Falamiya North Checkpoint (914), Jayyus north 965 Checkpoints along the fence, during the olive harvest

Checkpoints along the fence, during the olive harvest

Thanks to the change from Summer Time, it was easier to get up in the morning!  We arrived at dawn (6;15) to checkpoint 914, called Falamiya North.  10 tractors and wagons stood in front of the gate.  Thanks to the light of dawn, we saw things which we had not seen in previous shifts which had begun in utter darkness.  Two soldiers from the Military Police and one woman soldier who was also a Military Policewomen were those already known to us from 2 weeks ago.  Conversations with the people standing in line to go to their fields reveal over and over the dispair caused by their having to go through all these inspections on the way to their own piece of land.  In the past, the olive harvest was a wonderful family festival and now...they complain that the other family members can't even come to the harvest and help to finish it.  They are already tired of complaining all the time...and we, parhaps, are worn out from our understanding of the pointlessness of this eternal occupation. (and then, the thought comes:  What do we have to complain about?  We are the privileged ones in this scenario).

After the Falamiya North checkpoint, we find out way to the checkpoint we call Jayyus North, which is called #934 by the army.  Here there were again about 10 tractors waiting.  Not a lot of workers on foot (these lands belong to people from Jayyus and they are rather distant from the village, so those who are coming are either on wagons or tractors.

A young man goes over to the Military Police and begs for them to let him pass over to his piece of land which is right across from us.  The soldier explains to him that it is not possible for him to come every day and beg him to let him into his land since he doesn' have the proper permit.  From our research, we find out that the young man works for a contractor and passes through the Tzufin gate every day.  Thus, they refused to give him a permit to go into his own land which is quite far from Tzufin and close to gate #934.  All of his begging at the DCO was in vain.  So, it ends up that there is no one to harvest his olives.  Yesterday, it happened that the soldier on duty was nice to him and let him pass through the gate even though he didn't have the right permit, but today he is no longer agreeing.  He's afraid that his superior will find out that he did it.  Rachel also tried to mix in and find a crack in the refusal of the soldier - but in vain.  We have already described how fear is what sustains the occupation.  All of the soldiers are obedient - also when they understand that the orders are not humane nor are they just - because they all are afraid.  So, I am happy that my grandchildren refused to serve in the army.

We try not to be afraid and thus we continue to go out to the checkpoints along the fence at dawn even when we know that we are not capable of changing the situation.  From there, we went to the checkpoint along the fence which is called Jayyus South (#1012).  The same Palestinians whom we know from the previous weeks are waiting for them to open the checkpoint.  The same soldiers whom we know from previous weeks and previous checkpoints.  The same complaints, the same joking and making fun of the soldiers.  The play continues are we are all active actors in it.

We did not get to Khirbet 'Isla because one of us was in a hurry to get to a course at the University and the crowded masses of settlers going out to work on the coastal plain discouraged us.  We also joined the long and crowded row of cars going out in the morning from the settlements in the directions of Tel Aviv.