Hebron, South Hebron Hills, Mon 7.6.10, Morning

Translation: Bracha B.A. 

Idna-Hebron Route:
Our car broke down along the way. We stopped immediately and were helped by a pleasant Palestinian driver, but M., our driver, decided to go to a garage immediately. We drove back to Idna and the problem was repaired within a half hour and we returned to Hebron, but by that time it was already noon.  

Humanitarian CheckPoint: No one to be seen.

Hebron Entrance Story:
At the entrance to Kiryat Arba the guard stops us once again. Asking questions, he demands to see our papers and goes to check (check what?). We're given no explanation for this, although it's been years that we've go through without ever being checked or encountering other problems. Meanwhile, we're stuck here so observe the construction taking place on the hillside in addition to the existing houses.. The caravans belonging to the settlement are still positioned on Hill 18. At last the person responsible for guarding the entrance returns with our IDs but our questions remain unanswered. While we were waiting, we tried to get hold of the Hebron police but there was no answer. Michal's attempts to help did not help either. Suddenly Nachal soldiers arrived and stopped to check something as well. After a long time a police car arrived and Tal, a policeman, came to see who we were. He explained that he was called to step in by the IDF.  He claimed he had been working here for 16 years but had never heard of Machsom Watch.  "Evidently I didn't need to know." We were allowed to enter but not without a lot of suspicion.

Hebron
During the time we had left we checked all our usual places and all were quiet. Some of the soldiers were relaxed and smiling. On the way we saw a colored banner that read, "How good it is to have you back home." (To the ghost town?).  At the grocery store in Idna, a man complained that soldiers from the Border Police make a lot of noise at night shouting through their loudspeakers. We gave him Raya's phone number and told him to call her if it happened again. Is it possible to do something about the Kiryat Arba entrance?