Palestinian Cave Dwellers vs. Israeli Settlers
CNN’s Ben Wedeman presents the conflict between Palestinian cave dwellers and Israeli settlers as a typical case of old traditions giving way to modern development. The reality is that the Israeli settlements are illegal and are built and expanded in order to steal Palestinian land and displace Palestinians.
Also missing from Ben Wedeman’s report is the abject violence used by the Jewish settlers against Palestinians in this area.
CNN
I spent time in Tuwane, a cave dwelling village south of Hebron, in 2003. I was there in conjunction with the Israeli organization Taayush. Our purpose was to protect the Palestinians from the settlers who were building an “outpost”. Jewish Settlers would show up over shabat to terrorize the people of Tuwani for the purpose of driving them out. Israeli border police often provided protection for settlers who were stoning Palestinian children on their way to school or beating Palestinian adults. Our prescence reduced the risk for Palestinians but by no means eliminated it.
The risk is catalogued by David Bloom writing for World War 4 Report:
On Sept. 29, masked men, clothed all in black, came down from the direction of the Jewish settlement colony Maon Farm, and attacked Kim Lamberty, 44, and Chris Brown, 36, both US citizens working with Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT). At the time of the attack, they were escorting Palestinian children to school on a path where the students often face stone-throwing and other attacks from the militant settlers of Maon. The five assailants were armed with chains and baseball bats. Brown sustained a facial laceration and a collapsed lung. The men bashed him with chains and kicked him with their boots. They threw Lamberty to the ground, breaking her knee and arm. The victims were on the ground 30 minutes before they were evacuated to the Soroka Medical Center in Beer Sheva, Israel. The children ran away during the assault.
