Ar-Ras, Jubara (Kafriat), Thu 4.10.07, Afternoon

Place:

Jubara (Kafriat)

Ar-Ras

Observers:

Deborah L., Hagar L. (reporting); Translation: Galia S.

Oct-4-2007

Afternoon

Ar-Ras checkpoint

14:10 – A minibus on its way south has been detained for the last 20 minutes according to one of the passengers. I asked the checkpoint commander for the reason, and his answer is that they are not detained. I go on asking what the pile of ID cards is doing on the counter. The commander turns to his friend and asks him if he has detained them. When the show is over he returns the ID cards to the driver and the minibus goes on its way.

Jubara checkpoint (gate 753)

14:53 – The soldier is holding lists probably with names of those allowed to enter the village. The two people in the car hand their ID cards and the soldier leafs through the list for quite a while until he finally finds their names. He returns the ID cards and they drive away.

The village of Shufa on road 557

14:20 – In the light of the report on blocking the exit from the village with an iron gate, we entered the village to check whether there was such a blockade and were happy not to find any. What the report had said probably concerned an iron gate situated on the army patrol road. We asked a few youngsters who were sitting beside the road about the blockade and they said there wasn't any. We also learned from them that the entrance to Izbit Shufa (the houses closest to the border passage) was from road 57 (Anabta junction in the direction of Tulkarm). We tried to imagine what the area had looked like before road 557, constructed on a big rampart, came into being, and now close the villages Shufa and Safarin had been before it became necessary to travel via Beit Lid or via Tulkarm in order to get from one to the other, by taxi, of course.

14:45 – At Anabta there is no line because cars are not checked (perhaps due to a shift change).

17:30 – On the way to Qalqiliya checkpoint, the roads are empty. The Moslems are having the meal to break their fast and the Jewish people are celebrating the Rejoicing of the Law.

We can see from afar that Qalqiliya checkpoint is empty and we don't enter. There are no soldiers at the entrance to Azzun. When we get to Eliyahu Passage, we remove all the Machsom Watch signs and pass without even an eyelid flicker on the part of the soldiers.

Location Description

Ar-Ras (The Children) Checkpoint

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on Tulkarm-Qalqiliya road (574), east of Hirbet Jubara. Intended for residents travelling to and from Tulkarm, so they should not cross apartheid road 557 (only permissible for settlers).

Jubara (Kafriat) Checkpoint

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The Jabra checkpoint was on Road 557, south of Tulkarm, on the side of the Figs Pass, which is located within the Palestinian Authority (a few kilometers east of the Green Line), and serves as an entry barrier from the territories to Israel.

The checkpoint to the village of Jubara, which until 2013 was in the seam area info-icon , blocked and surrounded by a fence, was intended for the passage of the family members of the house next to the checkpoint, and also for the MachsomWatch volunteers (with special permission only), on their way to checkpoint 753. on the other side of the village.

The soldiers supervising the "fig crossing" also supervised the crossing at this checkpoint, in our shifts we often waited a long time until the key was found and the gate opened. The checkpoint was abolished and became part of the separation fence that was moved west following the High Court.