Hebron, Sansana, South Hebron Hills, Tue 12.1.10, Morning

Translated by Naomi S.
Sansana-Meytar
At 7am, the checking lane is empty. Only the prisoners' families sit in the shade and two Israeli buses already stand waiting for them on the Israeli side.
Next to the goods' terminal, development and extension works are in full swing. 
Route 60
Heavy fog. Young children, barely visible, make their way to school on the sideways. Through the fog, the almond blossom is apparent. As usual, they are indifferent. The heavy heat waves have clearly confused them. Many military vehicles can be seen along the road.  
Hebron
Last week, its was stated in the press that the deputy Minister of foreign affairs' announced, while on visit to Hebron, that the TIF policemen, positioned there since the Wye agreements (Oct. 1998), between Netanyahu and Arafat, are unilaterally favorable to the Palestinians, ignore the settlers' complaints and must therefore be reconsidered. When we arrived in Hebron we decided to contact them and hear their side of the story. We tried to set an appointment with them by phone through one of the Peace activists placed in Hebron. She talked to them but they declined talking to us on account of the special sensitivity of the current situation. They themselves don't want to talk about the threat implied in their withdrawal and if we want to know about it, we should talk to the Palestinians. We still hoped to be able to meet them within Hebron, where we normally meet them during our shifts. And we did indeed see their white patrol van next to the Tarpat CP – but the van itself was empty, and they were nowhere to be seen on foot. Next to Tel-Rumeida, too, there was a patrol van, but it, too, was empty and no policemen could be seen anywhere around. Our conclusion is that they've decided to make their presence less visible for now.
Many soldiers at all CPs – Curve 160, Tarpat CP, the Pharmacy CP, Tel-Rumeida – but they didn't detain anyone. We were happy to see that the road going down from Tel Rumeida and the one next to the Pharmacy CP there are now signposts warning drivers against speed-driving due to children's walking on the sides. The streets are bustling with children walking without their school bags – only a notebook and a pen: exams period has opened. Perhaps because of the absence of any backpacks, they are not detained at the CP. A huge bulldozer is working on the Muslims' entry path to the Patriarchs' Cave – how will these help, if movement itself is not free and there are checkpoints en route?