BAy area observeer Lorin P, observes Israeli skirmish with Palestinians

CPTnet 21 August 2009 AL-KHALIIL/HEBRON:
Israeli settlers plant trees on Palestinian land
by Aida Hayes

On 7 August 2009, for the second Friday morning in a row, Israeli settlers planted trees in the Beqa'a Valley near Hebron on land belonging to a Palestinian family.

About 10:30 a.m., a Palestinian farmer in the Beqa'a called the team to say settlers were on his family's land. Aida Hayes, John Harris, and Lorin Peters arrived just as the last three police officers were leaving. The head of the Palestinian family recounted the following events:

An Israeli Defense Force (IDF) jeep came at 3:00 a.m. and took some photos, then returned about 6:00 a.m. and sat waiting at the junction of the village road with Bypass Road 60. Forty or fifty settlers arrived between 8:00 and 9:00 a.m., accompanied by about twenty IDF soldiers in six or seven jeeps.

Settlers planted about sixty pine seedlings, each about seventy-five cm in height and with a cone-shaped root ball, on the third terrace directly above the family's home. The Israeli army protected the settlers and prevented the Palestinian family from talking to the settlers. The settlers left about 11:00 a.m.Â

A representative of the Civil Administration (the Israeli military administration of the West Bank) reportedly told the family that the settlers should not be planting trees there. The family was just finishing uprooting all the trees up when CPT arrived. They said settlers had done the same thing the previous Friday.

When asked why the settlers were planting trees there, one brother in the family said, "First they plant trees. After awhile, they put up a hut. After another while, they bring in caravans (mobile homes). Then they build a settlement."

----------------------------------------------

CPT's MISSION: "Getting in the Way." What would happen if Christians devoted the same discipline and sacrifice to nonviolent peacemaking that armies devote to war? Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) seeks to enlist the whole church in organized, nonviolent alternatives to war and places teams of trained peacemakers in regions of lethal conflict.

COMMENTS: To ask questions or express concerns, criticisms and affirmations send messages to peacemakers@cpt.org.