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Four months ago we shared with our readers the news of
the kidnapping of four members of the Christian Peacemaker Team, which has
shared with us its witness of what is really happening in Palestine and
Iraq. Since then we have heard that Tom Fox was killed by his captors but
that British Professor Norman Kember and Canadians James Loney and Harmeet
Singh Sooden were found uninjured and apparently abandoned by their captors
in a rescue that involved no conflict or injuries.
Norman himself, speaking within hours of his release, puts the whole issue
into its clearest and coolest perspective. "There's a real sense in which
you are interviewing the wrong person. It's the ordinary people of Iraq that
you should be talking to. Those are the people who have suffered so much
over so many years and still await the stable and just society that they
deserve", he told reporters. He also asked them not to forget the
relatives of British soldiers killed or wounded in Iraq. "I do not
believe that lasting peace is achieved through armed force, but I pay
tribute to their courage and thank those who played a part in my release."
We remain very grateful to Norman and other members of the Christian
Peacemaker Teams, especially Maureen Jack, who has provided witness of the
suffering of Palestinian families as well as sending us Amir's remarkable
story of detention in US hands in Iraq, published in our April edition last
year. She too risks her life in order to let people in Britain, including
our readers, know what is really happening in these areas of conflict.
The following report from Hebron is typical of her cool, restrained witness:
The struggle to eke out a living
"Tuwani is a hamlet of 150 people in the hills south of
Hebron. Christian Peacemaker Teams has had a team there for eighteen months.
We were invited there because the local Palestinians have been hassled by
Israeli settlers from the illegal settlement outpost on Hill 833. In
particular, settlers were shouting at and assaulting young children from the
neighbouring hamlet of Tuba as they walked to school in Tuwani.
The people here are essentially subsistence farmers who struggle to eke out
a living. Twenty odd years ago the settlement of Ma’on was built on some of
the Tuwani villagers’ land and then the outpost was built four years ago,
taking more land (all without compensation.) In addition, the Israeli
military prevent the Palestinians from using the parts of their land closest
to the settlement and outpost. These losses of land have made the villagers’
lives harder.
Last year there were three incidents in which poisoned barley was scattered
over Tuwani grazing land. Over a hundred sheep and goats died and the
villagers had to throw away their milk. So for months there was no milk or
cheese in the village. There is no piped water in Tuwani and so we all rely
on the well. When it is not replenished, the water becomes less safe to
drink. There will be no more rain for months.
The villagers hope that an NGO will bring in tankloads of water. But that
will require the cooperation of the Israeli authorities to allow the
vehicles into the village.
Through these difficult days the villagers’ generosity is undimmed. As we
accompanied a couple of shepherds today they pressed us to share their
lunch. So we sat in the sun, quietly chatting and eating."
She records the comments of extremist Israeli settlers in Hebron.
"One shouted, ‘You should go to Iraq. They know what to do with people
like you there.’ Another called a colleague, ‘Tom Fox.’ Though it was meant
as an insult, Dave quietly said to me later how honoured he was to have been
called by Tom’s name.
It’s the hatred I find hardest here. But it’s the warmth and love that keep
me coming back."
To visit the cpt website click
www.cpt.org.com
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