Dogs, dog trainer

18/09/2011 ,Afternoon
Roni Hammermann, Nurit Yarden and Tamar Fleishman; Guest: Liat Halvani (taking photos)

Translating: Ruth Fleishman

Qalandiya checkpoint (photo: Behing the wall) :

Palestinian friends that witnessed the women's demonstration on the previous day said that during the time it was taking place, the checkpoint had been closed from both sides for two hours. They testified that cement bricks were brought ten days before hand, they were used to block the roads and had been carried from the side of the roads to their center a day in advance and the way leading to and from Ramallah was blocked up until Sunday. 

Only two lanes were active at the pedestrian checkpoint. Suddenly, as though they had been given a green signal, the two had stopped operating and no one was allowed in the inspection area. The lines grew wider and longer. Not only that no explanation was given, but all the soldiers had disappeared and the post at the end of our lane (no. 2) remained empty. After a nerve wracking twenty minutes, and not before we called the operation room receptionist to asked whether the checkpoint was closed for passage, the checkpoint was activated again.   

At the waiting shed at the entrance to the checkpoint we met to desperate women from Gaza: the young one was a woman who went through a medical procedure in her eyes at the hospital in Ramallah and the other was her escort (probably her mother). Their permits had expired on Saturday. The DCO in Gaza that had been handling their case over the phone allowed them to pass a day later. When they gave the inspecting soldier their original "Tasrih", he confiscated the document and banished them from the site. Had the inspector behind the shielded window checked these women's information on the computer (as they had asked him) he would have known that a new permit was waiting for them at the DCO. When we asked the soldiers agreed to check their ID numbers, but by then it was too late, the DCO offices had already closed and no one was to be found there.

The women were forced to return to Ramallah, rent a hotel room and return to the checkpoint on the next day.

Jaba checkpoint:

Apart for a group of soldiers who had their rifles pointing at vehicles, a dog trainer and a dog with a muzzle on his mouth were also at the site. The checkpoint commander crossed the road towards us and in an instance started giving us his long speech, it was full of arguments against our presence and it start with: "you are endangering yourselves…", and continued with: "your presence is distracting my soldiers…", following this sentence came: "I don't like seeing you endangering soldiers….", and he even tried this one: "nothing is going on over here, it's a real bore!..."

We answered that we were going to stay and document, that we weren't concerned for our safety, that we had no intentions of talking to the soldiers and that we were not endangering them, and that we would overcome the boredom that he promised us. 

He got back to the post and after several minutes the soldiers stopped a car, the driver got out of it, the muzzle was taken off the dog who sniffed the car from all sides, his trainer opened the doors and being so familiar with the job, he got inside, sat on the driver's seat and then wondered off to the rest of the seats, once he finished his task in a manner that satisfied his lady, he received signs of affection from her. Only then was the vehicle given back to its owner who was permitted to head on.

28/08/2011 ,Morning
Hannah H., Ruthy T.

6:00 Reihan-Barta'a CP

Three taxis and two Transit vans are waiting in the parking lot on the side of the seamline zone. M. says that everything is ok in the terminal. We hear yelling and barking from the vehicle inspection pavilion. In front of us, on the road, a truck with two big carts is being inspected by means of a dog and a mirror. When we reach the turnstiles, we find out that a number of the seamstresses, apparently two of them, are not allowed to go through. The head of the workshop is called out, and tries to convince the soldier to allow them go through – but he does not succeed. Afterwards, he tells us that their permits became invalid on the 26 of August and they already have new permits which, for some reason, will be valid from the 30 of August. Somebody forced a vacation on them, almost certainly without pay.

We walk down to the parking lot on the side of the West Bank. A guard delays us; he does not allow us to go through, and a woman who is stationed at the post uses a loudspeaker to order him not to talk to us. In the end the person in charge of the CP allows us to go ahead. The parking lot is almost empty. A pickup truck with goods is waiting on the road and another three are in the parking lot. A few people come to the terminal. Hannah is waiting for someone who needs forms signed for getting a permit and I travel with our driver, Huri, to the Shaked/Tura CP.

7:10 Shaked-Tura CP

The gate at the front is open while the inside gate and the gate at the back are being opened only now. There is a new piece of equipment to beautify the CP: there is a barbed wire fence the length of the road, almost from the entry gate and over the concrete hut beyond which there is a path for pedestrians. Soon, when the school children will go back to their studies in Tura – they will be walking on a narrower path; they will have to be careful not to tear their clothes or to get hurt.

A woman from Daher el Malek - who intends to go through to the West Bank with her children – tells us that her husband, who grows tobacco on the other side of the fence, asked to transport a few sacks of tobacco to the seamline zone – and was punished by the soldiers at the CP who took away his documents. Now he cannot accompany his family who are going to visit relatives on the West Bank.

A teacher who wishes to transport two boxes full of books for the school at Umm-el Reihan arrives from the other side. He is not allowed to do this without having arranged for this in advance. At 7:40 a herd of goats goes through and after that all is quiet in the CP.

04/07/2011 ,Morning
Idit Shlesinger, Anat Toeg, (reporting)

 

  


 
   
 
7:00 Sheikh Saed
 
Y. of the border police greets us, sitting with his back to the checkpoint and armed with impressive military equipment.  He forbids us to climb the hill, to the other side of the checkpoint -- a waste of time since beyond the Sheikh Saed checkpoint it's still Area B, and we've been through this argument and resolved it often in the past.
 
By the way, there are almost no persons crossing.  School  children are on vacation and workers would have crossed by now.  We call the Emergency Humanitarian Centre and the control  centre of the Jerusalem Envelope (both in charge of security in the Envelope area).  After a few minutes we are informed that they will talk to the soldiers at the checkpoint, and -- in response to our question -- Y. says "Go".  We try to imagine the impression made by a soldier of this ilk on the children crossing, to say nothing of his interaction with the local population...  (Hanna B is familiar with this persona and has complained more than once about his conduct at the checkpoints.  She will complain again this time.)  We conduct a short conversation with the drivers on the hill who express concern about livelihood.  They tell us that two elementary schools are operative in Sheikh Saed, and 10 containers receiving supplies from Al-Ezariya, a 30 minute drive away.
 
7:20 Silwan
 
Miracles never cease.  Many sidewalks have been created after the Supreme Court's order to undo all that had been constructed up to now.  Not clear whether this is with the residents' agreement, and not clear whether this is a breach of the court order.  At the end of the road there is a checkpoint with 2 policemen and 3 guards.  They stop cars, check blue IDs on the computers -- including youths travelling on public transportation -- delaying traffic until the check is concluded.  While this is going on we notice a Jewish vehicle bearing down with total disregard for the "no entry" sign. Apparently they have nothing to fear, after all what could happen to them if they're caught.
 
Anat talks to the    Operation Department and the spokesperson of the Jerusalem police about this impromptu  checkpoint and the checking of Israeli citizens travelling on public transportation.  In answer to the question why here and not, say, in Beit Hakerem or Jaffa Road, the spokesman says that in the northern neighbourhoods, where he lives, this is common practice. This dialogue is not going anywhere and meanhile -- a disturbance. A suspicious bag is found in the vicinity of the policemen.  Sharp-eyed Idit tells the soldiers she saw the person who left the bag.  He denies.  The soldiers summon reinforcements and sappers, ignoring Idit's insistence that she saw the man putting down the bag (a Jew, who has disappeared in the meantime -- they never thought to apprehend him).  Twenty minutes later, with traffic at a stand-still, the man in the red shirt reappears out of nowhere with a police cap and a sign saying "drill".  The policemen are astounded.  Idit is relieved , she was not hallucinating.  Needless to say, there is no word of appreciation from the policemen, but we feel we have earned our appellation -- machsom-watch, in more sense than one.
 
8:20 Wadi  Nar (from El-Azariya)
 
This time we witness a greater number of vehicles observing the signs directing traffic from the checkpoint in the direction of El-Azaria on the one-way route, slightly longer but more  secure. The difference is probably due to the presence of a block of wood laid across the road, slowing down the drive into the steep descent.  It permits the driver a few seconds in which to lift his eyes and obey the signs indicating the traffic changes.  A further narrowing of the passage would be even more helpful.
 
A young detainee sits at the checkpoint, and after 15 minutes his friend arrives, carrying the ID he had forgotten at home.  Both are released.  The soldiers ask us, in a tone of surprise, whether we are not afraid to be here. The truth is that the many barking dogs at the checkpoint are scary...

 

 

26/05/2011 ,Afternoon
Tamar Fleischmann (photographing) Yehudit Levin (reporting, photographing

 Translation: Hanna K.

 

14:30 Azzun Atma gate – The workers haven't yet returned from work therefore there is no queue near the gates at the entrance for checking. The soldiers try to remove us from the CP.

14:45 The industrial zone of Ariel – accelerated building of big industrial constructions on the top of the mountain.

15:00   Za'tara/Tapuah CP

A detained minibus. Its 10 passengers, Palestinian young men, stand to the side. A girl dog trainer with her dog check the minibus inside – the dog sniffs between the seats, outside the vehicle, underneath it, the upholstering of the seats is taken out, put on the road, undergoes a check.

The detained Palestinians are policemen who travel from Tulkarem to Jericho. The check lasted a quarter of an hour. The border-policemen try to prevent us from photographing. Tamar shows them the photographing authorization from the IDF spokesman.

A Palestinian driver arrives: he says that the settlers threw stones on his vehicle two days ago: a stone hit the side of the door – one can see the dent. A soldier sends him to complain at the Ariel police station.

There is a heavy traffic of vehicles especially from Ramallah heading for Nablus.

As usual settler notices are displayed flauntingly and without any interference on the CP fence (they now are about the going up to Mitzpe Yossef).

15:25 A commandcar stands ready at Huwwara; North of the usual place (the parking lot opposite Beita)

15:32 Huwwara CP – The soldiers are on the tower.

Near the tower one sees today (for the first time) a high wall of dense concrete sheets around a small container and above those a barbed wire fence. To protect the soldiers? To hide detainees?

 

      Awarta CP –

A yellow iron arm closes it and is locked – there is no possibility of passage. The locals cannot reach the village, only by way of the Huwwara CP. We shall send in a photograph of a direction signpost in English and Arabic which bears witness to a forbidden road for Palestinians, i.e. an apartheid road.

Beit Furic CP – There were no soldiers in the tower.

16:50 Za'tara/Tapuah CP – A few border policemen are under the watch tower in the parking lot. Vehicles are not being checked.

  

 

 

30/03/2011 ,Afternoon
Sara Fishman, Shosi Anbar (reporting

Translator:  Charles K.

 

 Awarta Visit

13:30  Habla.  The gates are open.  Three people at the inspection booth.  A pickup truck loaded with seedlings leaves the village.  The school buses have already crossed.  A truck and horse cart are waiting to be inspected.  Today is calm here.

13:50  Eliyahu crossing.  Ten vehicles on line to enter Israel.

A military vehicle parked next to a car belonging to an Israeli woman (a settler?) at the entrance to the village of A-Nabi Elias.  We didn’t stop to see what was going on.

13:50  A military jeep and three soldiers parked at the entrance to Azzun.

 14:05  A military jeep next to a car at the Jit junction.

 We turn south to Route 60.  New red roofs in Yitzhar, on the right - Construction continues apace.

14:15  Huwwara – Traffic flows in both directions, without inspections.  From a distance we don’t see soldiers, but three appear as we approach, walking toward us.  In response to our question they say they’ll begin randomly inspecting vehicles in another 15 minutes.  We didn’t wait.

14:30  Beit Furiq checkpoint.  We don’t see soldiers on site.  A tractor is cleaning the side of the road to Elon Moreh.

14:40  Soldiers at a firing range by the side of the road to Awarta.

14:45  Awarta – We go into a garage, and amid the grease fumes hear the account of one of the villagers.  On Monday night/Tuesday morning (March 29/30) soldiers entered homes, took more than 40 people outside, men of all ages, handcuffed them, took them to the base, and interrogated them, handcuffed, until 4 AM.  During this time houses were searched, using dogs.  In some homes they broke and destroyed whatever they came across.  One of his neighbors said to an officer: “There are little children here who are trembling with fear.”  The officer:  “Shut up.”  Many children have begun to wet their beds.

One of his neighbors had NIS 2000 in a drawer.  The money disappeared.

That night two trailers were placed on the hill between Awarta and Itamar, and the place was called the “young people’s neighborhood.”  That’s how the abominable murders are exploited to take over more land.

Groups of soldiers usually come at night and march through the village alleys to remind them who’s in charge.

Two young men walking past enter and join the conversation.  One, aged 18, says they took him from his home at 10:30, and interrogated him at the base (apparently at the DCO) until 14:30 the following afternoon.  When he complained that the handcuffs were hurting him, the interrogator hit him.

The settlers say there are four tombs of Jewish holy men in the village.  Before they come to pray, the army closes the area.  They bring black spray paint and write “Death to Arabs” on the houses.  On their way back they throw rocks and break the windows of cars and homes and destroy gravestones in the Moslem cemetery they pass through.  Soldier enter the mosque wearing shoes, with dogs.  Border Police soldiers drive through, cursing in Arabic over the loudspeaker.

Only 17 villagers have permits to work in Israel.  After the murders, ten had their permits taken away.  Most work in Nablus, earning NIS 70 per day.  Many young men can’t marry because they can’t afford to build a house.  They barely have enough to eat.

15:30  We left Awarta, and returned to Huwwara through the narrow alleys of Odala village.

16:15  No soldiers at the Za’tar/Tapuach junction.

16:30  Shomron crossing – A few vehicles going through.  A female soldier asks to see our ID’s.

 16:40  Azzun Atma – More than 20 people on line for inspections.  The line moves slowly. 

23/03/2011 ,Afternoon
Karin L., Shoshi A, Gila P., Hedva A. (reporting)

Translator:  Charles K.

 

12:59  Habla gate.  Three horse cards and some people waiting for the gate to open.  It opens exactly at 13:00 and they go through.  A school bus arrives from the other side, crosses, as do two tractors and a jeep to the greenhouses.  We left at 13:20, a pickup truck and tractors waiting to cross.  The second school bus – with the girls – hadn’t arrived.  A few Palestinians waiting on the eastern side of the fence, we’re not sure why.  Shoshi tries to approach and speak to them; “Beat it!,” says the soldier. 

We continue to Alfei Menasheh.  Two settlers in a jeep at the turn to Ras A-Tira beep their horn to stop us and find out where we’re going.  The new gate is closed, as usual.

 

We continue to the Eliyahu crossing – a few cars with Israeli plates waiting on the eastern side to return to Israel.

 

13:45  A flying checkpoint and an army vehicle at the entrance to Azzun.  Soldiers stop Palestinian vehicles for inspection, including opening the trunk.  We cross without being checked.  Karin buys booklets in Arabic at a print shop in Azzun for Palestinian children in Israeli hospitals.

 

We continue to Jayyous.  We get on a road that starts at a plaza at the entrance to Azzun and goes under Route 55.  We passed the village of Khirbet Sir – many new houses.  North to Kafr Jamal, Jayyous to our left.  Infrastructure work all along the way – paving roads, stone sidewalks, lightposts, etc.

 

Falamya gate is open 12 hours a day.  One tractor goes through on its way back to the village.

 

Up to Kafr Jamal on the steep paved road.  Signs to Tulkarm all along the road – the usual road is closed for repairs – and we take the bypass until we reach Kafr Sur.  One of the villagers tells us that owners of the lands beyond the separation barrier (most of them olive groves) aren’t being given permits to reach their land, except when the army decides to grant them (during the olive harvest).  His family owns 50 dunums on the other side of the separation barrier.  Only people aged 50 or older are given permits, and only during the season.  Kafr Sur has 4000 inhabitants.  The mayor submits the requests.

Because of the road works we arrived by mistake at Gate 753 – Khirbet Jebara.  We were given directions how to proceed.  Only farmers and residents of Khirbet Jebara use this gate.

We reached the northern Te’anim gate (Jubara) on a road for Palestinian & Israeli Palastinians traffic .  The soldiers stop and question us – what are we doing, where are we coming from, do we belong to any organizations.  They took our ID, and more questions: where do we live, what do we do, etc.  They took our ID’s to check, and asked us to park off to the side.  Then they came to inspect the car – including the trunk.  They have questions about the Arabic booklets Karin bought – are they seditious?  They took them to photocopy.  They also checked the glove compartment.  Questions about Karin’s cameras in the trunk.  Finally, after we told them we’d come from the south, not from the north (Tulkarm), and they explained how dangerous it was for Israeli Jews to be in a Palestinian town, they let us continue.  An Israeli car inspected carefully – including by a dog with a handler.

 

After being released we drove on to Irtach/Efrayim gate.   A flow of laborers returning from their work in Israel.  One asks for advice about helping his brother, prevented by the GSS from entering Israel for business, and about a friend who has to enter Israel for medical treatment.  Karin gives him the relevant phone numbers.

 

 

  

17/03/2011 ,Morning
Esther K., Aliyah S. reporting

 
 
9:10  Za'tara
There were no soldiers at this junction, in any direction. The traffic was moving smoothly.
 
9:20  The Road to Jit junction was open to all traffic.
 
9:25   Huwarra - The checkposts on the road going into and out of Nablus were open and there were no soldiers in sight. There was just one soldier, as far as we could see, in each of the 2 watchtowers.
 
Nadim suggested that we drive to Awarta because the entrances to the village had been blocked since Sunday. On the road to Awarta we enjoyed the fields of anemonies along the way.
 
9:30  Awarta             
There were no road blocks and we entered the village.  Immediately we noticed that the shops were almost all closed, and we wondered about the reason for this. At one small workshop with an open door Nadim stopped to talk with a young man standing outside. When the man saw who we were he invited us inside to talk with him, with the owner of the shop, and one or two more men who came in. This is the account of what happened that the men told us.
 
Awarta is the village that is situated directly under the hilltop on which Yitamar, the Jewish settlement, is built. Originally the village families owned 21,000 dunam of land (5,200 acres). The settlement of Yitamar took over 11,000 dunams. At that time they uprooted many olive trees to make room for the settlement. Of the land that is left to the Palestinian villagers, 10,000 dunams, they are afraid to work on 6,000 of them because of the proximity to the settlement. The American billionaire who gave the money to set up the settlement said, on a visit to Yitamar, that it must be expanded and made into a city because it overlooks Nablus. At this time some new caravan homes can be seen on an expanded area of the settlement.
 
On Friday night the horrendous murder of 2 parents and 3 children took place in Yitamar. On Sunday, 13.3.2011,  the army closed all entrances into Awarta and for three days terror reigned in the village. Although the army has no evidence that the murderers came from Awarta, the village  took the collective punishment meted out to them. The army unit of about 22 soldiers (blue berets) plus several army dogs went into every house in the village. They arrested 52 men and took them away. The families do not know where they are. A Palestinian lawyer for the families believes that they are being held in the Huwarra military base, very near the village.
 
In every home they entered the soldiers did the maximum amount of damage they possibly could. They broke furniture, overturned appliances, vandalized possessions, threw whole contents of cabinets and closets all over the house, and even broke through walls. In one house they found a young man who is mentally disabled living alone. They took over the house, slept there at night, humiliated the man and made him the butt of their jokes for hours. In several houses that they took over they forced the family to stay in one room while they were there. They used the houses for sleeping, and also used the family's food and water supplies. In one large house there are two bathrooms/toilets; the soldiers deliberately relieved themselves all over the house, on the floors and on the furniture. Many families claim that that there was stealing by the soldiers, especially gold jewelry and money.
 
The dogs were also brought into the homes. The soldiers led the dogs all over the food supplies in the houses, making them unfit for consumption. In one house the owner had produced large plastic containers of Labena for selling; the soldiers stomped on every one of them, breaking the plastic containers and spilling their contents on the floor. When the owner of one house spoke to the officer who was leading the soldiers, and asked him why the villagers were being punished when there was information that it was Thai workers who had murdered the family, the officer became enraged and the damage that was done to the house was even greater. The soldiers broke into the local pharmacy; they trashed the shop and the storage room for medical supplies. One of the young men sitting with us had been beaten by the soldiers; he wasn't the only one.
 
On Monday, 14.3, about 1,000 settlers came to Yitamar, ostensibly as a condolence visit. They threw stones down at Awarta and further vandalized the 3 nearest houses of the village as they shouted, "death to the Arabs!" In the yards next to the houses, the locks on the metal covers on water wells were broken and water was wasted and possibly contaminated. The soldiers left the village on Tuesday evening; the roadblocks that had closed the village were removed only on Wednesday evening.
 
Ten years ago, during the second intifada, the village had been put under closure for a long time. Those were bad times, but our informants said, not as bad as now.  A year, to a year and a half ago, 3 men of the village were killed, one by soldiers and two by settlers. But the situation this week was the worst they had known. When we asked the reason for the closed businesses that we had noticed in the village we were told that the people were simply still afraid. The men were all certain that the murders were not committed by Palestinians. The stories that were being told of the murders on television just weren't believed by the people who live closest to Yitamar. As they said, even if the murderers got into Yitamar by using a branch to get over a 3 meter high fence, how did they get out again? The story just isn't possible.

 

  

 

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17/03/2011 ,Morning
Yael S., Michal S., and Amira A. (reporting)

A visit to Awarta and Burin following the murder at Itamar 17 March 2011

Translation:  Suzanne O.

 

Summary:  We met with our friend M., at Borin to hear from him what happened in the village as a result of the settlers' rioting following the murder, and we met with people from Awarta Council.  We heard their evidence and observed the establishment of a new settlement beneath Itamar on Awarta land.  Please see the detailed report from Alia S of 17 March (this details the complaints of the residents of the village).

 

10:15 a.m.

At the Burin/Yitzhar junction there is a snap roadblock in the direction of Yitzhar.  Military police also stop random drivers on their way to Huwwara.  Apart from this we did not observe any military presence.

 

Burinis located beneath Bracha and Yitzhar

At the Burin Junction our friend M., waits for us.  He shows us the houses which were damaged on Saturday by the settlers who came down and surrounded houses, throwing stones at them.  (The houses are on the eastern side at the entrance to the village.)  According to him they also tried, unsuccessfully, to "kidnap two children".  The residents of Burin shut themselves in their homes until the threat passed.  During our visit near his house a shepherd rang to say he was frightened that settlers were coming down to the village now.  M., scanned the slopes beneath Bracha and calmed him down saying that no one could be seen in the area.

We did not stay long at Burin because M., was waiting for a team from 'Yesh Din' to take him to Awarta, to the Council.

 

Awarta, in the shadow of a military area, has been closed for 5 days, searches and raids by settlers

Yesterday, the curfew was lifted that had closed Awarta since Saturday and now the Council has opened for the first time.  We followed the narrow roads of Awarta to the Council where the Mayor, Kais Awad, Majdi the Treasurer and other village people were waiting.  Present were Azmi, Yehudit A., and Ruth K. from 'Yesh Din', there were also representatives from 'Doctors for Human Rights' Salach Yechia and Samiach Jebran, leaders from the Authority and a team of reporters.

It was like a press conference when Kais Awad emotionally revealed the events in Awarta and Azmi translated for us.

 

The following is a direct quote:  Kais Awad welcomed us saying that our presence gives them support.

There are 6000 inhabitants in Awarta12000 dunams have been stolen by the Itamar settlers.

 

Saturday 12 March at 5:30

Military vehicles entered the village and declared a curfew.  The four entrances to the village were closed.  They announced that the village is under command in a closed military area.  A large military force entered the village (some 2000 soldiers and maybe more) went from house to house in groups of 15 – 17 soldiers, among them an Arabic speaking person from the Shabak and 2 dog handlers.

In each house men were separated from women and children.  Men aged from 15 – 55 were stood against walls, handcuffed and searched; they were stripped and searched bodily for signs of a struggle connected to the incident.  They were asked there whereabouts at the time of the murder.

 

In the houses rooms were rummaged, contents broken and stolen.  The dogs sniffed and salivated everywhere and contaminated the houses (see the detailed report from Alia S., on 17 March 2011).

 

Sunday at 9:30 a.m.

It was announced that all males from 15 – 40 were to be rounded up and taken by the army to the girls' secondary school.  There they were finger printed and samples of saliva taken (DNA).  55 men were arrested and taken away.  No one knows where they are.

 

Monday, 14 March

The military carried out a search of every public institution in Awarta: in the surgery among the medication, in the mosques, in the Council.  They broke doors and lintels to break into any locked rooms.  They broke shelves in filing cabinets.  NIS500 was stolen from the desk of the mayor.  They insisted that the mayor open the safe which he did on condition that it was in the presence of the Israeli and Palestinian DCO.

We tour around to see the damage to the new doors belonging to the Council, to the shelves of the filing cabinets.  Yael takes photos (sent by mail yesterday).

Kais Awad began to receive telephone calls from the eastern neighbourhood near to Itamar that settlers are coming down from Itamar and throwing stones in the presence of the army.  One of the residents, a teacher by the name of Iad Mo'od, was wounded and windows were smashed.

In the present situation neither the army nor the police have arrested them, the inhabitants are undefended.

The inhabitants were filled with anger, they reached the limits of their fear and went out to defend their homes and started to throw stones too.  Only then did the army intervene to deal with the settlers and send them back to the settlement.

 

Seizure of lands

That night the settlers moved out of the fenced area of Itamar, to the slope of the hill called 'Chaled Silikon' flattened an area of 15 dunams with bulldozers to establish a new settlement, they uprooted 120 olive trees belonging to Muhammed Pars Awad, a resident of Awarta.

As Azmi says, this is the greatest damage: seizure of private land.

At present bulldozers are laying a road connecting it to Itamar, outside the settlement, leading to the new settlement.

At the same time they are laying a new road, from another Itamar settlement, towards the road to Alon Moreh.

 

Thus hundreds of dunams belonging to the residents of Awarta are lost and this is the greatest fear of the inhabitants of the whole area.

 

The inhabitants' complaints

Inhabitants come to the Council to complain of damages.  One man reports the theft of NIS 5000.  Two handwritten lists are compiled:  the list of the 55 detained men and a list of 15 families complaining of damage to their homes.

However, it is only now that the complaints are coming into the Council.

 

A view of the area under contention

We go to the upper part of the village to the reservoir accompanied by M. and G. – a local farmer, to observe the new settlement.  Two caravans have already been set up on the stolen land. Two large bulldozers are noisily gnawing away at the new route – a connecting road for the new settlement.  It is about 500 metres from Awarta as the crow flies.

 

A telephone update from Saturday 19 March 2011

The Council reported that 12 of those arrested had returned.  From the area G. reports that 4 buildings have now been set up on the new settlement.  There are settlers all around (the settlement) and tractors are at work and the army is guarding them. 

17/02/2011 ,Morning
Esther K., Aliyah S. reporting

 

 

9:30  We passed Za'tara/Tapuach junction. All the roads were open; there were no lines of cars.

9:45  Huwwara:

The road out of Nablus was open . There were no soldiers and the vehicles drove through quickly.

On the side of the checkpoint for entering Nablus there were 5 soldiers and a woman soldier with a dog.  The soldiers were checking a bus. The soldier with the dog was checking a private car; all the doors of the car were open and the dog was going in and out of them. While these checking  were going on other cars were entering Nablus freely. After being checked the bus and the car drove into Nablus. It seemed to be a spot check; for what purpose we couldn't imagine.

10:20 Jit Junction

Several soldiers, a military hummer and several policemen were on the south side of the junction. The policemen were giving tickets to 2 cars.

We visited Jamal at the minimarket in Deir Sharaf. He says that life is fairly quiet. There have been no unusual events. In answer to our question about the wall that was built to "protect" Shavei Shomron settlement, his family personally lost 160 olive trees that were uprooted. And that was just from one family; many more families lost many more trees.

11:10 Jit Junction

 As we passed on our way to leave the territories we saw that the soldiers and the policemen had left. All traffic was flowing freely.

 

 

12/01/2011 ,Afternoon
Tamar Z, Leora H, Didika Y. (reporting)

  

Azzun Atma

We arrived at the checkpoint at 14:05 and stayed for about 10 minutes. Very few people entered and exited while we were there. The unit that is guarding the checkpoint has been replaced by a new unit. We were asked to leave because the checkpoint is a military zone. We explained that it isn’t and asked the soldiers to verify this with their commanders and prepare for the next shift.

Huwwara

We drove to Huwwara via the internal road that goes through the villages and runs parallel to road 5. There were no soldiers at Huwwara and we were able to drive through towards Nablus and return after a few minutes without being stopped. This is already the second time in the last month that there were no soldiers at the checkpoint.

Awarta and Beit Furik

Awarta checkpoint was closed and Beit Furik was deserted.

Za’Tara

We went through the checkpoint on our way back at 16:15. It seemed that there were no soldiers there either but then we saw a taxi that was held within the parking lot. While we stopped to check what was happening, the soldiers returned to their post by the checkpoint. The taxi was allowed to proceed after five minutes and after it was check by a dog and three soldiers.

 

  

 

 

 

 

תרגום: חנה כ.

עזון עתמה

הגענו למחסום ב-14:05 ושהינו כעשר דקות. מעט מאד אנשים נכנסו ויצאו בזמן שהיינו שם.

היחידה ששומרת על המחסום הוחלפה על ידי יחידה חדשה. התבקשנו לעזוב כי המחסום הוא אזור צבאי. הסברנו שזה לא כך וביקשנו מן החיילים לאמת את זה עם המפקדים שלהם ולהתכונן למשמרת הבאה.

 חווארה

נסענו לחווארה דרך כביש פנימי שעובר בין הכפרים ומקביל לדרך מס. 5. לא היו חיילים במחסוםחווארה והצלחנו לעבור דרך חווארה ולנסוע לכיוון שכם ולחזור אחרי כמה דקות מבלי שיעצרו אותנו. זאת הפעם השניה בחודש האחרון שלא היו חיילים במחסום.

 עוורטא ובית פוריכ

מחסום עוורטא היה סגור ומחסום בית פוריכ נטוש.

 זעתרה

עברנו דרך המחסום בדרכנו הביתה בשעה 16:15. נראה היה שגם כאן לא היו חיילים אבל אז ראינו מונית שהוחזקה בתוך מגרש החנייה. בשעה שנעצרנו לבדוק מה קרה החיילים חזרו לעמדותיהם ליד המחסום. המונית הורשתה להמשיך אחרי חמש דקות אחרי שהיא נבדקה על ידי כלב ושלושה חיילים.

 

 

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