Huwwara

We took Highway 5 toward Za’tara; the traffic police were active along the road. There were dogs again in the Za’tara parking lot, but we didn’t see them inspecting any cars. The checkpoint was empty; no cars were being inspected.

The Huwwara checkpoint was open. A Hummer was parked at the Yizhar junction and there was considerable military vehicle traffic on the main road.

The villages were very quiet; people must have been asleep after eating breakfast at 4 AM. The women waited for us at the club in Hars; we held English and knitting classes. Next week only the high school students and the women learning knitting will come; the older women told us it’s difficult for them to attend.

06:20  'Azzun 'Atma.  About 100 people are in line; many are already sitting outside.  Crossing goes quickly;  two booths for document inspection and another outside to inspect belongings.  We timed how long it took someone who arrived when we did to go through – 40 minutes.  That’s not fast, but in terms of this checkpoint it’s not bad.  When we left before 07:00 only 30 people were in line.  There may be less congestion because many now go through the Tamar gate that’s open for half an hour from 06:15 to 06:45.  About 20 people sit waiting at the entrance to the checkpoint; they’d been sent back into Palestine.  We were told they were in Israel illegally, having crossed through a hole in the fence without a permit or had been caught in Israel; we couldn’t find out more.

The young twelve-year-old coffee seller sells coffee in small cups (the size of little plastic wine cups) to people who’ve crossed.  His younger brother, who’s 8, helps.  They’re very cute; the “elder” speaks very good Hebrew – it’s really amazing.

06:35  The line is much shorter already; in the past it hadn’t gotten shorter until 07:00.  It doesn’t seem that fewer people are coming; maybe there’s less pressure because some cross through the Tamar gate?

Part of the line passes between two fences (before going through the revolving gate); it’s always congested there, while outside the fences the line is very narrow.  The fence is torn in many places and looks like it’s about to collapse>  It leans outward; we hope it doesn’t fall on a passerby.

07:10  Habla.  The gates are open but only now does the first group enter for inspection.  In other words, the gate opened late – the soldiers arrived at 07:00, but the gate was to have opened at 07:00.

The first group comes through and a man chats with an MP – he says the soldier is good, he’s our friend.  Later we heard the opposite in the plant nursery; the worker there had many complaints about that soldier – as usual, it depends whom you ask, and there are always two sides.  About 40 people in line; more continue to arrive.  There’s a great deal of garbage around the shipping container on our side that provides shade – who’s responsible for cleaning up here?  Apparently no one.  It’s interesting that for years there wasn’t refuse here, and now the place has suddenly become a garbage can.  The shepherd arrives with his flock and runs them through to the Israeli side – very pastoral:  the flock, but not the crossing.

08:10 

Eliyahu crossing.  The gardeners work energetically, the location fills with annuals requiring a great deal of water, and they’ve already planted cedars – which, as you know, grow very slowly, but we’re here for good.  About 5 people on the pedestrian lane, and cars being inspected, as usual.

08:35  Jit/Sara junction.  No soldiers

Graffiti at the entrance to Yitzhar:  “Death to Arabs.”

08:40  Huwwara.  The crossing is open; no soldiers on the road except for the one always stationed at the road up to Har Beracha.

On the way back, there’s a military car at the junction where you drive up to Burin.  We drove in to see why; the soldiers were erecting a flying checkpoint on the way into Burin.

09:10  Za’tara/Tapuach junction.  Traffic going up is slow.  When we arrive a soldier emerges from his post on the road and walks to the junction/plaza.  Traffic at the junction seems to be slow because there’s heavy traffic coming from all directions.  It clears a few minutes later.  Soldiers always man the guard towers around the junction.

Before the plaza junction there’s an entrance to Ariel from Highway 5, a sign indicating the turn to Ariel and another sign reading “Turn here for Ariel University.”  And I thought that the Higher Education Budgeting Committee hadn’t yet granted them this title?  But the National Road Company already did so.

09:20  Entrance to Salfit.  The two gates are closed; one opens for a car coming from Salfit and when it closes the car is trapped between the two gates; the second opens and the car can drive on.  No inspection.  So why all the gates, opening, closing?  Now three cars arrived from the direction of the Ariel junction and both gates open simultaneously.  When they go through the gates close again and a car coming from Salfit has to go through the procedure of gates closing and opening.

At the entrance to Ariel they’re inspecting people entering the town – two employees of a security company and a soldier.  Is this why he was inducted into the army - to stand at the gate at the entrance to Ariel?Azzun Atma, Habla, Huwwara, Za’tara junction, Monday, 9.7.12, morning

Observers:  Shoshana Z., Nina S. (reporting)

Translator:  Charles K.

06:20  'Azzun 'Atma.  About 100 people are in line; many are already sitting outside.  Crossing goes quickly;  two booths for document inspection and another outside to inspect belongings.  We timed how long it took someone who arrived when we did to go through – 40 minutes.  That’s not fast, but in terms of this checkpoint it’s not bad.  When we left before 07:00 only 30 people were in line.  There may be less congestion because many now go through the Tamar gate that’s open for half an hour from 06:15 to 06:45.  About 20 people sit waiting at the entrance to the checkpoint; they’d been sent back into Palestine.  We were told they were in Israel illegally, having crossed through a hole in the fence without a permit or had been caught in Israel; we couldn’t find out more.

The young twelve-year-old coffee seller sells coffee in small cups (the size of little plastic wine cups) to people who’ve crossed.  His younger brother, who’s 8, helps.  They’re very cute; the “elder” speaks very good Hebrew – it’s really amazing.

06:35  The line is much shorter already; in the past it hadn’t gotten shorter until 07:00.  It doesn’t seem that fewer people are coming; maybe there’s less pressure because some cross through the Tamar gate?

Part of the line passes between two fences (before going through the revolving gate); it’s always congested there, while outside the fences the line is very narrow.  The fence is torn in many places and looks like it’s about to collapse>  It leans outward; we hope it doesn’t fall on a passerby.

07:10  Habla.  The gates are open but only now does the first group enter for inspection.  In other words, the gate opened late – the soldiers arrived at 07:00, but the gate was to have opened at 07:00.

The first group comes through and a man chats with an MP – he says the soldier is good, he’s our friend.  Later we heard the opposite in the plant nursery; the worker there had many complaints about that soldier – as usual, it depends whom you ask, and there are always two sides.  About 40 people in line; more continue to arrive.  There’s a great deal of garbage around the shipping container on our side that provides shade – who’s responsible for cleaning up here?  Apparently no one.  It’s interesting that for years there wasn’t refuse here, and now the place has suddenly become a garbage can.  The shepherd arrives with his flock and runs them through to the Israeli side – very pastoral:  the flock, but not the crossing.

08:10 

Eliyahu crossing.  The gardeners work energetically, the location fills with annuals requiring a great deal of water, and they’ve already planted cedars – which, as you know, grow very slowly, but we’re here for good.  About 5 people on the pedestrian lane, and cars being inspected, as usual.

08:35  Jit/Sara junction.  No soldiers

Graffiti at the entrance to Yitzhar:  “Death to Arabs.”

08:40  Huwwara.  The crossing is open; no soldiers on the road except for the one always stationed at the road up to Har Beracha.

On the way back, there’s a military car at the junction where you drive up to Burin.  We drove in to see why; the soldiers were erecting a flying checkpoint on the way into Burin.

09:10  Za’tara/Tapuach junction.  Traffic going up is slow.  When we arrive a soldier emerges from his post on the road and walks to the junction/plaza.  Traffic at the junction seems to be slow because there’s heavy traffic coming from all directions.  It clears a few minutes later.  Soldiers always man the guard towers around the junction.

Before the plaza junction there’s an entrance to Ariel from Highway 5, a sign indicating the turn to Ariel and another sign reading “Turn here for Ariel University.”  And I thought that the Higher Education Budgeting Committee hadn’t yet granted them this title?  But the National Road Company already did so.

09:20  Entrance to Salfit.  The two gates are closed; one opens for a car coming from Salfit and when it closes the car is trapped between the two gates; the second opens and the car can drive on.  No inspection.  So why all the gates, opening, closing?  Now three cars arrived from the direction of the Ariel junction and both gates open simultaneously.  When they go through the gates close again and a car coming from Salfit has to go through the procedure of gates closing and opening.

At the entrance to Ariel they’re inspecting people entering the town – two employees of a security company and a soldier.  Is this why he was inducted into the army - to stand at the gate at the entrance to Ariel?Azzun Atma, Habla, Huwwara, Za’tara junction, Monday, 9.7.12, morning

Observers:  Shoshana Z., Nina S. (reporting)

Translator:  Charles K.

06:20  'Azzun 'Atma.  About 100 people are in line; many are already sitting outside.  Crossing goes quickly;  two booths for document inspection and another outside to inspect belongings.  We timed how long it took someone who arrived when we did to go through – 40 minutes.  That’s not fast, but in terms of this checkpoint it’s not bad.  When we left before 07:00 only 30 people were in line.  There may be less congestion because many now go through the Tamar gate that’s open for half an hour from 06:15 to 06:45.  About 20 people sit waiting at the entrance to the checkpoint; they’d been sent back into Palestine.  We were told they were in Israel illegally, having crossed through a hole in the fence without a permit or had been caught in Israel; we couldn’t find out more.

The young twelve-year-old coffee seller sells coffee in small cups (the size of little plastic wine cups) to people who’ve crossed.  His younger brother, who’s 8, helps.  They’re very cute; the “elder” speaks very good Hebrew – it’s really amazing.

06:35  The line is much shorter already; in the past it hadn’t gotten shorter until 07:00.  It doesn’t seem that fewer people are coming; maybe there’s less pressure because some cross through the Tamar gate?

Part of the line passes between two fences (before going through the revolving gate); it’s always congested there, while outside the fences the line is very narrow.  The fence is torn in many places and looks like it’s about to collapse>  It leans outward; we hope it doesn’t fall on a passerby.

07:10  Habla.  The gates are open but only now does the first group enter for inspection.  In other words, the gate opened late – the soldiers arrived at 07:00, but the gate was to have opened at 07:00.

The first group comes through and a man chats with an MP – he says the soldier is good, he’s our friend.  Later we heard the opposite in the plant nursery; the worker there had many complaints about that soldier – as usual, it depends whom you ask, and there are always two sides.  About 40 people in line; more continue to arrive.  There’s a great deal of garbage around the shipping container on our side that provides shade – who’s responsible for cleaning up here?  Apparently no one.  It’s interesting that for years there wasn’t refuse here, and now the place has suddenly become a garbage can.  The shepherd arrives with his flock and runs them through to the Israeli side – very pastoral:  the flock, but not the crossing.

08:10 

Eliyahu crossing.  The gardeners work energetically, the location fills with seedlings requiring a great deal of water, and they’ve already planted cedars – which, as you know, grow very slowly, but we’re here for good.  About 5 people on the pedestrian lane, and cars being inspected, as usual.

08:35  Jit/Sara junction.  No soldiers

Graffiti at the entrance to Yitzhar:  “Death to Arabs.”

08:40  Huwwara.  The crossing is open; no soldiers on the road except for the one always stationed at the road up to Har Beracha.

On the way back, there’s a military car at the junction where you drive up to Burin.  We drove in to see why; the soldiers were erecting a flying checkpoint on the way into Burin.

09:10  Za’tara/Tapuach junction.  Traffic going up is slow.  When we arrive a soldier emerges from his post on the road and walks to the junction/plaza.  Traffic at the junction seems to be slow because there’s heavy traffic coming from all directions.  It clears a few minutes later.  Soldiers always man the guard towers around the junction.

Before the plaza junction there’s an entrance to Ariel from Highway 5, a sign indicating the turn to Ariel and another sign reading “Turn here for Ariel University.”  And I thought that the Higher Education Budgeting Committee hadn’t yet granted them this title?  But the National Road Company already did so.

09:20  Entrance to Salfit.  The two gates are closed; one opens for a car coming from Salfit and when it closes the car is trapped between the two gates; the second opens and the car can drive on.  No inspection.  So why all the gates, opening, closing?  Now three cars arrived from the direction of the Ariel junction and both gates open simultaneously.  When they go through the gates close again and a car coming from Salfit has to go through the procedure of gates closing and opening.

At the entrance to Ariel they’re inspecting people entering the town – two employees of a security company and a soldier.  Is this why he was inducted into the army - to stand at the gate at the entrance to Arie l?

Translator:  Charles K.

Summer has come to the West Bankvillages as well.  School children are on vacation and life begins later.

06:25  Azzun Atma:  “The checkpoint is good today,” say the Palestinians.  The armored corps soldiers have gotten used to the checkpoint routine.  Both computers are working and traffic flows.  About twenty laborers waiting on a line that’s run efficiently.

Shomron crossing:  No police at the exit from Israel.

06:50  Za’tara/Tapuach:  The positions aren’t manned.

Yitzhar/Burin checkpoint:  No military activity.

Awarta:  The yellow bar is locked, blocking the crossing.

07:20  Beit Furik:  No soldiers; traffic flows.  We didn’t see a soldier in the tower.

08:40  Huwwara:  We saw no soldiers at the checkpoint.  Cars with yellow license plates drive into town.

At the road up to Beracha settlement– a soldier.  A second soldier hangs around with the settlers at the hitchhiking station across the road.

Burin/Yitzhar:  No military activity

08:00  Za’tara/Tapuach:  Some soldiers around, but not at the positions near the road.  Traffic flows in a convoy at the speed of the slowest vehicle on the road up to Huwwara.

Shomron crossing;A superficial inspection

Hars, Kifl Hars, Za’tara, Huwwara, 3.7.12, morning

Observers: Naomi Bentzur, Yehudit Katz (reporting)

Translator: Charles K.

09:30 Naomi teaches two groups in Hars, one after the other: the younger group (English for beginners) and the older group. She announced that she’d stop during Ramadan, but the women wanted very much to continue; they said they’d have time to cook after the class.

The crochet group met for the last time because they’ve learned everything we could teach them.

While the beginners’ English class was underway we drove to Kifl Hars, Qira, Zeita, Za’tara and Huwwara.

10:15 Border Police at Za’tara junction stop and inspect every vehicle. About 15 cars wait on line from the south.

 Translator:  Charles K.

10:15  Salfit checkpoint

Something new:  Of the two yellow iron bars at the checkpoint, the inner one (nearer Salfit) is raised and always open.

One soldier at the civilian position at the entrance to Ariel, opening and closing one of the bars from a distance.

Taxis arriving cross immediately, the soldier remains at the gate, opens and closes it by pressing a button.

At the exit from Ariel toward Tapuach the police are again stopping cars for inspection.  A yellow taxi is detained.

10:30  Za’tara/Tapuach junction

We saw no police or army on the road.  A Border Police soldier in the guard tower.

10:45  Ma’aleh Efrayim checkpoint

No soldiers on the road.

An army jeep below the tower; soldiers are apparently in the tower (we didn’t see them).

Many flocks of sheep in the dry fields along the road.  We distributed clothing and shoes we’d brought with us.

11:20  Hamra/Beqa’ot checkpoint

Something new here also:  tall, thick green poles have been erected at the checkpoint, apparently for shade canopies. 

We saw five soldiers at the checkpoint.

A car that arrived from the west (Area A) at the same time as we did enters the checkpoint, goes through quickly and waits for the passengers who got out for inspection in the building.

From the east – there was no one there when we arrived; three cars came and a minute later were waved through without inspection.

11:25  A commercial vehicle arrived from the west; again, passengers get out, the vehicle waits for them, three minutes later they leave.

Sparse traffic. It is very hot down here at the Jordan valley.

11:40  We drove on.

12:05  Tayasir checkpoint

Two soldiers at the checkpoint, a large sign reading “Lavie Rifle Company.”

When we arrived we saw a car to the west waiting for its passengers, three men, who emerged two minutes later.

A taxi coming from Tubas is quickly inspected and waits for its passengers, two women, two children and three men who emerged five minutes later.

No traffic from the east.

12:20  We left.

12:40  Hamra/Beqaot checkpoint.  Light traffic

Two cars from the west.  The cars and the passengers are checked separately, quickly.

From the east – empty.  When two cars arrived the soldiers waved them through without inspection.

People go through the checkpoint quickly.

13:30  Za’tara/Tapuach– no soldiers, normal traffic.

14:00  Huwwara checkpoint– no soldiers, heavy traffic.

14:10  Beit Furik checkpoint– open, no soldiers.

 Translator:  Charles K.

07:00  Azzun Atma.  About 40 people left at the exit from the village.  The gate is open for women so they don’t have to crowd in with the men.  Laborers leaving said it was a “good checkpoint.”

07:15  The agricultural gate is open, a few people next to it waiting for a contractor.

07:20  Shomron crossing.  No police at the entrance to the territories.  Long lines of vehicles waiting to enter Israel.

07:35  Marda and Zeita.  The entrances aren’t blocked.

07:40  Za’tara junction.  The checkpoint isn’t manned.

07:45  Burin/Yitzhar junction.  It isn’t blocked.

07:50  Huwwara.  The checkpoint isn’t manned.  A soldier observes from the tower, as does another at the statue of the bird at the plaza.  A soldier stands at the hitchhiking station to Bracha.

08:35  The entrance to the villageof Sara is open.  The road through Sara to Nablusisn’t blocked either.

09:00  Eliyahu crossing.  We were stopped for a careful inspection of our documents because they didn’t understand our connection with Nadim.  After a five-minute delay the curiosity of the security people was satisfied and they let us cross.

We began our route on the cross-Shomron highway.  Tractors are enlarging the Barkan industrial zone.  There were no checkpoints or inspections at Za’tara and Huwwara.

We returned via Inabus and Jama’in.  At Beita we ran into the army, two jeeps and an armored vehicle parked at a street corner, the soldiers interrogating Palestinians.

We stopped; the officer motioned to us to open the window.  “What are you doing here?,” he asked.  “We’re driving around,” we replied.  “Under whose auspices?”, he asked.  “Machsom Watch,” we answered.  “OK, you can keep going.”  We stopped, of course, got out of the car, but before we could take more than a few steps the soldiers started their vehicles and drove off.

People had gathered near a local grocery.  They told us this wasn’t the first time that captain Haver and his soldiers stop people for interrogation – asking, for example, where they work, and if they say “Palestine” they’re asked why they don’t’ work in Israel.  They asked one man for his phone number; he asked why and was told “So I can call and talk to you.”  Most of the people they interrogate are young men.

They concluded with a terrible story:  There’s an Israeli renovations contractor who obtains Israeli work permits for people and charges them NIS 2000/month for them.  They say there are some people in Zeita who pay him; they didn’t know exactly how many.

We left with very heavy hearts.

We continued to Qira, Kifl Hars, and to the Hars club where a surprise awaited.  A new class of elementary and high school girls who came to learn English during the entire vacation.

Translator:  Charles K.

14:55  Eliyahu checkpoint.  No congestion

15:10  A soldier provides security for female settlers at the K’dumim hitchhiking station.

Jit junction.  Settlers have pasted offensive posters all over a large boulder next to the road:  “Israeli sovereignty over all of Judea and Samaria.”

The Gil’ad Farm has upgraded the way it sends messages – with an electronic sign whose display constantly changes (we didn’t manage to read it).

15:20No army presence at the Burin-Huwwara-Highway 60 junction.

15:24  A soldier provides security for the hitchhiking station in front of the Huwwara checkpoint plaza.

15:26  The gate to Awarta is once again closed, as it has been for a long time, after being open for two days.

15:30  Beit Furik checkpoint.  We saw no soldiers at the checkpoint.

15:40  Huwwara checkpoint.  We saw no soldiers at the checkpoint.  A soldier now provides security for the hitchhiking station at the entrance to the Bracha settlement.  New settler slogans (banners) hang on the checkpoint fence, and at the Za’tara checkpoint as well.

Heavy traffic toward Nablus.

16:25  Za’tara-Tapuah checkpoint.  Two soldiers in the parking lot guard tower.  There were no soldiers at the inspection stations.

16:46  Azzun Atma checkpoint.  A line of some 40 laborers wait to be inspected before entering the village.

Yesterday we received a message from the Hars club that they wouldn’t meet today because they have another activity.  That worried us, and we went to the village to see what was happening.

It turned out that there was an activity today in Nablus for the entire Salfit area.  At the entrance to the club a large sign announced that our activity had been postponed until next week.  We felt better…

Before continuing our route we visited the home of the girl with Down syndrome (they invited us two weeks ago to see what she’d made from the netting we’d brought her).  She’d created lovely pieces, very imaginative, with her mother’s help.

We continued via the villages on the road to Huwwara.  There were no unusual incidents.  From time to time we saw students studying for final exams.

There was no checkpoint at Huwwara.

In Burin we visited the home of the youth who’d been arrested, spoke with his mother, who told us the trial will be June 17.  They still haven’t been allowed to see him, and he’s not permitted to buy anything from the canteen.  The mother is a beautiful woman – her suffering and anxiety aren’t visible on her face.  You can imagine what she’s going through; all we could say was that we’re on her side.

There were no checkpoints or dogs today at Za’tara/