Source: Haaretz, 01-12-2007
West Bank Zionist settlers threw stones at a Palestinian boy and stole his donkey in the village of Tuba on Saturday, according to Palestinian reports.
The incident reportedly occurred after some 150 left-wing activists marched in protest against the long route Palestinian children are forced to take to get to school from their South Hebron (al-Khalil) Hills village.
Children from Tuba go to school in Twane, a nearby village, via a lengthy and indirect path, in order to avoid harrassment from residents of the Havot Ma`on settlement.
The Ta`ayush Arab-Jewish Partnership activists, upon receiving word of the settler aggression, marched to Havot to retrieve the donkey, but were stopped at the settlement entrance by police.
During the march earlier in the day, the activists initially arrived at an area blocked by police and "Israel" Military Forces, who told them they could not travel from Twane to Tuba.
As the security forces did not present the marchers with an order declaring the area a closed military zone, the activists continued along the path, evading the police and "Israeli" Military troops who attempted to stop them.
Left-wing "Jews" often travel to the West Bank to act as a shield for Palestinian farmers whose work in the fields is often disrupted by Zionist settlers.
Saturday`s march was also in protest of reduced Palestinian agriculture in the area, resulting from a land dispute with Havot Ma`on and from settler harassment.
A Ta`ayush activist said: "We`ve come to express solidarity with the residents of Tuba, and to enable them to carry out agricultural activity in the area."