Falamiya, Kufr Jammal
No military presence at the entrance to Azzun. The holiday is noticable.
12:30 Jamal village.
We visit Z.'s grocery. He has land near Kokhav Yair but has lost easy access to it after the separation barrier has been moved. Now he must drive his tractor over other people's cultivated land to reach his own. Again and agin we hear tales of the difficulty the farmers expereince over the brief opening of the gates
. They sometimes need to perform a job that takes an hour, but must remain there for hours till the gate is reopened. Some days ago one farmer felt ill and had to wait a long while for an ambulance. As for water, it is distributed to the farmers on a fixed schedule. But they still all need to arrive at the agricultural gates at the same early hour. They plead for the gates to remain open through the day, as in the past.
The moving of the barrier was to the benefit of Jayuss, but to the detriment of other villages: Jamal, Hirbet Sir, Zibad, Abush, Sur, A-Ras and Falmiya.
We drive with Z. on the Qalqilya-Tulkarm road, overlooking Zur Natan, Zur Yigal, Zur Itzhak and Kokhav Yair. All these were built, says Z., on land belonging to Jamal. Now a military road cuts through his own land. Of his 30 acres of olives, he can only reach those on this side of the road, and he cannot tend the trees on its other side.
Falmiya
On our previous visit (30.6) the Palestininas reported that the old gate, 914, is also opened, at noon. The soliders knew nothing of this. But indeed at 13:05 the northern gate opened, apparently for 30-40 minutes.
We hurried to the southern gate, 935, and at 13:45 the jeep arrived and the soldiers opened the gate speedily. Two tractor drivers were checked and allowed through. We meant to inquire about the hours, but when we saw the military policewoman begin to dial their phone and whisper to her mates, we left before being delayed and questioned, odd women that we are.