Americans for Peace Now has sent out links to press coverage of a demonstration they waged to protest ongoing settler attacks on Palestinian schoolchildren in the West Bank village of At-Tuwani. <\/p>\n
Dorothy from the New Profile group<\/a> forwarded this message from the Christian Peacemaker Team in Hebron<\/a> last Sunday, 07.05.06:<\/p>\n At-Tuwani release:<\/p>\n Tuba Children and Soldier Escort Ambushed by Ma’on Settlers<\/strong><\/p>\n 6 May 2006<\/p>\n For the second week in a row, about 30 Ma’on settlers attacked the children from Tuba and the Israeli soldiers escorting them on their way home from school on Shabbat (Saturday is the Jewish Holy Day). The ambush occurred at 1:15 pm at the roadblock that settlers built One May to block the escort jeeps. Settlers threw rocks at the children and soldiers, and kicked and punched them. Several children sustained injuries to legs and heads, three required medical attention. One soldier fired his gun in the air; police have not yet arrested any settlers. <\/p>\n “Better wear your helmet,” one of the soldiers said to another as they began the escort. Two soldiers walked with the children, while one idled behind in the jeep as far as the roadblock. The carelessness of the Israeli military and police is put in stark relief by the presence in At-Tuwani throughout the day of one army humvee and three police vans. This show of force was intended to prevent Israeli peace activists from visiting At-Tuwani. At any point during the morning, the humvee could have removed the rocks of the roadblock with a logging chain; and a police presence with the escort of the school children might have prevented the attack. <\/p>\n Children reported on Tuesday morning that there was a roadblock on the longer path around the south of the Hill 833 outpost. The soldier in command Tuesday morning elected to use the shorter, more direct path from Tuba to At-Tuwani, but at Noon he reported that he had been criticized by his superior officers for that decision. The Israeli military has apparently decided that the school escort should continue to use the longer path, a route that passes close to dense forest that hides the houses of extremist settlers in the outpost. <\/p>\n All week both soldiers and police officers have said that the military would be removing the roadblock within a day, but the roadblock is still in place and will still provide a convenient point of attack for the settlers as long as the authorities continue to mandate the use of the longer path.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n According to the Jerusalem Post<\/em> story<\/a> included in the APN mailing, the IDF claimed to have been “ambushed” by the settlers. <\/p>\n Well, that’s a nice bedtime story, but obviously the soldiers are enabling these viscious settlers and it’s been going on for some time<\/a>.<\/p>\n Why would they do that? Because they are rabid beasts who shoot stone-throwing children for sport when they aren’t pushing and punching them and their teachers as they try to go school. And they get away with it because the international community allows it.<\/p>\n Watch the films<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Americans for Peace Now has sent out links to press coverage of a demonstration they waged to protest ongoing settler attacks on Palestinian schoolchildren in the West Bank village of At-Tuwani. Dorothy from the New Profile group forwarded this message … Continue reading