morning

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Dec-8-2003
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D.L. E.S., H. T., E. T., S. B.,The hour 7:30 in the morning, before we arrived at the qalqiliya checkpoint we turned right on the road leading to the settlement Tzofin, in order to check the new checkpoint that appeared there three weeks ago. This checkpoint is a gate in the Separation Wall--gate no. 1037-- it leads to Tzofin and an army camp at its entrance. The reserve soldiers who were there spoke to us politely and answered our questions with no difficulty, but they didn't know much. "I'm just a little soldier and do what I"m told". On the left side there is a road that leads to a back to back loading area for the Kalkilia area. A donkey with a cart and a Palestinian couple from Kalkilia came from there--OMar El Arka and his wife, owners of a tangerine orchard. The SEparation Fence passes between their home and their orchard. NOw, in order for them to reach their orchard, they must, ofcourse, pass through a gate. As of three weeks ago, they also need a permit for passage--the well known Tasrich. He is allowed to pass the gate, agricultural gate no. 1050 which is one kilometer west of the Tzofin gate. The problem is, he says this gate is open at 5 in the morning and only for one half hour. At five in the morning it's dark, and who can pick tangerines in the dark? So he goes through the Kalkilia checkpoint, the road next to back to back loading area. He makes a 2 kilometer detour and arrives hearty and happy, permit in hand, to gate no. 1037, the Tzofin gate that is open 24 hours a day and serves the people of the Tzofin settlement and the army. There are 200 hundred families living in Tzofin. We saw him, Omar, enter the gate and then return the whole way to his tangerine orchard. He rode on the road parrell to the wall. We were not allowed to go there, although we really wanted to, but it is a closed military area. Just the army and Omar are allowed on it. AS he rides off, a truck with five people arrives, again, residents of Kalkilia who want to reach their orchards. They tell us that all the agricultural gatesinfo-icon have been closed for three months and they are forced to go through this same gate number 1037 that leads to Tzofin. If the agricultural gates are opened, they are opened for only one half hour. As we speak with them, three army jeeps arrive and inquire as to our activities, we ask a lot of questions and don't get many answers.At 8:20 an order is recieved to close all the gates! There is a warning! There is a suicide terrorist in the area. Eran, the soldier closes gate no. 1037. The gate is opened within 10 min. just to let people out of the settlement but not to enter. Closed.Y. S., deaf, the owner of a truck, a resident of Jos which is 13 kilometers east of Tzofin wants to reach his land which is three kilometers from the gate of the village of Jos , but that gate is closed. It is opened for one quarter of an hour at 7am. He missed it and rode around through Eyzon in order to reach that same gate that is open 24 hours a day, gate no. 1037 that goes to Tzofin. It's his bad luck that he is stuck. I explained to him why the gate is closed--there is a warning--and he understood! The man is tired, has not strength, waits...we tried to help him by talking to the soldier but the soldier explained politely that there is a terrorist in the area.Kalkilia Checkpoint--8:30About 35 cars, trucks, taxis, bar the entrance to the checkpoint. It's a real traffic jam. The checking is very thorough. There are about 100 people under the roof on the eastern side waiting to enter Kalkilia and more than twice that many on the opposite side who want to leave Kalkilia. Four artiliiary soldiers, reservists and two women soldiers who had arrived a few minuets previousely. " I have no idea what happened here", one of them says. They stand and check. There is no exit from Kalkilia--the orders allow for no exceptions, period! There is a terrorist on his way to Rosh Haayin and one must be careful, says the checkpoint commander.9:15 The checkpoint fills up with people, as usual. All those with blue IDs who don't have a permit are not allowed entrance to Kalkilia, just residents of Kalkilia. Assaf, an enlisted soldier, representative of the DCO, speaks a very basic Hebrew, nice, does whatever errand he is asked to in a pleasant manner, speaks gently, asks permission to cross the checkpoint and count how many people are on the western side. It's close to Kalkilia. He counts and says that there are 200 people. He also notes that until the warning the checkpoint was completely open. An Israeli contractor who is working in Alfe Menshe waits for a permit for his worker from Kalkilia. There is none. Now they are not giving any out. There is a warning. He leaves. He'll come back tomorrow. A woman arrives, a lawyer with papers for a client who lives in Kalkilia. She tries to send him the papers. He is "refused by the police". She, a lawyer, ORit Gildar, represents Palestinians-- "there is an economic resession and one must make a living, low prices", is a resident of Alfe Menashe since the early 90s, before that she was a resident of Tzofin, originally from Tel Aviv. She and her husband,,both are lawyers deal with ARabs from the occupied territories and all that concerns the green line. The refer to the appropriate authorities, there are three such authorities. She is their channel to the army, the police and the secret police. She has helped a not inconsequential number of people leave for overseas, to Germany, England, France, she says.AT the entrance a four wheel drive fancy jeep, with four yuppi looking guys stops. "Good for you", says the driver. "You're Israelis?", I ask. "Do we look like Arabs?" "I was just asking if you are Israelis, not wether you are Arabs or Jews," I answered. "Yes", they said. "Yes, " they said. "Where in Israel are you from?" I ask. "From Tel Aviv, we are from Geneva" "What do you mean?" I ask. "From the Agreement" they answer.At 10:00 we left the checkpoint and did not stop at Ozon because of the warning. We decided to return straight home.