al-Tuwani

Al-Tuwani children's struggle to go to school


On the afternoon of 7 February 2011, masked Israeli settlers from Havat Maon outpost chased a group of twelve Palestinian schoolchildren who were walking home from school in al-Tuwani village in the occupied West Bank’s South Hebron Hills. The Israeli military had failed to arrive to escort the schoolchildren, forcing the children to take a longer path without the army’s escort. 

"At least there's food in prison!"


“This morning,” my neighbor Mona explained to me, “I told my husband that since the kids are out of school and he didn’t need to go into town, I would cook something special and we would have a party.” Mona has a wry sense of humor and I started to wonder what the punch line would be. Joy Ellison writes from al-Tuwani, occupied West Bank. 

Villages challenge occupation on human rights day


As tortuous as the occupation is for the people of al-Tuwani, on 10 December — International Human Rights Day — they decided to offer support to other Palestinians by highlighting the discrimination faced by schoolchildren from the neighboring villages. The focus of Human Rights Day 2009 was on non-discrimination, a topic that is particularly appropriate in occupied Palestine where Palestinians face daily discrimination by Israel. Jo Ehrlich writes for The Electronic Intifada. 

Prison walls


“Nasser says hello,” the woman said as she stood in my doorway and smiled. I was barely able to choke out, “Say hello to him too.” Nasser, the woman’s husband, was in prison. He was arrested on 20 July during a peaceful demonstration in his West Bank village of al-Tuwani. He did nothing wrong, nothing but build a house on land he owns. A Palestinian need do nothing more to be treated like a criminal. Joy Ellison writes from al-Tuwani, occupied West Bank. 

Dreaming of paradise


“I had a dream last night,” Sami (not his real name) told my teammates and me while we sat munching sliced tomatoes and olives one hot afternoon. Sami told us that in his dream he had climbed to the top of one of the pine trees at the edge of Havot Ma’on, an illegal Israeli settlement outpost. Below him, Sami could see Israeli settlers stealing the fodder that he uses to feed his sheep. Joy Ellison writes from the occupied West Bank. 

"When I'm big will I go to jail like Daddy?"


“Momma, when I’m big will I go to jail like Daddy?” That was little Adam’s question for his mother when I came to visit their house, just before leaving the village of al-Tuwani for a brief trip home to the United States. Adam is three years old. His mother tells me that he wants his father to come home from jail and bring him ice cream. “Adam is upset,” she says.