'Awarta, 'Azzun 'Atma, Huwwara, יום א' 15.3.09, בוקר

Place:

'Awarta

Huwwara

'Azzun 'Atma

Tags:

Hitches at checkpoints

Maltreatment

Observers:

Yael B., and Ditza Y. (reporting)

Mar-15-2009

Morning

Translation: Suzanne O.

Azon Atma

7:20 a.m.

The traffic is heavy, Palestinian workers wait for Israelis, usually settlers, to come and transport them to their work in the settlements. On the other side, Israeli drivers wait for their Palestinian workers. What an absurd situation of mutual dependence, it is impossible to disengage Palestinians from settlers.

There is a Border Police vehicle and an Israeli police vehicle and an additional Border Police vehicle arrives while we are at the roadblock.

An Israeli, who is apparently waiting for his workers, tells us that there was a big jam at the roadblock and the Palestinians tried to get through the fence.
About 25 Palestinians stand crowded together at the eastern side of the fence, 3 soldiers check them on the Israeli side and 3 additional soldiers guard them.

The Palestinians we talked to claim that it took them two hours to cross two roadblocks. We tried to talk to the soldiers, to find out what is going on, but they ignored us.

7:40 a.m.

The civilian police vehicle leaves. The roadblock empties, about 7 - 8 people queue for inspection. We leave.

Zeita

There are a great number of vehicles on both sides of the barrier.

Za'atra

There are no vehicles at the western roadblock and 9 cars at the northern one. On our way to Huwwara we see many vehicles on their way to the roadblock.

Huwwara

About 8:00 a.m.

Our welcome is the shriek of a female soldier to a Palestinian: "Yallah!" The pedestrian traffic into Nablus is heavy. Many of them are students, among them many females. Later in the shift the number of pedestrians to Nablus lessens.

It is very cold and rainy, and the picture of the cleaner struggling with a puddle in the inspection area with a mop, is repeated.

There are 9 vehicles in the queue from Nablus. The usual process: the passengers, apart from the driver, alight a few metres before the roadblock and wait until the vehicle examination is completed, about a minute or two if the cars are not checked, sometimes longer if the boot is checked. It doesn't matter whether it is very cold and pouring with rain, and of course the army is not worried whether the passengers are dressed for the weather or not.

There is no vehicle traffic into Nablus.

9:00 a.m.

We are asked to go to Beit Iba and leave the roadblock. A few minutes later we find out that there is no need to go there.

Awarta

There are 3 cars at the exit and one at the entrance.

Beita

A Border Police jeep observes the exit from the village. (This morning, when we passed by, there was no military vehicle parked there.)

Location Description

Huwwara - the checkpoint and the township

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The Huwwara checkpoint is an internal checkpoint south of the city of Nablus, at the intersection of Roads 60 and 5077 (between the settlements of Bracha and Itamar). This checkpoint was one of the four permanent checkpoints info-icon that closed on Nablus (Beit Furik and Awarta checkpoints to the east and the Beit Iba checkpoint to the west). It was a pedestrian-only barrier. As MachsomWatch volunteers, we watched therre since 2001 two shifts a day - morning and noon, the thousands of Palestinians leaving Nablus and waiting for hours in queues to reach anywhere else in the West Bank, from the other side of the checkpoint the destination could only be reached by public transport.
In early June 2009, as part of the easing of Palestinian traffic in the West Bank, the checkpoint was opened to vehicular traffic. The passage today is free, but there is still a military presence in the guard tower and vehicle inspections are done from time to time.

On February 26, 2023, about 400 settlers attacked the town's residents for 5 hours and set fire to property, such as houses and cars. Disturbances occurred in response to a shooting of two Jewish residents of Har Bracha by a Palestinian Terrorist. The soldiers stationed in the town did not prevent the arson and rescued Palestinian families from their homes only after they were set on fire. No one was punished and Finance Minister Smotrich stated that "the State of Israel should wipe out Hawara." Left and center organizations organized solidarity demonstrations and support actions for the residents of Hawara.

Hawara continued to be in the headlines in all the months that followed: more pogroms by the settlers, attacks by Palestinians and a massive presence of the army in the town. It amounted to a de facto curfew of commerce and life in the center of the city. On October 5, 2023, MK Zvi established a Sukkah in the center of Hawara and hundreds of settlers backed the army blocked the main road and held prayers in the heart of the town all night and the next day. On Saturday, October 7, 23 The "Swords of Iron" war began with an attack by Hamas on settlements surrounding Gaza in the face of a poor presence of the IDF. Much criticism has been made of the withdrawal of military forces from the area surrounding Gaza and their placement in the West Bank, and in the Hawara and Samaria region in particular, as a shield for the settlers who were taking over and rioting.

On November 12, 2023, the first section of the Hawara bypass road intended for Israeli traffic only was opened. In this way, the settlers can bypass the road that goes through the center of Hawara, which is the main artery for traffic from the Nablus area to Ramallah and the south of the West Bank. For the construction of the road, the Civil Administration info-icon expropriated 406 dunams of private land belonging to Palestinians from the nearby villages. The settlers are not satisfied with this at the moment, and demand to also travel through Hawara itself in order to demonstrate presence and control.

(updated November 2023)

Feb-29-2024

Nina Seba

Huwara checkpoint - the gate is closed

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Activity with Palestinian women and children in the West Bank

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Study Groups and Creativity Projects with Women, Adolescents, and Children

In the course of the years, connections with Palestinian women have been formed at the checkpoints and in villages in the West Bank. These meetings have engendered a desire for communal activity. At the first meeting in a community center in one of the villages we decided to begin with physical activity: exercise, yoga and also the study of languages: English and Hebrew. Following this, we added several courses in art and handicrafts. These activities received very positive reactions and they expanded to other villages. The groups multiplied and were extended to adolescents and children, boys and girls. There is great interest in this project, participants come regularly, invest a lot of energy and study with pleasure. In this way, in an atmosphere of goodwill and enjoyment, the relations between us deepen and become more significant. This provides the women and the children and adolescents with an opportunity to meet Israelis who are not threatening in any way and express a desire to live together in peace. For us, it is an opportunity to learn more intimately about village life and about the challenges facing the Palestinian woman in her community. This activity is, in itself, a response the efforts of the Israeli government to create a sharp and total division between Israelis and Palestinians. Press here for a full description of these activities.

Hoda kindergarten

In 2010, while on a trip to southeast Hebron Hills, we came upon Hoda kindergarten in the village of Hashem el Daraj. The kindergarten was situated in a small concrete structure with a tin roof, without electricity or running water; it served 15-40 children between the ages of three and six. The village is in C area, that is under Israeli rule, but it receives no support, neither from Israel nor from the Palestinian Authority. Very shortly after our first visit, we initiated educational activity in the kindergarten, including arts and crafts, music, and social activity. We were assisted by an Arab woman educator and the Bedouin driver (who was paid for his services and also served as an interpreter). In 2012 the kindergarten moved to a spacious structure, built with financial assistance from UNRWA, and was provided with running water and electricity. Gradually warm and heartfelt relations were formed both with the children and with Hoda and her assistant. For pictures of this project press here.

Fun and Sea for Palestinian children in the summer

Starting in 2007, every summer about 1500 children from the West Bank are taken to the seashore in Tel Aviv. This is a project carried out by Machsomwatch, executed by four women. The children are accompanied by adults and are given a warm welcome and hospitality. A large group of volunteers and donors make this project possible, allowing it to expand and flourish. If you go to our Blog and Facebook you will be able to learn more about these activities and to get a feeling of the experience that this provides for all participants. You are all invited to join us the summers to come.

Azun-Atma

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A Palestinian village of about 1,800 residents. The settlement of Sha'arei Tikva was established on its land adjacent to it, and the settlement of Oranit was established on its agricultural lands. By 2013, the separation fence had passed through the village and a checkpoint staffed by the army allowed the residents to cross from side to side. After building a massive wall surrounding the village and some of its agricultural lands, the residents went daily for five years to their lands that remained in the Seam Zone through the Oranit agricultural checkpoint (4). Since 2018 it has only opened during the olive harvest and the farmers have to pass daily at the Beit Amin / Abu Salman checkpoint (1447), about 3 kilometers north.

The main entrance to Azoun village: blocked now for several weeks

Apr-12-2019

Azoun: The main entrance to village blocked now for several weeks

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