Hebron, Sansana, South Hebron Hills, Mon 14.6.10, Morning
Translator: Charles K.
Everything’s as usual, like an easy, pleasant morning walk. Until it turns out that things aren’t as they seem. Considering the fact that this was once a lively area in which a quarter of a million people lived. The emptiness and silence speak for themselves.
Sansana-Meitar
We were late, and no more laborers were waiting. One bus with relatives of prisoners waits off to the side, but we didn’t see any people. A live of trucks waited for inspection, but everything was peaceful. The bulldozers were also waiting to go into action on the eastern side of the checkpoint.
Route 60
Pretty busy: Many vehicles (in local terms), both Israeli and Palestinian. Since schools are on vacation, only a few children walk on the roadside.
Dahariyya is open, as is Dura Elfawwar. Soldiers were present only in the guard tower.
Kvasim junction is open, as is Bani Na’im.
Just as we passed Beit Haggai we saw a line of police vehicles, ambulances and emergency vehicles and we heard on the radio about the shooting attack that took place here.
On our way back we saw soldiers at every junction because of the attack. Palestinian cars were detained and Route 60 was partially closed. We waited to see what was happening, but didn’t see anyone arrested and drivers told us that their documents hadn’t been taken. We got the impression that the army behaved appropriately. There were a number of settlers who also found the road closed to them, which annoyed them. We continued on Route 317 to Beersheva, and other than at one of the entrances to Yatta we saw no soldiers.
Hebron
Quiet, dead. Even the bagel seller and the CPT people have disappeared. There were no soldiers along the Worshippers Route and on the road down to the Cave of the Patriarchs, nor at the Pharmacy checkpoint. Next to Beit Hadassah, the Tarpa”t checkpoint and in the Jewish part of Tel Rumeida the soldiers wave in a friendly manner at our vehicle. A military vehicle stands in the middle of the road in the Arab part of Tel Rumeida, but apparently isn’t in the way of the few people going past – actually, we and another man were the only people there. The CPT people feel it’s the calm before the storm, and that’s really the feeling.
Like they say: “Shhh – occupation.”