'Awarta, 'Azzun 'Atma, Huwwara, Za'tara (Tapuah), Tue 14.5.13, Morning

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Observers: 
Natalie Cohen, Annalis Butervok (guest) Neomi Benzur (reporting) in the car – Nadim.
May-14-2013
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Morning

 

09:30 Departure from the Rosh Ha'Ayin train station

09:45 Azoun Atma. At the CP there are a few soldiers. At this hour the Palestinians aren't here anymore. In a short while the road on which we drive will be closed for the settlers. For them a new road is being built, which will connect Elkana, Sha'arey Tiqva and Etz Ephraim directly to Israel. At the moment earthwork is being carried out on the route of the road which passes, of course, on Palestinian plots. Once the road is finished the present CP will be cancelled, Azoun Atma will be connected to Palestine, a new CP will be put up and Zion will be redeemed…

 

10:00 Tapuah Junction. Two trucks are parked near the bus station near which a settler from Yitzhar was killed. At the station there are a few soldiers.

 

10:20 We reach Huwwara. The town is very lively. Shops are open, Palestinian taxis pass on the road. A car decorated with balloons and colored streamers is parked on the side of the road in anticipation of the arrival of a groom and bride. Huwwara is an exceptional phenomenon in the west bank. A town which craves life whose tempo is so different from that of other villages around. At the deserted Huwwara CP we stop. We show the guest the complex installation in which hundreds of Palestinians underwent each day humiliation and wretchedness. As is to be expected a military jeep arrives within minutes and a soldier asks us to leave. Why? "Because this is the procedure. The genial soldier cannot explain to us what use there is for procedures when the CP is abandoned. Embarrassed he comes up with another reason: " because this endangers our post." In the middle of our conversation a group of soldiers arrives and begins loading on a tender their rucksacks and  duffelbags. Evacuation? Changing of guards?

 

11:00 We continue in the direction of Nablus. At the Awarta CP there are a few soldiers. In the direction of Beit Furiq the CP is abandoned. At Beit Dajan the CP is open.

 

We return to the center of Huwwara. Stop at a Falafel stand. Two days ago, in the course of a tour led by Anat where I served as assistant, a few participants asked me apprehensively: "isn't it dangerous to leave the bus?"

If those people could see us, three Israeli women sitting leisurely in the pleasant sunshine, and eating falafel in the heart of a Palestinian town, they would no doubt be persuaded.

 

12:30 Back to Rosh Ha'Ayin. We take photos with the guest and bid her farewell.