Tuba

The hens which peck around on the courtyard and near where the donkeys are tethered have been fed and watered. The pigeons have been let out. The sheep are demanding breakfast.

I'm sitting just above the cave which is the living quarters and looking across the valley at the vast industrial farms of the illegal settlements. [photo]

Yesterday the soldiers and some blokes dressed as soldiers came to the village. They ransacked a neighboring farm and held us at gunpoint while their pals reinstalled the israeli flag that someone had torn down. They put up a second one too.

While preventing us from checking up on the kids and their mothers who were crouching on the ground as the soldiers threatened them, these Israeli militia men on Palestinian land were at great pains to explain that this is a country of law and order.

They also explained to us that all Palestinian are. Hamas, especially these toddlers and their mothers. We also learned that Muslims are evil and that Palestine doesn't exist.

In the night we were woken a couple of times and the electricity cut out. Marauding settlers drove by. We heard that a neighboring hamlet had been raided and burned.

That's Israeli law and order for you.