'Azzun 'Atma, Beit Furik, Eliyahu Crossing, Habla, Za'tara (Tapuah), Tue 24.9.13, Morning

Place:

Beit Furik

Za'tara (Tapuah)

'Azzun 'Atma

Eliyahu Crossing

Habla

Observers:

Petahya, Nurit P., Pitzi (reporting) Translator: Charles K.

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Sep-24-2013

Morning

Central West Bank,

14:00 The Habla gate is open. No one around. Apparently everyone who wanted to leave has already done so. Nor is anyone entering Habla. It’s quiet.

Many Israelis shopping in Nabi Elias. What will happen to those shops when the road is moved?

14:30 A military Hummer parked opposite Azzun, observing the entrance to the village.

15:00 Huwwara checkpoint. A pretty long line of Palestinian cars headed toward Nablus. The checkpoint is manned but there are no inspections. It turns out that the congestion is due to the number of vehicles. Just a traffic jam…

The Beit Furiq checkpoint is deserted. Everything appears quiet and pastoral. Many sea squills blossoming. The evil isn’t visible through this glorious landscape.

Many Israeli vehicles in Huwwara, civilian as well as military, though the latter drive quickly along the main road which has become one large mall.

H. approaches us in the kanafe shop – he’s a young Palestine who speaks Hebrew fluently and has worked there for a long time. He tells us that whenever he travels from his village to his workplace in Huwwara he’s stopped by police, made to get out of the taxi and detained for a few hours. He’s then released. That’s been going on for a long time. When he asked them the reason for the harassment they told him that they’ll stop if he agrees to collaborate. He refused and the harassment continues.

When he was little, during the intifada, he was arrested for participating in demonstrations. He was then blacklisted by the Shabak, until 2028 (!!!). He showed us the document confirming what he said. We have a copy.

Can anyone do anything? Pitzi has all the information.

Tapuach junction is manned but there are no inspections or dogs.

Light traffic at Azzun Atma. A few returning laborers tell us it’s because there’s not a lot of work in the settlements during the intermediate days of Sukkot, and the exit through Beit Amin has been blocked because that’s where the soldier’s killer lived. Laborers from the village can’t leave to go to work. The soldiers at the checkpoint look at us, even take photographs, but don’t prevent us from talking to the Palestinians.

Soldiers are stationed at the many holes in the fence along the road from the Oranit terminal to Azzun Atma. They’ve improvised emplacement; we didn’t see any attempts to repair the holes, even though they’re very big.

Much congestion in the lane for Palestinians through the Eliyahu crossing. Rigorous inspections. We weren’t asked where we were coming from, went through easily and then home. To another world.

Location Description

Checkpoint Beit Furik

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One of the three internal checkpoints that closed on the city of Nablus - Beit Furik to the east, Hawara to the south, Beit Iba to the west.
The checkpoint is located at the junction of Roads 557 (an apartheid road that was forbidden for Palestinians), leading to the Itamar and Alon Morea settlements and Road 5487. The checkpoint was established in 2001 for pedestrians and vehicles; The opening hours were short and the transition was slow and very problematic.

Allegedly, the checkpoint is intended to monitor the movement to and from Nablus of the residents of Beit Furik and Beit Dajan, being the only opening outside their villages.
Since May 2009 the checkpoint is open 24 hours a day, the military presence is limited, vehicles can pass through it without inspections, except for random inspections. (Updated April 2010)

Za'tara (Tapuah) Checkpoint

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Za'atara is an internal checkpoint in the heart of the West Bank, at the intersection of Road 60 and Road 505 (Trans-Samaria), east of the Tapuach settlement.
This checkpoint is the "border" marked by the IDF between the north and south of the West Bank, in accordance with the policy of separation between the two parts of the West Bank that has been in place since December 2005.

At the Za'atara checkpoint, there are separate routes for Israelis and Palestinians. In the route for Israelis, there are no inspections and the route for Palestinians inspects. The queue lengthens and shortens suits.

The checkpoint is open 24 hours a day. The checkpoint is partially staffed and the people who pass through it are checked at random.

Sep-28-2023

Shoshi Anbar

Za'atra (Tapuah Intersection). Signs

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Eliyahu Crossing

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This checkpoint, also known as the Fruit Crossing, is one of the main checkpoints between Israel and the West Bank.
It is located on Route 55 between Alfei Menashe and the turn to Qalqilya and Tzufin, more than 4 km east of the Green Line, in the separation fence, which separates Qalqilya from its lands to the south, thus leaving Alfei Menashe West of the fence - the Seam Zone.
This checkpoint, a few kilometers across the Green Line, is intended for "Israeli settlement in the West Bank and the population of the Seam Zone."
It is managed by a civil company. Palestinians with a special permit for their lands in the seam area info-icon are also allowed to pass through it, on foot, and sometimes by car.

Activity with Palestinian women and children in the West Bank

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Study Groups and Creativity Projects with Women, Adolescents, and Children

In the course of the years, connections with Palestinian women have been formed at the checkpoints and in villages in the West Bank. These meetings have engendered a desire for communal activity. At the first meeting in a community center in one of the villages we decided to begin with physical activity: exercise, yoga and also the study of languages: English and Hebrew. Following this, we added several courses in art and handicrafts. These activities received very positive reactions and they expanded to other villages. The groups multiplied and were extended to adolescents and children, boys and girls. There is great interest in this project, participants come regularly, invest a lot of energy and study with pleasure. In this way, in an atmosphere of goodwill and enjoyment, the relations between us deepen and become more significant. This provides the women and the children and adolescents with an opportunity to meet Israelis who are not threatening in any way and express a desire to live together in peace. For us, it is an opportunity to learn more intimately about village life and about the challenges facing the Palestinian woman in her community. This activity is, in itself, a response the efforts of the Israeli government to create a sharp and total division between Israelis and Palestinians. Press here for a full description of these activities.

Hoda kindergarten

In 2010, while on a trip to southeast Hebron Hills, we came upon Hoda kindergarten in the village of Hashem el Daraj. The kindergarten was situated in a small concrete structure with a tin roof, without electricity or running water; it served 15-40 children between the ages of three and six. The village is in C area, that is under Israeli rule, but it receives no support, neither from Israel nor from the Palestinian Authority. Very shortly after our first visit, we initiated educational activity in the kindergarten, including arts and crafts, music, and social activity. We were assisted by an Arab woman educator and the Bedouin driver (who was paid for his services and also served as an interpreter). In 2012 the kindergarten moved to a spacious structure, built with financial assistance from UNRWA, and was provided with running water and electricity. Gradually warm and heartfelt relations were formed both with the children and with Hoda and her assistant. For pictures of this project press here.

Fun and Sea for Palestinian children in the summer

Starting in 2007, every summer about 1500 children from the West Bank are taken to the seashore in Tel Aviv. This is a project carried out by Machsomwatch, executed by four women. The children are accompanied by adults and are given a warm welcome and hospitality. A large group of volunteers and donors make this project possible, allowing it to expand and flourish. If you go to our Blog and Facebook you will be able to learn more about these activities and to get a feeling of the experience that this provides for all participants. You are all invited to join us the summers to come.

Azun-Atma

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A Palestinian village of about 1,800 residents. The settlement of Sha'arei Tikva was established on its land adjacent to it, and the settlement of Oranit was established on its agricultural lands. By 2013, the separation fence had passed through the village and a checkpoint staffed by the army allowed the residents to cross from side to side. After building a massive wall surrounding the village and some of its agricultural lands, the residents went daily for five years to their lands that remained in the Seam Zone through the Oranit agricultural checkpoint (4). Since 2018 it has only opened during the olive harvest and the farmers have to pass daily at the Beit Amin / Abu Salman checkpoint (1447), about 3 kilometers north.

The main entrance to Azoun village: blocked now for several weeks

Apr-12-2019

Azoun: The main entrance to village blocked now for several weeks

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