Beit Furik, Burin (Yitzhar), Habla Checkpoint (1393), Huwwara, Madama

Share:
Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Email
Observers: 
Fathiya A., Ziona S. (reporting); Translator: Judith Green
Sep-8-2016
|
Afternoon

​​Huwwara, Medama, Burin, Beit Furik, Beit Dajan, Habla

Checkpoints and blockages, blockages and checkpoints - this is what characterizes almost every place that we visited.  Whether you call the checkpoint an "Agricultural Gate", or whether roads are blocked as collective punishment;  meanwhile, also the practice of confiscating keys from the taxi drivers has regained popularity, notorious from the days of the checkpoints around Nablus 8-9 years ago.

Habla checkpoint 1393

1:50  at the exit from Habla there is a long line, a real human traffic jam.  We met our friends, Yael and Amira with a guest writer.  They told us that the checkpoint opened 10 minutes late.  When we asked what the reason might be for such a long time at this hour, which isn't usually a crowded time, the soldiers gave us an answer:  "There is a reason.  But we can't tell you what it is."  A man waiting for a child who was supposed to arrive in a taxi had been waiting for 40 minutes;  women who came out with small children stood at the checkpoint for a solid hour;  a woman who had a hospital appointment for her babyinfo-icon in Qalqilya had to wait for 10 extra minutes until the car could leave.

We called the DCO and it turned out there was a problem with the computers.  So we asked:  Why do people need computers in order to get to the hospital in their own land, in the nearby Palestinian city??

Madama, Burin

We continued on our way to Madama; on a hill by our side, the settlements of Kedumim 3 or 4 continue to grow and expand, which are several kilometers distant from Kedumim 1.  J'at Junction is open as is the way to Sara.  We turned left and entered Madama to get some information which the city clerk was supposed to leave for us but, to our disappointment, he failed to do so.  We continued to Burin, in order to leave from the main entrance to Huwwara.  Suddenly - in the middle of Burin - a road block!  We had to return the whole way and go back to Madama, to leave on the minor road, to cross near the manned booth, and then to proceed to Huwwara.  This is what the residents of Burin must do on their way to Nablus.  Another 4 kilometers and traffic jams on a narrow road, instead of going on the main road near Huwwara.  On our way back, we went through the main entrance to Burin.  Three kilometers down the road - in the middle of the village - another roadblock!  which means that residents of Burin coming from Nablus enter as usual, and all of a sudden they are faced with a roadblock.  So, they return on their tracks to the main road and lengthen their trip by many kilometers, up to the entrance to Madama, make a U-turn, until they get back home.

image001_17.jpg

 

Beit Dajan - the road eastward in the direction of Elon Moreh has been blocked to Palestinians for several years, so the residents of Beit Dajan have to enter and exit only through Beit Furik, which lengthens their way quite a bit.  After the opening of the Huwwara checkpoint, the road was opened for a year or so.  Now, the whole route is different, the road is closed to Palestinians, and once again they have to go the long way through Beit Furik.

image003_14.jpg

Huwwara - the entrances from the main road in the direction of the villages is blocked.

חסימה מחווארה לביתא1.jpg 

חסימה מחווארה לעינבוס.jpg

We spoke with M, a resident of Burin, from Yesh Din.  He told us that he was told that someone threw stones in Huwwara on cars, so they closed all the entrances to the villages of Beita, Inabus Jama'in, Burin and several other villages.  I.e., collective punishment.

Ariel Junction, Blessed is your return, the policy of confiscating keys.  In the parking lot next to the taxi.  The Palestinians tell us that the military vehicle hunts taxis which stopped in a forbidden area (not on the main road, but on the edges of the wide entrance of the lot), and then he confiscates their keys for 4 hours.  The gatherin of the workers, their principle business, is ruined.  They claim this is a system which has made a daily comeback.  While we were talking the car made another turn around the lot, but this time didn't find any prey.