South Hebron Hills, Sun 10.2.13, Morning

Translator:  Charles K.

Meitar-Sansana crossing

We arrived at the Meitar crossing at 06:37. The crossing was quiet until they began allowing the wives of inmates to cross.  Then, even though it was already 07:00 and the last of the laborers had arrived, a small knot of people formed.  We drove back to the Israeli side where Yuval Shitrit, the shift manager, opened an additional lane and eased the congestion.  More than 5000 people crossed today.  Even though the number of laborers crossing to work in Israel is rising, the crossing process proceeds fairly rapidly.

Southern Hebron Hills

We drive to Tawwani to see whether the children traverse the route between the Ma’on settlement and Ma’on farm with no problems.  We decided to go into the school, arriving during morning exercise.  We were invited to the office of the principal, Iyad Masri, whose family came from Egypt about 150 years ago.

He told us that transportation for the children from Al Fajjar, Sussiya and Karmel is organized by the Palestinian Authority; only the children from Umm Tuba still walk between the Ma’on settlement and Ma’on farm.  The Palestinian liason officers haven’t been able to arrange transportation for the children from Umm Tuba.