Pro-Palestinian Activists Beaten with Baseball Bats by Pro-Israel

Chris Brown, an Oakland activist who was active in the anti-Apartheid movement
against south Africa, was bludgeoned early this morning by Israeli settlers wielding
baseball bats and chains.

Brown had been escorting Palestinian children to school in the West Bank town of
Hebron, to protect them from attacks by Israelis. With Brown and also brutally
attacked was Kim Lamberty, of Washington DC.

Brown sustained broken ribs, one of which punctured his lung. He has undergone a
surgical procedure to fix his collapsed lung. Brown also suffered a contusion on
his head at his temple, but does not appear to have any brain injury. He will be
recovering in the hospital for an unspecified amount of time.

Lamberty suffered a broken arm and knee. She has now been released from the hospital
and is recovering in Jerusalem.

In a phone interview Liberty said: "We were attacked by settler men who came from
the Ma'on outpost. They were dressed in black with black scarves across their faces.
They threw us down to the ground and kicked us. Chris was also beaten with chains
and a bat."

The Israeli settlers stole Lamberty's money, passport and cell phone.

Israeli settlers frequently attack the nonviolent Christian Peacemaker members,
throwing them to the ground, kicking them, cursing them, using obscenities against
their religion etc., while Israeli soldiers look on. This incident, however, is the
most brutal to date.

Laberty and Brown are with the Christian Peacemaker Teams.Christian Peacemaker
members plan to accompany Palestinian school children again tomorrow. The children
who, witnessed this incident, are terrified about returning to school. The Americans
planning to accompany them are terrified, as well.



Christian Peacemaker teams are present in the area of the attack at the request of
Palestinians, who are the target of repeated harassment from Israeli settlers while
Israeli authorities have failed to intervene.



So far, AP has refused to cover this incident.

Christian Peacemaker Teams places small ecumenical teams trained in nonviolent
intervention in war zones, for violence reduction.

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Christian Peacemaker Teams is an ecumenical initiative to support violence reduction
efforts around the world. To learn more about CPT's peacemaking work, please visit
our website at: http://www.cpt.org. Photos of our projects may be viewed at:
http://www.cpt.org/gallery


Alison Weir
Executive Director
If Americans Knew
http://www.ifamericansknew.org