machsomwatch members and friends help Rhama to harvest

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Eliah with family members and friends (photos), Neta (Reporting) Translation: Bracha

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Oct-29-2016

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Morning

Rachma Yassin, a widow and resident of A'anin, has an agricultural permit, but her son and daughter did not receive permits for the olive harvest. Her olive grove is on a hillside far from the checkpoint and she gets there with the help of a donkey. Her story appears in reports from the 25^th and 27^th of October, 2016. We have not yet succeeded in helping her son receive a permit and we have invited the northern members of Machsom Watch to help with the harvest. Eliah Levi energetically and dedicatedly undertook the task. She arrived on Saturday morning with her two daughters and a group of friends and went down the long road to the olive grove together with Rachma and her relative Ibrahim.

Eliah noted that the working together was a wonderful experience for everyone and that the meeting with Rachma and Ibrahim was extremely pleasant.

29.10 rahma visitor harvest.jpg — Rachma, the guest, and the donkey after the olive harvest

29.10 helping Rahama to harvest.jpg — Jews and palestinians harvesting
together

It is extreme3ly irritating that the olive grove is not far from A'anin, but far from the only checkpoint that allows residents of A'anin access to their fields in the seamline zone. If there were another checkpoint along the separation barrier it would be easier for residents of A'anin such as Rachma to reach their fields.

An additional personal note regarding the random placement of agricultural checkpoints

On Saturday three members arrived at the checkpoint and we began walking down with Eliya and her friends towards Rachma's olive grove. The road was difficult to walk on and we got a bit lost along the way. Eliah and her friends convinced us to go back because we would have to walk back uphill. Instead we joined another family who did not really need our help. We enjoyed being with them and joined them for breakfast. Eliah told us that the way back up the hill to the checkpoint was long and difficult.

Location Description

Anin agricultural checkpoint

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located on the Separation Fence east of the Israeli community Mei Ami and close to the village of Anin in the West Bank. It is opened twice a week, morning and afternoon, for periods of time that are growing shorter Lith time. It is meant for Anin farmers whose olive groves have been separated from the village by the fence. Transit permits are only issued to those who can produce ownership documents for their caged-in land, and sometimes only to the head of the family or his widow, eldest son and children. At times the inheritors lose their right to tend to the family’s land. The permits are eked out and are re-issued only with difficulty. 55-year old persons may cross the checkpoint (into Israel) without special permits. During the olive harvest season (about one month around October) the checkpoint is open every day and more transit permits are issued. Names of persons eligible to cross are held in the soldiers’ computers. In July 2007, a sweeping instruction was issued according to which whoever does not return to the village through this checkpoint in the afternoon will be stripped of his transit permit when he shows up there next time. Since 2019, the checkpoint has not been allways locked with the seam-line zone gate (1 of 3 gates info-icon ), and the fence around it has been broken in several sites.