'Azzun, Eliyahu Crossing, Jayyus, Kufr Jammal
11:00 Eliyahu checkpoint
3-4 cars in the inspection area, a few trucks in the farthest lane next to the inspection station toward Israel.
Right beyond the checkpoint police officers are carefully inspecting a large truck of the Lehavim fire protection company.
We stop to photograph the entry road to Izbet Tabib after the roadblock had been removed; the IDF placed it two weeks ago as punishment for rock throwing from the other side of Highway 55. The large boulders and concrete blocks sit on the roadside. The distant hills are still covered with snow.
We drive to 'Azzun to unload parcels for our friend Z. who’s planning to go to Rambam hospital (to be examined before deciding on a new procedure) with his wife and little son, with Tzvia’s help, of course.
12:33 We arrive at the northern Jayyus gate, which is closed and locked, with no sign (the sign with the number of the gate was apparently removed); a red sign warning of deathly danger lies on the ground. There’s no information, of course, about the hours the gate is open. Opposite, slightly to the north, a few pieces of heavy equipment are employed erecting the new fence and the security road along its length.
13:00 Kafr Jimal. We drop by Z’s to learn what’s new. He complains he hasn’t free access to 90% of his lands beyond the fence. Though he has a permit to cross through Falamiya, that’s far away. The new fence, which is supposed to bring lands from the seam zone to within the area of the fence, is stealing more of his land. He says that even during the olive harvest the five gates
allowing farmers from Kafr Jimal easier access to their land didn’t open. The only way to reach them was through the Sla’it checkpoint, and only on foot, or at most with a donkey, but not with a tractor or other vehicle. He wants there to be peace and brotherhood, a chance for all to make a living. His daughter, a young mother of two, said she’s learning English and English literature at university. She wants to be an English teacher but knows she won’t find work “here.” We ask whether she’d work in another village; she says there are no jobs anywhere in Palestine. Her husband graduated from university as a sports teacher and now works in construction in Israel to earn a living.
13:50 Eliyahu gate. Many cars are in the inspection area.
14:00 We decided not to enter Habla on the way back; a large police vehicle was parked at the junction and we couldn’t turn left.