Sansana (Meitar Crossing), South Hebron Hills, Sun 23.12.12, Morning

Translator:  Charles K.

Meitar-Sansana crossing

The crossing is very congested at this hour on a Sunday morning.  Laborers stand on both sides of the checkpoint, waiting for their employers on the Israeli side and still going through on the Palestinian side.  We went over to them.  It turned out that six laborers had just had their crossing permits confiscated until 08:00 because of “inappropriate behavior.”  A man who’d tried to help them, but somehow didn't manage the language – missing Arabic here, Hebrew, there – requested our assistance. We asked to speak to the person in charge of security; the response was immediate.  He told us they tried to bypass the line, which was long [4200 people crossed within three hours!], by climbing on the fence. Pandemonium ensued, they were pulled out and their permits confiscated temporarily, until 08:00, and they’ll lose a day of work.  We asked to ease their punishment. The head security person agreed, promised to return the permits immediately so they could earn a living and be able to work in Israel.

Southern Hebron Hills

We continued on Highway 317.  An unusually tall guard tower at the entrance to Livneh, an overt expression of conquest and dominion.  Nearby as well as farther away the area is dotted with small plots of plowed land in preparation for the winter rains.

We met children on the way to el-Faqra.  It turned out there’s school today so we went to the Palestinian village of Sussiya to watch teachers from Yatta and the surrounding area go through on their way to work.  The crossing, on the Yatta-Sussiya road, adjoins a military base.  The teachers’ vehicle goes through with no delay, stops to wish us good morning and drives on.  It’s already past 08:00, so we return. 

A glance at the Jewish Sussiya:  a spacious neighborhood is under construction, and there’s also infrastructure in place for additional construction.