Hebron, Sansana, South Hebron Hills, Wed 24.12.08, Morning
Sansana
6:45 the CP is already empty: either no workers arrived here today or they've all passed through smoothely already. The trucks, too, are already past the CP -- the CP must have opened early for them.
Road No. 60
Cold, wet and deserted. Only children walk to school along the sideways. Would any of us tolerate having our children walk this way?!
All blockages are in place.
Dura El Fawar: open, pillbox is manned.
Sheeps' Junction: open, pillbox is manned.
Hebron:
Immediately upon entering Hebron, past the yellow gate and opposite the Hazon David ma'achaz (Hebrew for: illegal/unauthorized settlement) serving as a synagogue, there is a security-jeep, one of many military vehicles, positioned on every turn in Hebron. All around the House of Dispute, curly wires strewn, military vehicles and many soldiers – one wonders how long it will stay closed.
A Jeep stands at the entry to the Prayers' Route as well; on every corner, a military jeep.
Pharmacy CP: empty. The soldiers, too, take shelter from the rain and the cold; the children pass through uninterrupted.
Tarpat and Tel-Rumeida CPs: The children pass through uninterrupted. We watched and noticed that they are not asked to stand behind the red line, as was the habit with the Golani soldiers. It is difficult to suppress the feeling that such habits reflected the 'over-motivatation' of that brigade, rather than any real, objective needs.
We encountered some policemen and were welcomed by them, uninterrupted in our shift. The cold seems to have chilled everyone, and there's less excitement in the air, only the Hebron despair.
Thanks to the Chanuka miracle, neither the settlers nor their children could be seen and our presence there was much more bearable.
Beit-Anun, Shayuch–Hebron: There are lots of children on the road, crossing it at great risk -- there's no pedestrian crossing, and obviously, no bridge for the Palestinians' children either. We had this idea, of marking a crossing by ourselves -- we might still do so...
Roads 356 and 317:
Making our way back, everything seems deserted: even the grocery at the Zif Junction, where we normally make our shopping, has no goods today: the depressing routine of the Occupation all over again.