Mennonite Weekly Review

SOUTH HEBRON HILLS, West Bank — Two Christian Peacemaker Teams members were beaten and robbed by five Israeli settlers Nov. 17 while accompanying a Palestinian family.

The two young parents and their three small children were returning from the nearby city of Yatta to their home village of Tuba. CPT members Laura Ciaghi and Sarah MacDonald accompanied them.

As the group crossed Mashakha Hill, they saw four settler men on a ridge 165 feet above them. The settlers ran toward the Palestinians and began to circle them. A fifth settler, masked and hooded, appeared from the valley below. When the Palestinian man told them he was only trying to walk home, a settler shoved him.

As the CPT members attempted to step between the Palestinians and settlers, the settlers pushed them to the ground, hit and kicked them, and stole their two video cameras.

The settlers then walked to the illegal settlement outpost of Havat Ma’on (Hill 833), where they disappeared among the trees 20 minutes later. The Palestinian family arrived home safely.

Ciaghi required stitches, and went to a Palestinian hospital, according to Israeli news source Ynetnews. She and MacDonald gave testimonies to the Judea and Samaria Police, who were reportedly looking for suspects.

“We walk with Palestinian families, get involved in certain incidents, and try to prevent violence,” MacDonald, a member of First Mennonite Church of Iowa City, Iowa, told Ynetnews. “In addition, we document the events. This is why we had cameras.”

For decades, residents of Tuba Village had a direct road to the village of At-Tuwani, and onward to the regional economic hub of Yatta. The Israeli settlement of Ma’on and its neighboring outpost of Havat Ma’on were built directly on that road, blocking all Palestinian traffic and forcing villagers onto dirt paths through the hills, taking them as much as two hours out of their way.