. Two Palestinian girls, aged 12 and 14, were hit on their legs by the stones and were injured. At the moment of the attack the Israeli soldiers were not walking with the children as they are supposed to, but were all inside the military vehicle, following behind the group of children.

Everyday international volunteers monitor the regular implementation of the IDF escort for an average number of 16 children, aged between 6 and 17 years old, coming from the villages of Tuba and Maghayir al Abeed. August 25 marked the beginning of the school year 2013-2014 and 132 days of school have been recorded so far. The escort was not present in 5 mornings and 6 afternoons, forcing the children to walk a longer and still dangerous path that takes them about one hour to reach the school. During the current school year international volunteers registered that in 30% of the cases the military escort was late (27% during the previous school year 2012-2013), causing children the loss of about 8 hours of lessons (17 in 2012-2013). In addition, in 50% of the cases (52% in 2012-2013) the military escort arrived late after school, forcing the children to wait in a dangerous place (the gathering one), close to both the settlement and the outpost, for a total time of about 12 hours (19 in 2012-2013). In contravention to the escort’s protective mandate, in 96% of the cases (i.e. 127 out of 132 recorded cases in which the escort was present) the Israeli military failed to fully complete the escort and the soldiers did not accompany the children to the end of the established path (78% in 2012-2013). Furthermore thus far in 2013-2014 school year, in 82% (37% in 2012-2013) of the cases the escort didn’t walk with the children, as established in the agreement between the Israel Civil Administration’s District Coordination Office (DCO) and the mayor of At Tuwani.

For further information on the military escort in the past years, it is available the report “The Dangerous Road to Education. Palestinian Students Suffer Under Settler Violence and Military Negligence” at: http://goo.gl/CXfi9

Operation Dove has maintained an international presence in At Tuwani and the South Hebron Hills since 2004.

For further information:
Operation Dove, 054 99 25 773

[Note: According to the Fourth Geneva Convention, the Hague Regulations, the International Court of Justice, and several United Nations resolutions, all Israeli settlements and outposts in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal. Most settlement outposts, including Havat Ma’on (Hill 833), are considered illegal also under Israeli law.]