REFLECTIONAt-Tuwani: Clearing the LandBy Jan Benvie18 December 2007 c/o CPT December 20 2007

REFLECTIONAt-Tuwani: Clearing the LandBy Jan Benvie18 December 2007 The landscapes of the Southern Hebron Hills remind me of my own Scottish Highlands. They both share the same poignant, barren beauty. Here the ragged, rocky hillsides are more sparsely covered, but both landscapes are littered with the sad ruins of forsaken homes and villages. . The Scottish ruins date from a shameful period of history (over 200 years ago) known as the ‘Highland Clearances’. In the civil wars of 1715 and 1745 the Highlanders supported the defeated Jacobites (those who wanted James Stewart as King) and the victorious government wanted to get rid of these rebellious citizens. Some land was sold in shady deals, some was taken by the government and given to their supporters. Few Highlanders had legal papers proving land ownership, so it was easy for the victors to steal the land ‘legally’. The new ‘owners’ forcibly evicted between 150 and 250 thousand people. Many Highlanders, deprived of their homes and livelihoods, lived and died in broken-hearted poverty in far away towns and foreign lands. The ‘Palestinian Clearances’, here in the West Bank, began when Israel occupied the land during the 1967 war. Many Palestinians, like the Scottish Highlanders, have no papers proving land ownership. Some ownership papers are in the name of great-great grandfathers, and the Israeli courts do not accept their legality. The Israeli government has simply taken Palestinian land for Israeli settlements and roads. As in the Highlands, the ‘victors’ have used pseudo legal means to steal land. An ancient law from the period of Ottoman rule (1516-1918), allows the state to claim ownership of land that is uncultivated for 3 years or more. Israel uses military and other means, including the separation barrier, to block Palestinians from their land. The land then ‘legally’ becomes state land, housing is built and the new ‘owners’ (Israeli settlers) harass any neighbouring Palestinians, forcing more to leave. Settler violence forced villagers from nearby Saroura, Humra and Khoruba (the ruins I pass every day) to abandon their homes in 1997. Israeli governments also use the guise of security to evict Palestinians from their land. Many Israeli settlements, illegal under international law, began as trailers/caravans in military bases. The Israeli government has declared most of the Jordan valley (Palestinian land West of the River Jordan) a closed military area, evicting the Palestinian residents. In the 1970s the Israeli military requested an area, from south of At-Tuwani to the Green Line (the armistice line of 1949), as a military firing zone. They evicted villagers and demolished homes. The Israeli Supreme Court issued a temporary ruling that the families could return, but those who returned live in constant fear of eviction. The Highland Clearances are a historical fact. Attempts at land reform in the Highlands have returned some land to the few remaining communities, but such reforms cannot undo the pain and suffering inflicted 200 years ago. The Palestinian clearances are current and ongoing. We can, and must, work to undo the injustice that is happening in Palestine now. For photos of ruined homes & villages in the Southern Hebron Hills go to: http://tinyurl.com/2cmrmo Christian Peacemaker Teams is an ecumenical initiative to support violence reduction efforts around the world. To learn more about CPT's peacemaking work, visit our website www.cpt.org Photos of our projects are at www.cpt.org/gallery A map of the center of Hebron is at http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/fullMaps_Sa.nsf/0/5618737E38C0B3DE8525708C004BA584/$File/ocha_OTS_hebron_oPt010805.pdf?OpenElement The same map is the last page of this report on closures in Hebron: www.humanitarianinfo.org/opt/docs/UN/OCHA/ochaHU0705_En.pdf __._,_.___