Hebron

Translator: Charles K.

Meitar crossing

At 06:40 there are no laborers on the Palestinian side of the crossing. Many are waiting for transportation on the Israeli side. It should be clear that Israel is also responsible for the Palestinian side because it’s in Area C according to the Oslo accords. The Israeli army is sovereign in this occupied territory.

Highway 60

An army jeep observes what’s happening at Samu’a. There’s almost no traffic on this road, but Big Brother is watching. The hill opposite Samu’a is covered with blossoming sea squills. Has autumn arrived?

Hebron

People are still praying in the synagogue as we drive past the illegal outpost below Giv’at Ha’Avot. Responsibility for both the Pharmacy checkpoint and the one at Curve 160 was transferred this week from the Border Police to the Naha”l brigade. Soldiers still sit on the roof of the house at the junction of the worshippers route.

A sewer pipe is being laid on the Tzion route. The workers are Palestinians; the funding comes from the Kiryat Arba local council. The Palestinians have permits to work in the settlements.

Today children pass through all the checkpoints on their way to school without having their satchels inspected. TIP police observe at all the checkpoints. One even speaks fluent Arabic and has friendly discussions with the children.

At the Tel Rumeida checkpoint the teachers are allowed to cross through the side entrance without going through the magnemometer. I hope that continues, because it always leads to an argument.

A little girl from the family living just past the checkpoint gets stuck in the revolving gate at the Pharmacy checkpoint; her weeping is heartrending. I run over and pick her up. The soldiers, who’d formerly asked me not to come near, don’t stop me; “heartbreaking,” one of them mutters. Her mother comes down; we see that the girl was only very frightened, but not hurt. The family gives me a cup of tea and the fear passes. An old man who wants to cross, bypassing the checkpoint without being inspected by the soldiers, has a short discussion with them. The soldiers don’t prevent me from standing beside him quietly. I recognize him from past visits; once again, the heart-wrenching tale of the four shops he once had next to the checkpoint, and today nothing remains. The pleasant TIP soldier continues to listen to him. Classes have already begun in the Al Ibrahimiyya school, even though the renovations haven’t been completed.

Peace activists also stand at all the checkpoints.

Highway 35

Muhammad, from the grocery in Idna, tells us that the soldiers come down from the pillbox every afternoon. He says, grinning, that it’s so they won’t fall asleep. He shows us where they leave the plastic barriers from the checkpoint near his shop. Muhammad is a member of the group of bereaved families; he asks whether I’ve seen Ruby Damalin’s film – After Peace… We were both moved.

Tarqumiyya

We get here at a quarter of nine in the morning. Tzion, the checkpoint manager, says that every day 4000 laborers come through here by 07:20, and by the time we arrived 250 vehicles had also been inspected.

When we arrive we’re asked where we came from. Kiryat Arba, we reply. They take our IDs and tell us to wait for the vehicle inspection. Five cars cross without being inspected while we wait. Why!? Because our driver is Arab, unlike those in the other cars, even though they all have Israeli IDs. Have we already mentioned racism? There are 15 cars in the vehicle inspection line with us, and 13 staff. The procedure is as follows: the driver and passengers take all their belongings to the scanner, put them through and move to the shed where they wait for the underside of the car to be inspected with a mirror and for the dog handlers. It can take up to an hour. Today one of the drivers is a young woman from Kafr Qassem who went to Hebron to return the wedding dress she had rented for her wedding. They’re waiting for her; she’s afraid to go through alone and doesn’t stop crying. Since I’m the only other woman there she was glad to receive my help; I intervened to ask that they inspect her more quickly. It turned out that the bottleneck was a shortage of dogs, who were tired from the morning’s inspections. Tzion, the checkpoint manager, approached me to again explain the reason. I wonder aloud: If the settlers were required to undergo that inspection every day, would the same thing happen? He admitted that he already knows all the drivers, and certainly know us, so why are things like this? The answer lies with the lord of injustice and the crossings unit.

But Justice Levy says there’s no occupation.

Translated by Naomi Gal

Metar

The first day of school West Bank

7:00 to 10:00

Many workers were crowded in the parking lot on the Israeli side. On the Palestinian side the last group of workers is in the sleeve. Among them are two Arab women – for the first time we saw women amongst the passers. One of the workers explained that the women trade in clothes. Two volunteers from the ecumenical church were counting the people passing. Turns out they arrive at 3 AM with the opening of the checkpoint to perform this sacred chore. The girl is the one who went on a tour with Michal and Hagit on August 27, and is still under the impact of what she saw.

Route 60

Children are back again on the side of the road, on their way to school.

Hebron

The tour was marked by the beginning of the school year. We visited all the schools in the area.

In the boy’s school the director – in his Sunday’s clothes - let us in so we could see the renovations made ​​during summer. Indeed, the paint is fresh, but renovations are still underway and the first floor is still a worksite. On the other hand in the entrance hall there is already a stage for converging.

We noted some expansion at Cordoba School - students are studying in the house that’s above the main building so that one could get there walking on the protected path.

We visited, without bathing; Abraham’s Spring and went back by Abed, who already opened his store. Maybe he opens earlier on account of the renovations.

Translator: Charles K.

07:15-12:45

We began our shift early in order to reach the Meitar crossing and insure that the residents of Susya and the surrounding area, who are coming to the checkpoint on their way to a day at the beach, will go through quickly and without delays.

They arrived organized and happy thanks to our dedicated members from Tel Aviv. And in fact, all those in charge at the checkpoint saw we’d arrived, heard explanations about the few people who had problems crossing, and ultimately all were permitted through. It was obvious that it was important for the crossing staff to treat everyone seriously and appropriately. We must thank Motti, the manager of the crossing, where the atmosphere is very humane even in his absence.

The EAPPI women who accompanied the residents also noted that their experience is that the staff at the Meitar crossing always behaves appropriately, unlike staff at other checkpoints.

Since there were more people than the bus driver was allowed to transport, we had to ask those two nice women to give up their places to Tel Aviv so that there would be room for everyone. Of course they fully understood and said goodbye to their disappointed comrades. As compensation we invited them to join our shift.

Anna and Liah were happy for the invitation; they’d only heard about Machsom Watch and wanted to see how we work.

At the Dura al-Fawwar junction we met a man who asked me to help him obtain a permit to work in Israel. He’s been blacklisted for ten years. His wife is Israeli and lives with their six children in Kseifa, but he’s not allowed to enter Israel and their situation is very difficult, in every sense, including a daughter who’d had open heart surgery in the Schneider Children’s Hospital. Sylvia helped me explain what could be done. He’ll provide all the relevant documents and we hope that, despite the apprehensions about family reunifications, the decision will be made on humanitarian grounds.

Hebron

Renovations seem to be underway all over town. Abed’s shop, opposite the Cave of the Patriarchs, is also receiving an impressive facelift, with Saudi financing.

The al-Ibrahimiyya school for boys is undergoing a major renovation for the start of the school year; we don’t know who’s paying for it. Houses near the Cave of the Patriarchs are also being renovated. “But the more they were oppressed…” [Exodus 1:12] – expressions of tsumud [steadfastness].

All this in the shadow of an additional guard post and soldier stationed on the worshippers route to the Cave of the Patriarchs.

On the roof of a house overlooking the route they’re still implementing the “grass widow” procedure. There don’t seem to be any soldiers at Beit HaMachpelah, but the settler women watch it from the protest canopy they erected across the street. We hope that’s not a foretaste of another attempt to take it over.

Tarpa”t checkpoint – Turmoil. An Italian member of one of the organizations told the soldiers what he thought of the harsh sight of armed soldiers facing children. He said that the soldiers got angry, and when he wanted to cross to Area H1 they asked for his passport. When he refused they took it by force. When we arrived he’d been detained; his companion kept photographing. The soldiers summoned their commander and told him the Italian had called them by derogatory names, and behaved in a manner that compelled them to take away his passport by force.

The officer called the police to investigate the tourist’s behavior.

More and more photographers began arriving; you could feel the tension and fear in the air, upsetting everyone. We could only hope they’d behave intelligently and end the incident without a riot, arrests, etc.

Happily, that’s what happened. The police officers spoke with the Italian, asked again and again what happened, another slight delay to return the passport, and the members of the organization, which is unfamiliar to us, crossed to the Palestinian side of the city.

The officer told us that the most important thing for him is to protect his soldiers from anyone making it hard for them.

At this point we parted from our guests, who returned from Hebron to Yatta where they live.

Machsom Watch – Monday August 27^th, 2012

by L Levane; pictures by A Cilliers - Ecumenical Accompaniers with EAPPI

Today Machsom Watch (MW) had arranged for 55 (56) villagers from Susiya village to have day permits and visit the sea. Hagit, Michal and Mohammed were there to help ensure that the crossing went as smoothly as possible and the good relations that MW had built upwith the Manager at Meitar CP over the years obviously helped. Crossing Meitar Checkpoint was generally trouble free, and after some discussion even the one woman who had forgotten her ID was allowed through with her permit. The permits enable them to stay in Israel until 7 p.m.

The villagers had invited us Anna Cilliers (from South Africa) and Leah Levane (from the UK) to join them. We are participating in the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI – a programme of the World Council of Churches). We regularly monitor Meitar CP and so are probably also known by the CP staff.

However, once through Meitar Checkpoint, it was clear that there were two (three) too many people for the coach licence and so we willingly got off when told that this was necessary by Hagit. We found it most heartwarming that so many of the villagers were disappointed that we could not come with them but we firmly and swiftly resisted Abed’s offer to go back and find another way to get to Tel Aviv with them. We waved them off and gladly took up the generous offer to spend the morning with Hagit, Michal and Mohammed.

The ease with which we can get to the sea compared with Palestinians is one more stark reminder of the injustices of the Occupation. Perhaps not so serious as the poverty, army incursions, settler attacks and more, but nonethless pernicious in relegating people to second, if not third, class status and designated a permanent role as potential terrorists.

(As usual, in coming back into the West Bank, despite being in a vehicle for the first time, we were waved through without passport or baggage checks. Are there not security risks for Palestinians or for the 350,000 Israeli citizens (the Settlers) who live there?)

The morning was fascinating and we were honoured to hear Hagit and Michal’s views on the situation, saddened by their pessimism and sympathetic to their tiredness. So for us quite a contrast from the beach but very interesting and, of course, harder for us to arrange than a day at the beach! (Sadly our lack of Hebrew and extfremely limited Arabic meant we could not share Mohamed’s perspective).

We went first to Dura where Michal talked to a man who has a Bedouin Israeli wife and 6 children but cannot get permission to travel to Israel, let alone liveand work there, which is what he wants. We are not sure what they can do to help, but it is clear that they will try and we hope that he will be at least comforted by the knowledge that there are some Israelis on his side and that also he will be less likely to hate Israelis.

As we travelled, we discussed the dilemmas of participating in an organisation to oppose the Occupation (both MW and EAPPI) and yet could be seen to be making the Occupation more palatable. Hagit told us about a Palestinian woman who considered MW worse than the right wing as their interventions could be disguising the worst brutality of the Occupation. She also told us about other Palestinians who were very happy to be with them.

We then drove on to Qiryat Arba (QA) (which we had not been able to visit before) and Hagit showed us the garden and grave that had been laid out in honour of Baruch Goldstein, a Israeli physician and terrostist, who murdered 29 Palestinian Muslims at prayer in the Ibrahimi Mosque. The plaque at his grave reads: "To the holy Baruch Goldstein, who gave his life for the Jewish people, the Torah and the nation of Israel”. It mentioned that he was murdered, and that he was a man with clean hands and a clean heart. The garden also has a monument to Meir Kahane,an American-Dutch Israeli Rabbi and ultra nationalist. He founded the Jewish Defence League and Kach Party, a hardline Israeli militant group advocationg for all Arabs to be expelled from the Biblical Lands of Israel. This really helped to highlight what we are up against in terms of these Settlers views.

The slight good point is that while the residents of QA hold Purim and other parties in the garden, there was lots of broken glass there and so it may not be that all hold the space as one to be revered. (perhaps this is clutching at straws, however.)

From there we went into H2 and visited Abed’s shop (which we had been to before, with the same warm welcome). We walked there through more of the old city and Michal and Hagit were able to tell us more about the area being emptied of Palestinians, other than the poorest of the poor who cannot afford to go. At the Pharmacy CP, Michal talked about David and Goliath, saying that Israel is now Goliath and needs to remember who won that battle. She said that nowhere in the world do these situations go on forever. Leah said that one of the problems is that Israel still tries to portray itself as the David, as the victim.

Hagit and Michal pointed out the loud music as we came closer to Abed’s shop and we noticed, as we had on previous visits, the soldiers, and the closed shops, the pilgrims and the checkpoints. We spoke to some Italian pilgrims and they concurred that while fascinating, they were aware that life for Palestinians was not good. A few of them bought things from Abed’s shop, which we pointed out to them.

Mohammed kindly dropped us at the other end of Shuhada Street from which it was a short walk to the Checkpoint (Jewish Access denied) and our Service to Yatta.

It is noteworthy that the sign saying ’Jewish Access denied’ for the other side of the CP into H1, did not say ’ by order of the Israeli Military, and so people are left with the idea that it is the PA that does not want Jews on its territory. One of us (Leah) is a Jewish EA, but, of course, we had no problems anyway, indeed, no one even stopped us to look at our passports or check our bags.

While hardly a day at the beach, it was a fascinating day and an privilege to spend the day.

Disclaimer: The views contained in this report are that of L Levane and A Cilliers and do not necessarily reflect those of EAPPI or Machsom Watch. If you would like to publish the information contained here, or place it on a website, please first contact the EAPPI Communications & Advocacy Officer (eappi-co@jrol.com) or Machsom Watch machsomwatch@gmail.com for permission. Thank you

9:00 Meitar crossing was empty, all the workers have arrived at their destinations.

Road 60 was also empty.

Hebron was quiet, with a few children going to bring soup from the mosque and from some reason returning with empty pails. There is an outdoor market in the street above the Muslim cemetery. It gave the impression of being crowded with people and honking vehicles. We climbed the path to Tel Rumeida following the trail markers put there by the settlers to show the path to biblical Hebron. The settlers were uninterested in our presence. On the fence of the Cordoba

Girls' School there is a graffitti in Hebrew written over a delicate painting, which was erased, but the painting is still damaged. On our return, we stopped for coffee at Abed’s and met Avner from Breaking the Silence who is leading a group on a tour of Hebron along a-Shuhada Street. At Abed’s shop, the renovations are proceeding with the Gulf States providing the funding for the renovations, not only for Abed, but for other projects in Hebron. We were impressed.

On our return via the settlements of Carmel and Maon, everything was quiet with few cars on the road.

...Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world..

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and every where

The ceremony of innocence is drowned.

The best lack all conviction while the worst are full of passionate intensity...

From Second Coming  W B Yeats

)

Translator:  Charles K.

08:45-11:00

Meitar-Sansana crossing

The crossing is empty and clean.  One bus with relatives of prisoners waits on the Palestinian side, an indication that the convoy already drove away.  IDF Hummers wait at the entrances to the dirt roads branching off Highway 60.  They don’t appear to be detaining cars or people on foot.

Hebron

Quiet; appears empty.  Only the children carrying containers for soup form merry lines on their way to the mosque to bring food home.

We saw a foot patrol of TIP observers and another of Naha”l soldiers.

We came down from Tel Rumeida via the blue trail marked by the settlers and reached “Abraham’s Well,” as they call it.  The gate was open; we descended the steps to the water.  It appears there had been an ancient structure there, surmounted by an arch, with steps leading down below the water’s surface.  Perhaps a miqveh??

We didn’t get any feeling of sanctity, but the water is clear and cold.

We returned via Zif junction, Ma’on and Carmel – all quiet and desolate, only sheep grazing by the roadside.

Translator:  Charles K.

11:30-14:30

Ramadan and August don’t go well together at all…It’s hard to see holiday joy – everyone’s faint from the heat.

Southern Hebron Hills

Today we saw the occupation routine, nothing unusual, nothing happened, other than an IDF jeep we saw coming out of Area A near Dahariyya – isn’t it violating the prohibition on Israelis to enter this area, as stated on the red signs?!  Are they allowed to do whatever they wish?  And what are they looking for in Dahariyya?

I heard the usual complaint – justified, of course, though we’re not able to help – about an application for an entry permit to Israel that was denied, this time from a produce merchant.

A sign in the Southern Hebron Hills warning about a firing range – but only in English and Hebrew!  The only people living in the area are Palestinians who speak Arabic, but there’s no text in Arabic.

Hebron

A new guard post has been built for the soldiers on the roof of Beit HaMeriva.

The police abandoned their post at the other building (Beit HaMachpela) that the settlers declared they owned.

A soldier and policeman “taking it easy” on duty in Shuhada Street.

Sansana-Meitar crossing

On our way back we saw laborers starting to come home through the Meitar checkpoint, leaving work early because of Ramadan.  Those on foot who want to enter Israel come through the vehicle checkpoint.

Translating: Naomi Gal

Hebron

Ramadan. We left at nine o’clock. The settlers’ youth are on a break, as well, and they amuse themselves riding around on wagons bridled to donkeys, and as noted by our driver M., the writings on the wagons are in Arabic. M. also showed us the checkpoint behind “Biet Hameriva” (The Contention House), which has become a fortified zone, with a soldier on the building’s roof, surrounded by barbed wire and concrete barricades. A family arrived by car to the checkpoint. A child stepped down with a green ID in his hand and headed to the building. The soldier descended from the roof, checked, and opened the barrier.

This is what we saw.

Translator:  Charles K.

09:00 – 12:00

Meitar crossing

It’s quiet and empty.  Those two words characterize the entire day.

One bus for relatives of prisoners is parked there.

Southern Hebron Hills, Highway 60

We drove on Highway 317.  We wanted to see the illegal outpost, Mitzpeh Asha’el – nothing seemed to have changed.

A new neighborhood under construction in Susya.  There’s momentum, development, in contrast to what is being done to the nearby Palestinians.  The difference cries out to the heavens.

The road is almost empty.  Ramadan can be felt everywhere.

Bani Na’im – We drove in to see whether last week’s operation to remove the water lines is continuing.  It’s quiet, nothing unusual occurring.

Hebron

Quiet.  Many shops (of those few normally open) are closed today.

A large civilian vehicle is parked on the section of the Worshippers’ route leading down to the Cave of the Patriarchs.  People emerge and, guarded by IDF soldiers, look at the abandoned buildings.  We also stop, try to figure out who they are.  We can only guess.

In the winding alley, where only Palestinians live (as of now), about 100 meters from the Jewish side of the Cave of the Patriarchs, two settler children, aged 9-12, sit doing nothing.

Their presence there is strange.  We inform the Border Police soldiers in the booth at the entrance and they, given their response (they describe exactly what the children look like), know whom we’re talking about.  Although the soldiers can’t see them from where they’re located, they respond matter-of-factly and promise to investigate and report to the appropriate party.  It seems the children are familiar brats.

The Cave of the Patriarchs area is quiet.  A group of Japanese tourists walk with a guide.  A squad of soldiers rests on the lawn.

The settlers’ protest site opposite Beit HaMachpela is deserted.

The checkpoints are quiet.  Another army patrol winds along Shuhada Street.

Tarpa”t checkpoint

A soldier rummages through a woman’s handbag.

Up the road to Tel Rumeida, and at the turn to the “Tarpa”t Martyrs” cemetery, are more soldiers than usual.  The mystery is solved when we’re stopped and asked not to go through.

“Why?!” we ask.

“There’s a tour,” they reply.

“Of whom?”

No response.

We wait.  Suddenly a caravan passes, eight buses loaded with yeshiva students.  “Summer Camp” says the sign on the bus.

Those “dying under the Torah’s burden” have arrived to spend time in the holy city of Hebron, well protected by jeeps in front and in the rear, and soldiers who block all the roads.

And all done quietly.

We left Beer Sheva at 9.30. The Meitar terminal was empty. Route 60 was relatively lively. It seems that driving is one way to pass the long hours of the fast for the Palestinians, but as for our friends the Israelis, goodness knows what their goal is as they whizz past us on the no-passing lines at top speed.  We didn’t encounter any soldiers or army vehicles on the way to Hebron. Hebron itself is also quiet. Near Jewish Tel-Romeida, alongside the graffiti wall, a soldier tries to stop a small boy with a spade.  The child evades him and goes home through a slit in the graffiti barricade. Here he indulges in an act of terror on an unsuspecting shrub that has squatted illegally over a window.  The soldier grumbles 'don't want him wandering round with that thing (the spade)’ and returns to his watchtower with suspicion written all over him.  All the other checkpoints (Tarpat, 160 etc) are quiet.  A TIPH car stopped and the commander of TIPH told us Hebron had been quiet for the last couple of weeks, mostly likely because of Ramadan. A large sign posted by the Efrat organization that objects to abortions informs us that the birth rate is the answer to survival or some such.  We return via Route 317 which is also livelier than its usual total desolation. At the crossroads between Routes 317/60 a large sign demands 'Israeli sovereignty over all Judea and Samaria.'  Quite superfluous for, as Natan Alterman said in 1967: 'The thing about this victory is the fact that it erases the difference between the State of Israel and Eretz Israel.  The traveler in the hills of South Hebron will surely concur. 

...Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world..

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and every where

The ceremony of innocence is drowned.

The best lack all conviction while the worst are full of passionate intensity...

From Second Coming  W B Yeats