Anything is possible

Well there have been quite a few changes in the village of At-Tuwani since the last time I was here in the summer of 2007 (and most everyone remembers me and when I was here last!).  Children have grown, new babies have been born, and land that was not accessed for a while because of settler attacks is now being used.

For me however the most striking change is the new construction in the village, and since I came back, on the surrounding land owned by the villagers.  

The planning system in the West Bank, implemented by the Israeli Civil Administration, is one of the cogs in the wheel of the Israeli occupation.  As with the other bureaucratic systems, the planning system operates on two distinct tracks: one for Jews living in Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the other for Palestinians.

In 2008, the Office of the Quartet (EU, US, UN and Russia) Representative declared that 14 master plans will be granted for 14 Palestinian villages.  At-Tuwani is one of these villages.  The Office of the Quartet Representative claims that the approval of these master plans will facilitate in the developing, building and upgrading of schools, clinics, and other facilities within these villages.  

The area covered by the master plan for At-Tuwani does not include the entire village however, and construction in the area outside of the master plan is considered illegal and faces the continued threat of demolition.  The village's new cistern is outside of the planning area, as is the new mosque, and the mayor's new house (previous house demolished in 2003).  As well, there are restrictions on building only one structure in the village plot owned by each family in the master plan area.

However since the release of the master plan for At-Tuwani at least 10 houses/structures have been built or existing houses have been added on to, which means that expanding extended families can have smaller sub-families move out into a new house.  And families from Yatta that want to move back to Tuwani can.

All the main roads in Tuwani are paved now and 4 new rooms are being added to the school which will be able to accommodate students up to grade 10 beginning this fall (before students had to go to a larger town after finishing grade 6).  This is especially important for girls in the area as many of them are not able to go to school past grade 6 because of the need to go to another town, and families don't have the money to send them.  

Another new project for the village is that they received permission from the Palestinian Authority to build the infrastructure to bring electricity down from Yatta.  Although the Israeli military stopped the villagers from putting up the electricity pylons in the last month, the villagers have resumed putting them up.  

All of this brings new life and hope to the village.  Perhaps this picture of boys from the village performing the dabka, a traditional dance, during the 2 week long summer camp depicts the energy in the village (despite the heat!)

And they continue to resist the Israeli occupation and harassment by settlers and the army by using creative nonviolent tactics.  The day I arrived in the village we were asked to go to the top of a hill near the village to accompany someone building something up there on land they own.  We were a bit confused at first, but of course went up there.  And the next day again we were asked to go up to the area and when a truck arrived in the late afternoon and delivered a load of cement blocks we started to understand more clearly.  The following day the villagers began construction in earnest on 6 new houses, and when the Israeli Civil Administration officer came by to tell the families to stop building as they didn't have construction permits, more people came out from the village to speed up the construction.  Depsite one house being destroyed in the night (see CPT release) the families will continue to work on these houses.

Driving back to the village from the construction site of one of the new houses with the family building it, I asked....so when do you think that this road from At-Tuwani to Jinba (another small village further south right next to the Green Line) will be paved?  And the answer was “we hope some day.  We talked for many years of having the roads in At-Tuwani paved, and look they are, so anything is possible.”

Information on the Master plan available from ARIJ   – The Israeli policies in area (C): Silent Transfer of the Palestinian Population 12 Oct 2008