'Anabta, Deir Sharaf, Habla, Mon 13.12.10, Morning

Habla

06:45 – The gate opened on time. The team of reservists that are here do their work efficiently and treat the people nicely, but at the same time they check the cars, including the schoolchildren buses, thoroughly.

07:05 –

Two buses arrive at the same time.

A soldier escorts an old man to turn on the water in his field and then he returns to the village through the gate.

Deir Sharaf

08:15 –

The way to and from Nablus is completely open.

In the grocery store at the entrance to the village they tell us that the problems with wild boar are getting worse. They feed on garbage at the dump that is outside the city of Nablus.

At the village council where we visit, they tell us they have difficulties in getting enough of the necessary poison to tackle the problem. Each village receives a small quantity from the Authority after getting the permission of the DCO [District Coordination Office of the IDF Civil Administration that handles passage permits]. Last summer they put a negligible quantity on figs in the Wadi. The procedure has to be revised to make it easier on the people to cope with the problem.

On the day we were there, there was a strike in all schools in the region of Nablus because of an uncommon problem: The case of a teacher who had beaten a student in Beit Amrin was made public and the Authorities asked to take both the teacher and the principal into custody without first checking the case thoroughly. Both of them were released the following day. The teachers, however, called a warning strike. (Although it's not the field of issues we deal with, one can see a society that strives for improvement and progress and tries to achieve them democratically).

Ramin

09:30 –

The village lies on the mountains above Anabta checkpoint. The way to get there is long and difficult. In the past, there used to be a way for vehicles before the checkpoint, from which it was possible to go down to the checkpoint and to other places. This road has been hermetically closed, probably after the closure of the checkpoint and since then the village residents and especially the workers (about 200 of the village residents) have had to make a huge detour. We have talked to the council secretary, A. Z., the only person present in the building. According to him, there are villages, Beit Lid for instance, that have access to the road, which Ramin doesn't. they have turned to the Authority  and to the DCO several times but have been turned down.

Not long ago, during the Muslim holyday of Id al Adha, the way was open for a few days but then they rushed to close it.

In addition to that, the village has a large area of land beyond the checkpoint road but they are not allowed to get there freely. The man says that he himself lost two dunams of his land for the benefit of the checkpoint. They can use the old road only on foot, walk down and catch a ride. They get passage and work permits through the Red Cross.

We will check the problems of this village again thoroughly to see how they can be helped.

10:30 –

We leave on the way back home.