Hebron, Sansana, South Hebron Hills, Wed 17.2.10, Morning

translated by Bracha B.A.
Sansana-Meitar Crossing
There are lots of cars on the Israeli side but no one is waiting in line.
Route 60
The main entrance to Dahariya is blocked by piles of earth and cars and taxis are transferring people back to back. The almond orchards are in flower and look spectacular. An armored vehicle is standing on the road next to Abda. Soldiers are patrolling the road next to Dir al Fawar and it appears that they are entering Alfawwar. 
Hebron
At the entrance to Kiryat Arba a guard stops us at a crossing with an electronic gate and then lets us in. Everything is routine. There are a lot of children on their way to school. People are entering the cemetery near Tel Romeida. The buildings there look like they have been renovated. The buildings at the entrance to the Cave of the Patriarchs look new and less military-like.   
Hill 18 
Leaving Kiryat Arba, we decided to try and visit Hill 18 and we went over the {map} to see how to get there. We decided to simply get out of the car and walk there from the main road near the gas station at the entrance to Kiryat Arba. We climbed the hill and found a hut made out of plywood and automobile tires. There were a lot of children's toys scattered around and water pipes leading to the hut. There were another two huts as well and it looked occupied. When we looked inside we saw a stove and some furniture. It looked as if people reside there permanently. We also saw concrete foundations the size of the huts. There were a lot of metal remains of a previous evacuation that we knew had taken place in September of 2009. There was a bent aluminum roof and a lot of metal around as well as a caravan with a dog in a cage next to it. The entire area was full of orange flags with a Star of David on them. There was no one about. We started to walk back down and suddenly three settler youths appeared. One of them photographed us and another threw a rock at us that missed us. Another wore a face mask. We didn't know where they came from. The one who threw the rock threatened to beat us up. Another said aggressively: "I'm counting to ten and you're out of here."  We walked away and returned to our car. We remembered that there had been a violent incident here in January in which an activist from the TA'AUISH movement had been attacked by masked settlers and was injured and hospitalized. We were glad that our encounter wad less violent.