'Azzun, Beit Furik, Burin (Yitzhar), Habla, Jit Junction, Madama

Place:

'Azzun

Beit Furik

Burin (Yitzhar)

Habla

Jit Junction

Madama

Observers:

Irit S., Fathia (reporting),; Translator: Judith Green

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Mar-3-2016

Afternoon

14:00 Hablah

No problems.

14:15 Azzun

Next to the entrance, between the olive trees, a military jeep and a few soldiers are walking around the area.

14:45 a flying checkpoint at the junction of Jit-Sarra. Road #60 Izhar, is closed to Palestinian vehicles, only cars with yellow license plates can go on it, to our luck.

15:00 Madamah - the western entrance (the bridge) is blocked by dirt and stones. We couldn't enter. We were supposed to attend a meeting with the head of the local council who was waiting for us. We tried to enter by way of Burin. At the entrance to Burin there was a checkpoint but we managed to enter but inside the village there were 2 jeeps riding around and another jeep at the entrance to Madamah. The soldiers did not allow us to enter, so we went back.

15:20 Huwwara. The junction of Huwarrah-Izhar on the East was also blocked for Palestinian vehicles, there was a checkpoint. The main road of Huwarrah was blocked to Palestinian vehicles. A lot of traffic of military vehicles on the road. The checkpoint was between Huwarrah and Nablus and was closed, and the Palestinian vehicles traveled by way of Huwarrah, which was open, but manned by a lot of soldiers who checked every vehicles carefully.

15:30 Beit Furik. Soldiers and a jeep at the entrance to the village, not at the checkpoint. They kicked out shepherds who were in the area. The checkpoint itself was manned.

15:45 At the entrance to Beita there were about 10 soldiers.

15:55 Za'atra junction. Full of soldiers standing in every corner. There was a checkpoint next to the roundabout which prevented Palestinian vehicles from entering Nablus by way of Huwarra. They were turned away in the direction of Zeita J'amin. This route would take about 2 hours to get to Nablus, instead of 15 minutes. All of this was in order to enable the "masters" to travel easily on a Palestinian-free road.

16:00 Junction of Ariel - soldiers manning the bus stop.

The junction of Masha/Haris full of a serious traffic jam blocking people coming from Haris, because of all the entrances/exits from Nablus in the direction of Ramallah were blocked. The bus stops were manned.

Location Description

'Azzun

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Azoun (updated February 2019)

A Palestinian town situated in Area B (under civil Palestinian control and Israeli security control),

on road 5 between Nablus and Qalqiliya, east of Nabi Elias village. The inhabitants are allowed to construct and improve infrastructures. The Separation Fence has confiscated lands belonging to the town's people. In 2018 olive tree groves owned by one of its inhabitants were confiscated for the sake of paving a road to bypass Nabi Elias. Azoun population numbers 13,000, its economic state dire. Its infrastructures are poor, neglect and poverty rampant. In the meantime, the town council has completed paving an internal road for the inhabitants' welfare.

Because of its proximity to the Jewish settler-colony of Karnei Shomron and its outposts, the town suffers the intense presence of the Israeli army, especially at nighttime: soldiers enter homes, arrest suspects, trash the house and sometimes ruin it, as they do in numerous places in the West Bank. At times a checkpoint closes the entrance to the town, so no one can come in or get out.

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)

Madama

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Madama village

This village is situated in the Nablus district, about 5 kilometers south of the city of Nablus, at an altitude of 517 meters above sea level. Madama was founded 400 years ago and its villagers originate from the Arabian Peninsula. It numbered 1,728 inhabitants in 2007. 62% of the village area is categorized as Area B, and 38% as Area C.

Over the years, hundreds of dunams have been robbed of the village for the purpose of building settler-colonies, army bases, and paving roads:139 dunams were sequestered to found settler-colony Yitzhar south of the village, and the land was also confiscated for paving road 60. The road and its buffer zone (75 meters on each side) lined by barbed wire fences separate the village’s farmlands to the north and the village farmers are denied access to tend them. The road also separates Madama and Bourin, two villages with close neighborly ties, and now not able to access the road directly.

The settler-colony Yitzhar has become a daily threat to the village. The settler-colonists planted trees in fenced-in groves, steal crops, burn, uproot and vandalize Palestinians’ trees, and harm both holy sites and property. They also attack the Palestinian landowners in order to terrorize them and prevent them from accessing their lands.

For further information: http://vprofile.arij.org/nablus/pdfs/vprofile/Madama_vp_en.pdf

Jit Junction checkpoint

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The checkpoint is located on Route 60 near at the junction with Route 55, near the village of Jit. There was a checkpoint for vehicles passing between the north and south of the West Bank, which was abolished towards 2010. Since then, surprise checkpoints have been set up there from time to time with a police or Border Police vehicle, and vehicles and their passengers are inspected.

May-14-2014

Yehudith Levin

14.05.14 Jit junction צומת ג'ית

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Burin (Yitzhar)

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Burin

This is a Palestinian village in the Nablus governorate, a little south of Nablus, on the main road passing through the West Bank. The settlements: Yitzhar and Har Bracha, settled in locations that surrounded the village, placed fences so it is cut off the main road.

There are around 4000 inhabitants. Most of them are engaged in agriculture and pasture, although many graduates of the two secondary schools continue to study at the university. Academic positions are hardly available, they find work as builderd, or leave for the Gulf countries.

The village lands were appropriated several times for the establishment of Israeli settlements and military bases, and as a result, Burin's land and water resources dwindled. lSince 1982, more than 2,000 dunams of village land have been declared "state land" and then transferred to Har Bracha settlement.

Over the past few years and more so since 2017, the villagers have been terrorized by the residents of Yitzhar and Har Bracha, the Givat Ronen outpost and others.
Despite the close proximity of soldiers to an IDF base close to one of the village's schools, residents are suffering from numerous stone-throwing events, vehicle and fire arson, also reported in the press.

In 2023, the prevention of the olive harvest in the village plot was more violent than ever. Soldiers and settlers walked with drawn weapons between the houses of the village and demanded that people stop harvesting in the village itself and in the private plots outside the village. The settlers from Yitzhar and Giv'at Roned raided the olive groves and stole crops. 300 olive trees belonging to the residents of Burin, near Yitzhar, were uprooted. The loss of livelihood from the olives causes long-term economic damage to the farmers' families, bringing them to the point of starvation.

(updated for November 2023)