South Hebron Hills, Tarqumiya

Place:

South Hebron Hills

Tarqumiya

Observers:

Hagit (watching, reporting and photographing); Translator: Natanya

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Jun-17-2019

Morning

זול להשתייך למתנחלים. אף מילה על מה שהתנחלות נגוהות עושה לכפר חורסה

It's cheep to belong to the settlers

Photo:

Hagit Back

The days pass, the year passes and the melody of the occupations lingers on.

Nothing in particular happened on this shift.

We have all gotten used to it and put our heads in the sand.

Next to the pillbox at the Saddle Junction (Route 35, Route 60) there is a shooting range. All the security coordinators of the settlements have gathered there, it is amazing to see the kippot and tzitzit and the uniforms of IDF soldiers, The lords of the land.

The red sign warning Israelis not to enter Palestinian areas has been taken down next to the pillbox at the Idna - Tarqumiya junction.

The owner of the grocery store tells us that everything is great. He is a member of the Bereaved Families Forum and has received decent medical treatment from the State of Israel and wants the one state solution ...

At Tarqumiya the line of trucks passes quickly and the parking lot is full.

It pays to belong to the settler community ... nothing more needs to be said . For example what the settlement of Negohot is doing to the village of Hursa for example.

At the checkpoint on the road of Negohot - only settler cars are allowed to enter and leave.

I did not have the strength to enter Hebron.

Location Description

Tarqumiya

See all reports for this place

The Tarqumiya Checkpoint is one of the largest and busiest checkpoints where people and goods cross into Israel. It is located on the Separation Barrier close to the Green Line, on Road 35 (connecting Beer Sheva and Hebron). It is run by the Israel Defense Ministry’s Crossings Administration with civilian secuirty companies running the day to day operations. The checkpoint is indeed open to vehicles in both directions 24/7, but Palestinians are prevented from crossing in vehicles, except in special cases.

MachsomWatch activists visit the checkpoint as it opens at 3:45 am, in order to observe the daily passage of nearly 10,000 Palestinian workers. The workers arrive from throughout the Southern West Bank. Our activists report on the tremendous overcrowding at this checkpoint; they have observed young men climbing and scrambling on the fences and roofs of the ‘access cages’. This is how the work day begins for those who ‘build the land of Israel’.

updated November 2019

Yata / Southern Hebron hills

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Yatta is a city located in the South Hebron Hills region. It is located in the border zone between the fertile area of Hebron and its surroundings and the desert of the Hebron Hills. Yatta has about 64,000 inhabitants. The surrounding villages are called Masafar Yatta (Yatta's daughter villages). Their inhabitants subsist on livestock and agriculture. Agriculture is possible only in small plots, especially near streams. Most of the area consists of rocky terraces.

Since the beginning of the 1980s, a number of settlements have been established on the agricultural land cultivated by the Palestinians in the South Hebron Hills region: Carmel, Maon, Susia, Masadot Yehuda, Othniel, and more. Since the settlements were established and Palestinians cultivation areas have been reduced; the residents of the South Hebron Hills have been suffering from harassment by the settlers. Attempts to evict and demolish houses have continued, along with the withholding of water and electricity. The military and police usually refrain from intervening in violent incidents between settlers and Palestinians do not enforce the law when it comes to the investigation of extensive violent Jewish settlers. The harassment in the South Hebron Hills includes attacking and attempting to burn residential tents, harassing dogs, harming herds, and preventing access to pastures.

There are several checkpoints in the South Hebron Hills, on Routes 317 and 60. In most of them, no military presence is apparent, but rather an array of pillboxes monitor the villages. Road blocks are frequently set up according to the settlers and the army's needs. These are located at the Zif Junction, the Dura-al Fawwar crossing, and the Sheep Junction at the southern entrance to Hebron.

Updated April 2022

Apr-10-2024

Muhammad D.

Sa'ir - Yael and Ahmad

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