Hebron

Imagine your life here:

The city of checkpoints - Hebron

The Wye Plantation agreement (Yasser Arafat and Bibi Netanyahu 1998) divided Hebron into H1 and H2 areas, according to which checkpoints and roadblocks were built in the city.

he Jewish community in H2 has 800 residents and is prevented from entering Area H1. In the H2 area, 40,000 Palestinians live, but many of them leave and there are many abandoned houses.

H2 is ostensibly under Palestinian sovereignty, but there are four watchtowers and soldiers overseeing what is happening below.

Here is a list of the checkpoints located inside H2 or that divide between Area H1 and H2.

Kapisha neighborhood 2 checkpoints. Givat Haharsina, Giv'at Ha'avot. Beit Ha-Meriva, Curve 160, Pharmacy, Tel Rumeida, Chabad Cemetery, Archaeological Park, Tarpat Checkpoint, Zalbar Checkpoint, Beit Rachel and Leah, Avraham Avinu Neighborhood, Beit Hadassah, Wholesale Market , The entrance barrier to the Tomb of the Patriarchs, the parking lot, the checkpoint opposite the house of Safa al-Fakhaya, the checkpoint at the entrance to the Cave of the Patriarchs from the direction of the worshipers' road, and three more checkpoints from the Casbah to the Tomb of the Patriarchs.

All these checkpoints are staffed 24/7 by soldiers and border police.

And there are a lot of roadblocks we have not counted, and various prohibitions, such as the prohibition to enter Palestinian vehicles with H2 cars.

At any given moment, soldiers can detain and do  detain any Palestinian man or woman or child. They are pre-defined as enemies.

Palestinians can not file a complaint at the police station at the Tomb of the Patriarchs.

Today we visited 'Abed, our friendly shopkeeper and this checkpoint is in his name. He  has a shop opposite the Tomb of the Patriarchs.

In the wake of complaints by settler Anat Cohen, Border Police officers placed fences next to his shop. Which prevents tourists from accessing it freely.

This is what the fences look like:  Gentle Abed, smiles , says: "The soldiers are not in control here.  The settlers are  and they make our lives miserable.