'Awarta, Burin (Yitzhar), Huwwara, Mon 15.6.09, Morning

Place:

'Awarta

Huwwara

Burin (Yitzhar)

Tags:

Cab drivers

X-ray machine

Dogs, dog trainer

Observers:

Niva D., Rina T. (reporting), Nadim

Jun-15-2009

Morning

Translation: Suzanne O.

Summary: At Za'atra there is no roadblock for those coming from the west. The inspections for those coming from the north are swift.

At Huwwara, at the exit from Nablus, most of the people cross by car and, in spite of the additional vehicles; the waiting time is relatively short.

Traffic is heavy on the roads, apparently because of the easing of the crossing at the roadblocks.

Marda and Beita: open.

Zeita: the entrance is barred, as usual.

Za'atra

7:15 a.m.

There are no soldiers in the vehicle inspection booth for those coming from the west; the same is true on our way back.

From the north (Nablus) 30 vehicles are being inspected at two checkpoints.

On our way back, at 8:50 a.m., there were 8 cars in the queue and they crossed without inspection. A white police jeep was parked in the area.

Borin Junction

On our way in there were no soldiers. On our way back we saw a Border Police vehicle detaining a taxi.

Huwwara Village

A military vehicle and a Border Police jeep were parked in the middle of the village but when we went through they were not detaining Palestinian vehicles.

On our way back a Border Police jeep was parked by a vehicle with a yellow number plate.

Huwwara

7:25 - 8:35 a.m.

Vehicles: on our arrival we counted (from the road to the settlement 'Bracha') 35 cars from the direction of Nablus. Only one checkpoint was open. We spoke to the DCO representative A., (A'asam) who said that the soldiers were on a meal break. 5 minutes later another checkpoint was opened. We counted 17 cars inspected within 10 minutes, i.e.: waiting time of over 20 minutes.

The x-ray machine has been moved to the pedestrian roadblock...

A female soldier with a dog was present and she stopped vehicles for inspection. Each one was held up for about 5 minutes.

7:45 a.m.

A third checkpoint was opened. This time we counted 31 cars crossing within 10 minutes. And still we could not see the end of the queue from the direction of Nablus.

On the way to the roadblock Niva noticed heavier than usual traffic on the road in the direction of Nablus and back. A., says that now people prefer to cross the roadblock by vehicle (and indeed many taxis crossed in both directions). He told us that yesterday the queue was much longer, in spite of 3 checkpoints being open. The taxi car park, which is usually so full that not even a pin can be squeezed in, was half empty. It appears that more permits are being given out to taxis and even the waiting time is not too long, since passengers are no longer required to alight from the vehicle to walk the few hundred metres, to wait at the pedestrian roadblock and then to find another taxi but (unbelievably!) they can leave Nablus by one taxi and stay in it until they reach their destination.

7:50 a.m.

A private car is detained and is parked at the side. A while later we witness something unbelievable in the roadblock reality: two people, Palestinians, dare to cross the road and walk over to the look-out tower, and there they talk to the soldier (perhaps the roadblock commander), and no one shouts at them, no one sends them back, on the contrary, the conversation is carried on in a civilised fashion. It seems that the paratroops are still running the roadblock. There is no other explanation. A few minutes later they are permitted to cross the roadblock.

There is a car with a yellow number plate at the entrance to Nablus. The driver shows a permit and he is allowed to enter (this is usually possible only on Saturday). Another car is turned back in spite of the fact that the driver has a green ID card...

Niva notices that the drivers now enter Nablus with more confidence, they drive through without the usual reflex of waiting for the soldier's beckoning finger.

When we return to the vehicle checkpoint at 8:30 a.m., the queue has vanished. 8 vehicles are being inspected at 2 checkpoints. The dog handler continues to inspect, this time a taxi.

8:15 a.m.

Pedestrians: the roadblock is empty. Later a few people arrive and cross without waiting. Even so, the irritable voices of the Military Policewomen can be heard over the loudspeakers.

In the direction of the entrance to Nablus there is heavy traffic.

3 taxi drivers sell their wares by the turnstile. A soldier calls one of them and threatens that he will be sent to the 'jora' if he doesn't move away. He does move away but others continue.

At the car park there are only two stalls now, selling cold and hot drinks, and our friend brewing tea and coffee in his old banger. Mahmoud also arrives, the boy with the sweets, who supports a family of 7 by selling sweets for a shekel.

Awarta

8:35 a.m.

There is one car at the exit from Nablus. We do not hang around.

Location Description

Huwwara - the checkpoint and the township

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The Huwwara checkpoint is an internal checkpoint south of the city of Nablus, at the intersection of Roads 60 and 5077 (between the settlements of Bracha and Itamar). This checkpoint was one of the four permanent checkpoints info-icon that closed on Nablus (Beit Furik and Awarta checkpoints to the east and the Beit Iba checkpoint to the west). It was a pedestrian-only barrier. As MachsomWatch volunteers, we watched therre since 2001 two shifts a day - morning and noon, the thousands of Palestinians leaving Nablus and waiting for hours in queues to reach anywhere else in the West Bank, from the other side of the checkpoint the destination could only be reached by public transport.
In early June 2009, as part of the easing of Palestinian traffic in the West Bank, the checkpoint was opened to vehicular traffic. The passage today is free, but there is still a military presence in the guard tower and vehicle inspections are done from time to time.

On February 26, 2023, about 400 settlers attacked the town's residents for 5 hours and set fire to property, such as houses and cars. Disturbances occurred in response to a shooting of two Jewish residents of Har Bracha by a Palestinian Terrorist. The soldiers stationed in the town did not prevent the arson and rescued Palestinian families from their homes only after they were set on fire. No one was punished and Finance Minister Smotrich stated that "the State of Israel should wipe out Hawara." Left and center organizations organized solidarity demonstrations and support actions for the residents of Hawara.

Hawara continued to be in the headlines in all the months that followed: more pogroms by the settlers, attacks by Palestinians and a massive presence of the army in the town. It amounted to a de facto curfew of commerce and life in the center of the city. On October 5, 2023, MK Zvi established a Sukkah in the center of Hawara and hundreds of settlers backed the army blocked the main road and held prayers in the heart of the town all night and the next day. On Saturday, October 7, 23 The "Swords of Iron" war began with an attack by Hamas on settlements surrounding Gaza in the face of a poor presence of the IDF. Much criticism has been made of the withdrawal of military forces from the area surrounding Gaza and their placement in the West Bank, and in the Hawara and Samaria region in particular, as a shield for the settlers who were taking over and rioting.

On November 12, 2023, the first section of the Hawara bypass road intended for Israeli traffic only was opened. In this way, the settlers can bypass the road that goes through the center of Hawara, which is the main artery for traffic from the Nablus area to Ramallah and the south of the West Bank. For the construction of the road, the Civil Administration info-icon expropriated 406 dunams of private land belonging to Palestinians from the nearby villages. The settlers are not satisfied with this at the moment, and demand to also travel through Hawara itself in order to demonstrate presence and control.

(updated November 2023)

Feb-29-2024

Nina Seba

Huwara checkpoint - the gate is closed

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Burin (Yitzhar)

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Burin

This is a Palestinian village in the Nablus governorate, a little south of Nablus, on the main road passing through the West Bank. The settlements: Yitzhar and Har Bracha, settled in locations that surrounded the village, placed fences so it is cut off the main road.

There are around 4000 inhabitants. Most of them are engaged in agriculture and pasture, although many graduates of the two secondary schools continue to study at the university. Academic positions are hardly available, they find work as builderd, or leave for the Gulf countries.

The village lands were appropriated several times for the establishment of Israeli settlements and military bases, and as a result, Burin's land and water resources dwindled. lSince 1982, more than 2,000 dunams of village land have been declared "state land" and then transferred to Har Bracha settlement.

Over the past few years and more so since 2017, the villagers have been terrorized by the residents of Yitzhar and Har Bracha, the Givat Ronen outpost and others.
Despite the close proximity of soldiers to an IDF base close to one of the village's schools, residents are suffering from numerous stone-throwing events, vehicle and fire arson, also reported in the press.

In 2023, the prevention of the olive harvest in the village plot was more violent than ever. Soldiers and settlers walked with drawn weapons between the houses of the village and demanded that people stop harvesting in the village itself and in the private plots outside the village. The settlers from Yitzhar and Giv'at Roned raided the olive groves and stole crops. 300 olive trees belonging to the residents of Burin, near Yitzhar, were uprooted. The loss of livelihood from the olives causes long-term economic damage to the farmers' families, bringing them to the point of starvation.

(updated for November 2023)