CPT members beaten in Hebron

Catholic New Times, Oct 24, 2004

AL-TUWANI, ISRAEL -- On Sept. 29, two members of CPT--Chris Brown, from San Francisco) and Kim Lamberty from Washington, DC--were walking a group of children from their homes in Tuba to their school in al-Tuwani, a function that CPT'ers perform regularly for the children in Hebron, and have now extended to outlying areas.

At 7:15 a.m., five men suddenly lunged at the two from the side of the road where they had been hiding, awaiting their approach. The men, wearing black scarves wrapped around their heads so that only their eyes were visible, assaulted the CPT volunteers with baseball bats and chains. Kim fell and stayed down. Chris remained standing for a while before falling, and continued to receive kicks and blows from the settlers. The five attackers spoke English to each other while unleashing their blows, and then ran away. The children had run off at the beginning.

Chris and Kim remained conscious and used a cell phone to call their team, who reached them at 7:30 a.m. Their teammates called the Israeli military in the area, who took half an hour to arrive (a trip that should have been much faster), and the two were evacuated to the hospital in Beersheba, where they remain hospitalized. Kim has a broken arm and severe contusions of her right leg, leaving her unable to walk for a while. She may need surgery on the arm. Chris has a punctured lung, and a chest tube has been inserted. He also had severe blows to his head, but it is hoped, no further damage.

CPT immediately sent a replacement team to the area, to ensure that the children will have someone to walk them to school again immediately if the children are brave enough to go. They are also working closely with Ta'ayush, an Israeli peace organization active in this area, to see how the local people can be protected from the nearby settlers.

If you want to express solidarity with the CPT members in Hebron, write cptheb@palnet.com