Azzun, Qalqiliya, Wed 16.4.08, Morning

Share:
Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Email
Observers: 
Sarah K, Rina Z. (reporter), Joan - a guest, a student from Sapir college.
Apr-16-2008
|
Morning

Summary:
Complaints re delays of workmen going through Elijah Passage. A case of prohibition by Police, and a mother worrying about
the deportation of her son to Jordan - two more cases demonstrating the
use of bureaucratic means to oppress.
Because of a disagreement between Nadim and Nina S. on payment for
changing the habitual route, we could not check if the road to Azzun
from the the western entrance is open or blocked.
Qalqiliya (Elijah Passage)
7:10- 7:35
Workmen going through the passage complain about some officer who
abuses them and delays them for no good reason. Every morning workmen
who work at the settlements on the seamline, especially Alphei
Menasheh, go through here.
We saw over 20 men and three or four women. They complained that
they had been waiting for a long time. One claims to have been there
since 05:30. A woman from Alphei Menasheh appears. She came to collect
the female workers. She confirmed that people have been waiting since
05:30 - 6:00 and arrived at the factory at 08:00.
She too complained of very slow inspections. The inspections start at 06:00.
In a small booth two military policemen sit and inspect the
permit of each worker, checking it on the computer. When we went there
to find out what was happening they asked us to wait, because they were
in a hurry to finish the inspections of those in the queue. And indeed,
since we got there the inspection got significantly faster, until the
queue was disappeared.
It seems to us that whoever passes through the passage at an
early hour should look in and ask the workmen what is happening, thus
also showing the Military Policemen that someone is interested in their
work.
07:35 - 08:05 Qalqiliya Checkpoint
Fairly lively traffic. When we were standing at the checkpoint the inspection was fast and the queues faded away.
We met a man who is on the list of those prohibited entry by the Police, the father of 13 children who had worked for years in Kfar Saba. From
the beginning of last year his Israeli work permit was taken away from
him because of a police file, and he does not know what is in it. Haya
Offek deals with cases of those prevented entry by the police and is dealing with his case.
With him came an older woman, a Jordanian citizen who has lived in
the territories for several years. She has two sons in prison. One had
succeeded in obtaining a Palestinian identity card but the other has
not. (It is a known fact that many thousands of Jordanians in the West
Bank do not obtain Palestinian citizenships because of the objections
of the occupying Israeli authorities). She hired a lawyer for 1000 IS
and he appealed to the High Court of Justice, but there are
bureaucratic delays. In one month time her son is due to be released
from prison and she is afraid that he will be deported to Jordan, where
he has no family. We referred her to the Centre for the Defence of the
Individual, with very little hope of getting her help.
Azzun
The main entrance to the village from Route 55 has been blocked
for several months with piles of earth and barbed wire. From the road
we could not see whether or not the road from the western entrance,
joining Izvat Tabib and Azzun , was blocked, since we could not go in
and look. This was because of a disagreement between Nadim and Nadia S.
as to the payment for using a route inhabitual for the shift.
Kfar Lakif
From the road - it seems that the entrance is open.