Violence

Translator:  Charles K.

6:30-10:00

A lot has been happening recently in the village of a-Tuwwani.  We decided to devote today’s shift to visiting the village.  Despite our long acquaintance with the villagers, despite our joint struggle (like other peace groups and human rights organizations) over their right to remain there and live safely, we are shocked anew each time by the maliciousness and obtuseness of the behavior toward them by the state and its institutions.

Their only sin is that they live at the foot of the notorious settlements of Ma’on and Ma’on Farm, and that among their houses are archaeological remains from the Roman and Byzantine periods (what Israeli locality doesn’t sit on an archaeological site?). 

A bit of history

After considerable struggles and the involvement of many parties, it was finally agreed to connect them to a water supply (they depend primarily on cisterns). But lo and behold, when excavations had just begun to lay the pipes, someone remembered that the location was in fact an archaeological site worth researching.  What’s more important?  Water for people (non-Jews) or the remains of a synagogue thousands of years old?  You guessed right.  So they stopped preparing the infrastructure for the water supply, and stuck a sign from the Antiquities Authority in the middle of someone’s yard,  and dug.  Now we have an important site.  You can’t touch it; you can only make a pilgrimage.

Last Friday, 3.2.12, a group of tourists arrived on a tour run by In the Bible’s Pathways, from Sussia.  They first went to Yata to see the pools from the time of Nabal HaCarmeli, and then came to see the remains of the ancient synagogue in a-Tuwwani.  “Did anyone let you know, try to coordinate with you?,” we asked the people whose yard had become sanctified.  “No,” they replied in surprise.  The buses parked at the entrance to the village, the group entered on foot accompanied by police and soldiers.  They prayed and sounded shofars.  Yehoshofat Tor and his brother from Havvat Ma’on, and settlers from Ma’on,  joined them;  they never miss an opportunity to enter a-Tuwwani and harass its residents .  After an hour and a half of uproar, they left.

“What about the water pipe?  When will they connect you?”, we asked.  “Who knows,” they reply.

Anyway, who really cares?  Everything’s  legal…

That Friday night about 25 more olive trees near their houses were mysteriously cut down, as well as another 15 located farther away.  The people from Tuwwani complained to the police.  Last night, at midnight, they heard noises and went to see what it was.  “Police, army,” they were told, “Go back inside.”

Yes, they came.  To guard?  To arrest settlers?  “Go home, go home,” yelled the law enforcement officials to the settlers; that’s what the residents heard.  The security forces were there until 3 AM, chasing the rioters away.  No one was arrested.  That’s how it was day after day, night after  night.

Again, a stupid question:  Would they behave that way if Palestinians dared damage Jewish property?

A bit more history

Since 1981, when Ma’on was established, and then the adjoining farm, the residents of a-Tuwwani “benefit” from the blows of those “dear ones.”  It began with polluting wells with chicken carcasses, then uprooting olive trees, and finally harassing and frightening children coming from nearby localities to attend school in the village.

Since 2004, thanks to the efforts by Hagit Beck, the residents and the Knesset children Committee at that time, a solution of genius was devised, to which the IDF agreed and was forced to carry out till now, namely – every morning an IDF jeep and soldiers accompany the children coming from Umm Tuba who have to pass by Ma’on on their way to school.

We welcomed the solution.  It was better than nothing.  But we thought:  Our wise men of Chelm haven’t considered (they don’t dare) preventing the thugs from Havvat Ma’on from lashing out at the children.  It’s simpler, fairer and cheaper to provide a military escort every morning for a group of school children.

Has one of us ever  tried to apply that formula where we are?

That’s how things have been since then.

So what’s happened in the interim?  Residents of Tuwwani say that recently the army hasn’t shown up at all, or arrived late, and the children, who were supposed to be escorted at 7:30 AM so they’ll reach school on time, are late or return home because they’re afraid to go unescorted.

A phone call to Col. Guy Hazut, the commander of the Judea brigade, to hear the IDF’s version.  “We’re taking care of it,” he promises me.  “I spoke with my soldiers, who are angry at the valuable time wasted.  They’re the ones waiting, the children are late or don’t show up at all.  Why doesn’t anyone complain about that?”  And he also said that the activity comes at the expense of operations, and that the school bus of the Southern Hebron Hills Regional Council is also late sometimes because of security reasons.  “It happens,” says Col. Hazut.

“It’s 7:45 AM,” I tell him, “there’s no jeep and no children.  They’ll be late to school today also.”

We’re taking care of it, he says again.

It’s almost 8 AM; we hear the children merry in the distance.  The longed-for military jeep is visible on the horizon.  They’ll be late to school today as well.  Men belonging to a peace organization also arrive; they’ve been accompanying the children and observing what’s happening.  They also report on the army’s behavior.  We asked them to give us daily reports, and photos, if possible.  Let’s hope that, confronted by facts in real time, the army will carry out the agreement it made.

____________________

The following is an update from the school patrol of yesterday morning, 05/02/2012. The escort was 50 minutes late. The children waited alone in a dangerous location where in the past they were attacked by the settlers.  Where the army jeep should have been waiting, two settlers stood shouting and whistling to frighten the children. After this incident the children returned to the village of Tuba because the settlers stayed near the chicken barns. The escort didn't arrive at the end of barns to meet the students and didn't complete its entire route, but instead left when it was near Ma’on’s greenhouses. Ma'on’s security chief also followed the children at a distanceOperation dove team

Operation Dove - Nonviolent Peace Corps
Palestine/Israel
Ass. Comunità Papa Giovanni XXIII
 www.operationdove.org

7.00 am, Bethlehem:  quite a lot of activity in spite of the rain, cold and, as we were to discover later, the almost impenetrable fog on the road south. People told us that passage through the checkpoint was quick because there were fewer people than usual owing to the weather.

At the checkpoint itself a man showed us a woman with three children who were not being allowed through. One of the children did not have a permit. I should point out that this was at a side post, where there was no other activity, so we were not interrupting any soldier’s work.  As we approached her to see what exactly was the matter (she was due to go with them to a hospital) a military policewoman – an officer and, according to her, the commanding officer of the place - came and told us to move back to the wall as it was a ‘closed military area.’  We pointed out that this was not so or, if so, she should show us the printed order.  She physically pushed Chaya away and to the wall.  While we were arguing the point, first a Civilian Administration officer came out and was non-committal, though seemed to agree that we had a point but the soldier was adamant – and all the time physically stopped us from getting near the post.  Finally a policewoman came and she and the soldier went away into their quarters. The policewoman seemed to be more understanding.  (Hopefully, she may have taught the soldier the correct procedure.  But how do you undo years of brutalizing education?)  By this time, the woman with her children had, of course, vanished so we could not help her – but we will lodge a complaint.

7.50 am. Entrance to El Khadr:  a pre-arranged meeting on behalf of Sylvia – signing of power of attorney and payment.

8.08  am.  Etzion DCL: Eight men were waiting outside as the office opened.  They continued to wait until we suggested that they go inside.  Apparently they are so used to being given orders (and assigned numbers) that they were reluctant to go in on their own – in spite of having waited in the freezing cold.

8.40 am. Beit Ummar: a ‘no show’ – probably on account of the weather.  A man approached us with a police traffic report.  As it was still within in its valid period, he was advised simply to pay the fine.

Entrance to Halhul: as arranged, we returned papers to a man who was refused  a permit, whom our lawyer felt he was unable to help. The man decided to try another lawyer.

9.00 am.We had a pre-arranged meeting on behalf of Sylvia – signing of power of attorney and payment.

A few phone-calls came in – people asking for progress reports on their cases, or new cases of refused permits.

Translator: Suzanne O.

A visit to Kafr A Dik after the army 'Intifada'

Following this is a report of our visit to the Azzun Atma roadblock.  Unfortunately we didn't get to Haris.  (See request from a man from Haris at the end of the report.)

 We set out at 3:00 p.m., in order to find out what is going on at the Azzun Atma roadblock.  However, beforehand we went to Kafr A Dik because we were told that the army had just left there after demolishing two buildings and a rainwater well.

"We had an army Intifada here", we were told.

We went into the village, there beside the council a resident of the village met us and took us to where the terrorist act took place.

It was a long way along an unpaved lane between hills and rocks, under the tunnel and on the hill, between the beautifully tended olive groves.  Wonderful scenery!

We arrived at the ruins, it turns out that it was not a dwellings but a social meeting place in the heart of the countryside.

"We don't have anywhere to go to have a good time like you do, so we made ourselves a place.  Who does it bother?  I asked a soldier: why do you come over here every day, it just annoys us.  And he answered: That's the idea…"

"Make a film about us so that everyone knows and sees what goes on here".  We tried to explain that there are indeed people who make such films, but there is not much of an audience for them… to our shame.

We took both stills photos and a video.  I have to edit the video and it will take time.

The Report:

At 4:30 p.m. we arrived at Azzun Atma roadblock.  It is nothing like it was two weeks ago.

Reservists are stationed there and they work efficiently.  The queue is short and it moves and progresses satisfactorily.  We spoke to the soldiers.  They told us that in the morning the labourers cross this roadblock from the West Bank to the area of the juncture with Israeli territory, from there they can move into Israel with no problems.

Therefore, in the morning, the inspection is more stringent and it is more crowded.  In contrast, in the evening as they return from the Israeli territory to the West Bank, it is less stringent and therefore the queue moves faster.

However, when we started to leave Palestinians told us "Come every day, the queue moves more quickly when you are here…"

This completed our shift.  Although we wanted to go to Haris, where buildings were demolished today, dusk directed us homewards.

It is very desirable for members to go to Haris and contact the resident at the number we published.

Sansana-Meitar

Checkpoint is clear. A long line of trucks waits at the check-out and seems to move quickly.

Route 60

Lively but there sure are some lousy drivers around here, Israelis and Palestinians alike.
 

Bani Naim: We came here first: a large village close to Hebron where settlers had defaced a mosque.  We found the mosque alright but at first couldn't locate the damage until the Imam appeared (the grapevine really works out there!) and showed us a side wall where the scarlet letters were already obliterated by -- more red paint. (see photos).  The imam and his people thought the perpetrators came from Yitzhar but its more likely that this was a local job. It should be said that the Imam and his companions received us most graciously, explalined patiently to the three (!) translators - among whom Netanya shone out with her Arabic  - and they even embarassingly thanked us for coming.  Netanya expressed our regrets for the vandalism.

Um Farqa is our next stop: a tiny, desolate hamlet between Tuwani and the Maon settlement where the Civil Administration had destroyed the mosque, several residential buildings and a room that had been added on to a cave dwelling, as well as all the electricity poles between the village and Tuwani. Iin the process  destroying the peace of this impoverished place.  The Sheik kindly gave us a tour of the devastation (see pics of mosque rubble). At one point a figure was seen striding across the hills from Tuwani. The locals froze on the spot and only relaxed when it transpired that this was an "Arab".  The fear of the Lords of the Land lies heavy in these parts, and with good reason.
Two girls from the village were arrested during the demolition, however they were released and the trial of the older one, Souan, took place on 19.12.11 - please see Ehud Krinis' report circulated on the reshet.

Next stop on this other planet was Givat HaAntenna - Antenna Hill, another desolate spot not far from Hebron. A smooth road leads up to the hilltop, not paved but clearly rolled out with heavy equipment. This was the site of the murder of two guards (guarding the antenna) and has been turned into a memorial for them. (see photos with their names),  The hilltop boasts a (tattered) Israeli flag and a little gazebo which announces itself as a place of prayer. In the middle of the gazebo is something that looks suspiciously like a sacrificial altar, but it may be a bima for a Torah scroll, to be fair.  A small plot of ploughed earth lies close by: watch this spot for a new outpost may sprout up here one of these days.  This is how these things begin...And judging by the amount of garbage lying around the place is well used.

Finally, for how could we not get our weekly fix of ghtost town, a quick spin around Hebron. Two Border policepeople (a man and a woman) munching snadwiches and drinking coke at the entrance/exit to the Worshippers Alley,  On Shuhada street several men in shorts are jogging incongruously, while a platoon (?) of paratroopers patrols the street with drawn weapons, showing the natives who is in charge. At the Cordoba school steps which are now marked as a national monument, a group of elderly Jews is strugglling upwards, some of them give up and come down again while an energetic guide jolly's them on.  Clearly, the intention is to drive the  Cordoba people out of their minds by making a nature reserve out of their neighbourhood, and no doubt eventually they will give in and go away, or perhaps not. Maybe the steps will prove too much for the elderly tourists and the Ministry of Education will have to make it a compulsory route for School certificate completion.

Thursday, 22.12.11

Netanya and I joined a Shovrim Shtika/Breaking the Silence tour of Hebron (that's reall addiction!) - fascinating since we went in under police protection, were only harassed (by the police) three times for our ID's and once by a paratrooper, who agreed to compromise and see the identification only of the guide. We  peeped into the Casbah - desolate and deserted, climbed up to Jewish Tel-Romeida where our 'protectors' abandoned us by the so-called 'Cage House' and we took the roundabout route that Palestinians are forced to use to reach their homes nearby.  Very picturesque and rather beautiful with really ancient olive trees but heaven help anyone taken ill, in labour, carrying heavy bags or coming home at night - no vehicle access is possible and the ground is thick with tree roots, stones and the inevitable garbage all waiting to trip you up.  It was salutory to be reminded of the historic development of the Jewish settlement in Hebron and hear again the details of government and army policy of closure-checkpoint-curfew that has made the city of Abraham a ghost town.  The tour lasted three and a half hours and is highly recommended to anyone interested in knowing the minutae of how the occupation works and of which Hebron is merely the outstanding example.  We also met Anat Cohen but she was berating a paratrooper (they seem to be the people on the ground currently) and we were able to evade direct contact.
 

We left Beersheva at 7:30.

Sansana-Meitar

already clear of workers, but women and family members of prisoners were still trickling through to the waiting buses.

Route 60

was pretty clear and we didn't see a single soldier.

Hebron

After the usual tour of silent H2 - the old city of Hebron, we stopped at Abed's store opposite Gutnick's tourist center, because we saw a large group of girls waiting on the "Arab" side to enter the Ibrahimi mosque. However within minutes they streamed up the lane to the mosque, full of beans and chatter. We were still standing, nursing cups of hot sage tea when a pair of TIPH observers came up and got chatting to us. In answer to our questiion they said that H2 is very quiet these days, but if there are incidents they are not usually in the morning but in the afternoon or evening and at night,  with shabbat being a particular time of tension. They gave us a pamphlet explaining who they were and what they do. Their website is at www.tiph.org This was the first time almost that we found TIPH observers to be friendly. One of them was Swiss, a lawyer by profession and the other was a Danish citizen. originally from Jerusalem whose family fled in 1967. 

Afterwards Netanya and I walked up the Worshippers Alley. Along the way we encountered a settler in his car who stared at us but didn't bother us.  When we got to the top of the alleyway, Ofer  the photographer was waiting for us with his video and some curses that were so unoriginal and childishly vulgar that I myself could have done better (but decided silence was wiser!)  Our settler from the alley was standing by grinning like an idiot, probably pleased that he had alerted Ofer to our dangerous presence.  Don't these people do any work?!!  Mohammed arrived and whisked us off. Unpleasant, but at least they didn't run us over ...this time.

Tyasir CP

Translation: Dvora k.

A new game for the soldiers at the Tyasir CP: Puncturing the tires of Palestinian vehicless --- Report on the basis of oral communication.

Monday, 7/11/2011 – 16:00

I received a phone report that there are long delays at the Tyasir CP. (This has come up again and again during the last two weeks.) In addition there were reports that soldiers raised the spikes on the road when a minibus full of workers returning from work in the settlements was passin over them. All four tires of the minibus were slices.

Tuesday, 8.11. 2011–11–20

This evening again we received a telephone report from a Palestinian farmer: A truck was delivering fodder for his animals, going through Tyasir to the Jordan Valley. At the Tyasir CP the soldiers again raised the spikes as the truck was passing and the tires were cut. In addition to the incident from yesterday, reported above, the man told us that four days ago the soldiers cut the tires of a private car in the same way. I called the DCO and a police car was sent to the CP.

In both the above incidents, the soldiers laughed heartily when they saw the damaged vehicle, and it probably made them laugh to see the poor driver, who has difficulty earning his livelihood anyway. And now he has to take care of damage that will cost him hundreds if not thousands of shekels.

A complaint will be filed with the Association for Civil Rights.

Every day last week, the soldiers continued to raise the spikes in order to tear tires of cars that went through the CP. Every time they did this, they burst out laughing to celebrate the victory. They succeeded in hurting the people who work very hard and do not have the means to cope with the soldiers' armed power, with the power of the on-going oppression; people who own cars and earn their living with difficulty by driving workers, by bringing fodder for sheep. Great heroes! Each of them is a real man!!

All together this week: six cars with flat tires and one taxi whose roof broke because the soldiers brought the bar of the CP down on it!

Translator:  Charles K.

Summary

Violence, as well as sexual harassment, at the Hamra checkpoint, long lines at the Tapuach checkpoint, the Gochia checkpoint isn’t open.

11:50 – Za’tara checkpoint (Tapuach junction) – Border Police soldiers stop cars in both directions, don’t request documents, don’t inspect anything, only ask, “Everything OK?”, as if to check people’s accents.  But at this hour, when there’s a great deal of traffic, that’s sufficient to create traffic jams everywhere, particularly in the direction of Ramallah.  Dozens of cars crowd into the plaza and far beyond, the traffic jam stretching farther than we can see.  The soldiers try to get rid of us; we stand quietly on the sidewalk but refuse to leave.  When we finally want to go, two military jeeps block our car from behind.  I maneuver around them.  One soldier stands in front of the car, blocking our way.  I ask the commander whether we’re being detained; he says no and tells the soldier to move aside.  We left.

Ma’aleh Efrayim checkpoint – 12:30

The checkpoint isn’t manned.

Hamra checkpoint – 12:45

Three soldiers swoop down on us as soon as we arrive, demanding we leave “their” checkpoint and stand at the junction, about 100 meters away.  Before we reach our usual observation point we stop by the water wagon, about 20 meters from the checkpoint.  The sergeant, very sure of himself and aggressive, yells to his soldiers to shut the checkpoint down.  When we tell him that’s illegal, he yells at us, “I’m the law!!  I do what the fuck I want,” and continues to repeat, “I’m the man – you better believe it!!”

All the checkpoint’s soldiers – about 10 – come over and surround us threateningly.  The sergeant grabs my notebook and refuses to return it.  He and his soldiers begin flipping through it and reading what’s written.  I was very worried, because it contains telephone numbers and ID numbers of Palestinians, but Yif’at went into the midst of the bunch of soldiers and grabbed the notebook back.  Both sides pulled until it was freed, but a Border Police soldier grabbed my camera and while holding it above his head pressed up against me.  I asked him not to touch me but he continued, chest to chest, stomach to stomach, very unpleasantly.  That allowed Yif’at to come up behind him and grab the camera from his hand.  The soldier laughed and kept pressing up against me until, finally, a few minutes later, he pushed me away.

The entire incident lasted not more than ten minutes.  I telephoned Zaharin, the DCO officer, while it was going on, and asked him to call the police immediately.  The checkpoint was closed during the incident; because it was rush hour the lines lengthened in all directions – to the east, toward the Jiflik, to the northeast, toward the settlements of Beqa’ot and Ro’i, and west toward Nablus.  Many laborers stood waiting on line along the road to cross to the West Bank.

An army jeep arrived with a lieutenant; I later learned he was the company commander whom Zaharan had called.  The officer, as usual, immediately backed up his soldiers and ordered us to leave:  “I have orders to close the checkpoint if you stay here.”  We moved to the junction so that the checkpoint would open for people to go through.  Before the checkpoint opened, one of the soldiers went over and said (in Arabic) to the waiting Palestinian laborers to tell us to leave.  The Palestinians mumbled something (“You see?  Look, they also want you to get out of here”).  When the soldiers moved away one of the Palestinians approached and said they had no choice.  But they’re very glad we’re here; we should come early in the morning.

The Palestinians crossing from Nablus later said to us that the soldiers at the checkpoint said they should tell us to leave.  They asked who we were, and when we explained they said “Kul al ahtiram [Good for you],” and thanked us for coming. 

The soldiers opened the checkpoint and then the police arrived.

The company commander went over to the policeman and told him we went into the soldiers’ booth and took photos of weapons and ammunition (a blatant lie!!).  I asked the policeman (Shlomo Na’amani) to look at the photos on the camera, but he refused.  I asked to file a complaint; at first the policeman, who was very hostile to me, told us to complain at the Ma’ale Efrayim police station.  We told him that we’d complained there in the past, but that we wanted to identify the attackers to him (he refused to get their names).  He sent me over to the patrol car where I submitted a complaint to another policeman, Nabil Tuba, who was businesslike and not hostile, although he too refused at first to write that the soldiers were violent or harassed me sexually, and said, “What’s the big deal – what did he do?  That’s not violence…”  Only after I insisted did he write what I told him.  He also agreed to look at all the photos on my camera and saw for himself there were none of weapons and ammunition, nor of the booth, and not even of the soldiers I tried to photograph (because they were standing too close, pushed me and nothing was in focus).

By the way, from what we could see before they closed the checkpoint, the crossing went quickly and we didn’t see any other delays.

13:50 – Tayasir checkpoint

3-4 cars from each direction which were let through as soon as we arrived.  We stood at a distance, but from talking to people waiting learned that recently there have been delays here of an hour and a half.  Today also – crossing proceeds slowly, and documents of those coming west from the Jordan Valley to Area A are also inspected.

15:00 – Gochia checkpoint

It hadn’t opened as of 15:15, nor had any Palestinians arrived.

17:30 – Ma’aleh Efrayim

Unmanned.

Translator:  Charles K.

A difficult Friday, with long lines, elderly men and women and sick people crowded between the bars.  The “humanitarian lane” is closed.

Why isn’t the humanitarian lane open on Fridays?
8:40  Unlike ordinary Fridays, today we found three long lines of people who had been waiting under the canopy for a long time – an hour and a half, we were told (even before they reach the revolving gates).  Three lanes are open.
An old man is jammed into the line between the bars, bent over, leaning on his cane, weak, sick.  He turns to us angrily, insulted.  He’s crying.  He gets stuck inside the revolving gate when the next clump of people tries to go through.  Hangs on the bars.  A heartbreaking sight.
Old and ill people continued to arrive the entire time we were there; they were forced to wait on line for a long time.  Others waiting allow them to move to the head of the line; the coffee-seller offers them his chair.  Some bring folding chairs with them – they’ve been here before.

The line lengthens.  The area beyond the revolving gates is also very crowded.  People run from one line to another, hoping to find the “right” one.  Bitterness, curses, anger.

An elderly man arrives with his sick wife.  He seats her on a bench while he stands at the head of the line.  She looks very bad.
 
We telephone the humanitarian office, ask them to open the humanitarian lane.  They promise to find out whether it’s possible (?).  After additional calls to the DCO we see beyond the bars, in the area beyond the fences, an officer and a soldier.  They wander around, and eventually reach the fence.  They allow a few of the elderly and the ill to come through.  Ten minutes later the magic door is locked again.  “They should get on line, we can’t stand here taking care of people.  Only those who are ill.”  But how is it possible to take care “only” of the sick if there’s no one at the humanitarian gate to deal with them?  The officer from the humanitarian office has disappeared; we shout, call him to return because those who need him haven’t gone away.  And you won’t believe this – the female soldier emerges from the cage and promises to find out whether he’s able to come back.

10:00  An adult man and his old father on their way to the hospital.  The father isn’t able to stand, and sits on the ground.  The son hopes the humanitarian gate will open; more calls to the DCO, the son is helpless (in the face of the fences), thinks it would be better to get on the regular line.  The old man gets up with great difficulty, moves toward the line, but the congestion makes them return to wait for someone from the DCO, hoping our calls helped.  The old man sinks down again on the concrete floor.  The DCO people suddenly appear.

10:10  The officer explains that many more people than usual arrived today; he agrees to allow (only) women to go through his gate.  While this shortens their wait on line, they get stuck beyond the revolving gates where the lines are long and the congestion is great.

An angry adult man says to us:  Next year I retire.  I’ll go to Australia, get a car, drive for hours on end without anyone stopping me and asking for my ID card.  Life here is humiliating and difficult, and it’s no wonder there’s a lot of anger and hatred, and that people want to kill all Jews everywhere.

Translator:  Charles K.

A quote: 14.8.2007  Seam Zone Plan – Goals:

“The goal of the ‘seam zone’ plan is to limit the ability of assailants, whose numbers have risen since September, 2000, with the increase in suicide bombings, to infiltrate into Israel from the Palestinian Authority.  These assailants are part of the larger group of persons illegally present in Israel (“shabakhim”), comprising tens of thousands of Palestinians who illegally enter Israel every day from the territory of the Palestinian Authority in order to work.” (from the Ministry of Defense – Israel Defense Forces web site).

And I’ve been naïve enough to believe that the seam zone (“compound” would be a better term) was instituted in order to establish settlements, like Shaqed, Heiynanit, Reihan, etc, by dispossessing the original Palestinian residents of their lands and their rights, because, after all, you can defend the country from the ’67 borders.  But I guess I don’t understand security matters.

Dahar el Malak is located in the seam zone/compound, a small village whose residents are members of the Khatib family.  Many of their activities are focused on East Tura, where they go to school, shop, order repairs, where their relatives live, where the main mosque and cemetery is located.  The olive groves belonging to Tura’s residents are located on the seam zone side.  The IDF, for security reasons (what else?), decided to move the security fence between Dahar el Malak and Tura and establish a military checkpoint, which has been the source of considerable friction over the years.  To increase security they added the settlements of Tal Menashe, Heinanit and Shaqed.

A shooting incident, this report based on what we were told

An elderly member of the Khatib family died Friday evening in Dahar el Malak.  Family members have arranged with the DCO the passage of the funeral procession through the Tura checkpoint for the following day, Saturday, between 9 AM and 10 AM.

A procession of some 300 mourners, from the seam zone, the West Bank, and from Israel arrived at the checkpoint before 10 AM on Saturday with the body of the deceased.  The coordinating officer wasn’t present; the soldiers wanted each of the mourners to undergo a security check.  They objected, believing that the delay was an insult to the deceased.  The soldiers and mourners began arguing, and the soldiers finally closed the checkpoint.  The mourners forced their way through, soldiers firing at them or over their heads.  Four people were wounded, including two relatives who were pallbearers, and two others, residents of Ein Sahala (Israeli Arabs).

Now the village is tense.  The residents feel humiliated.  Feelings are high; the army apparently apologized, but nothing more.

--------------------------------------------------------

05:50-06:50  A’anin agricultural checkpoint

The checkpoint opens at 05:30.  Inspections are carried out at the far gate; people are registered by hand.  The DCO car is on site at least part of the time during the inspections.  The resident approaches the soldiers, hands over his documents and moves one step back.  This distance is maintained throughout the inspection.  The first soldier gives the documents to a second, who inspects them, makes a mark on a sheet, returns them to the first soldier who returns them to the resident.  People are holding ordinary plastic bags, whose contents are occasionally inspected at a glance.  It’s important to note – people are wearing work clothes (on their way to pick olives), as opposed to previous times when what people were wearing resulted in annoying questions.

The DCO vehicle leaves; he stops near us on his way.  W., the officer, tells us that more than 100 people received agricultural permits.  I remember years when hundreds of permits were issued.  Have those times passed?  The olive harvest is over officially at the end of the month but it may be extended if necessary.

The farmers say that the arrangements are reasonable.  They say that things were better last year, and that the cows have caused considerable damage.  They’re frustrated at their inability to deal with the damage.  They say that no cows have come through in recent weeks, but that they caused substantial damage in the past.

Now women come through, arriving later with older children after sending the younger ones off to school.

07:00  New Reihan-Barta’a checkpoint

We meet B., who works in one of the Shahak enterprises.  He’s sitting with his friends on the sidewalk, waiting for their ride to the workplace.  He tells us about Saturday’s funeral from Dahar al Malak to Tura, on which the soldiers fired (as described above).  I go down the road toward the Palestinian parking lot.  The guard in the booth and the armed security person stop me.  I complain that the Arab driver isn’t allowed to accompany me down to the parking lot.  They confirm, “Those are the rules.”  I correct them: “Procedures,” but they don’t understand the difference, and what’s wrong with their approach.  I give up trying to explain and continue on down.  Seven trucks on the road and five more in the parking lot.

Almost no taxis/drivers.  Few people crossing toward Barta’a.  The Shahak workers have already crossed, and are now waiting for their transportation to the workplaces.  The seamstresses have also crossed.  The few people still arriving cross quickly, pass through the terminal in a wink and enter the fenced corridor without delay.

The procedure is routine, normal.  Most people are crossing to the seam zone, a few to the West Bank.

07:10  Shaqed-Tura checkpoint

The checkpoint opens at 6:00.  Only a few people were crossing when we arrived.  The pupils in school on the West Bank received two days off to help with the olive harvest.  The teachers from Tura employed in Umm Reihan are working as usual.  Crossing is routine – inspection in the building, cars checked as usual.  Women with small children cross to the West Bank, the children accompanying their mothers into the inspection building.  To the greater glory of the State of Israel!

During the afternoon hours a group of Mistaarvim who had their faces covered, protected by the Yasam, broke the office door of attorney Kaadan at Dahiat El Barid.

Within seconds Attorney Kaadan found himself on the floor with two rifles' barrels pointing at his head. His breath and complexion were back to normal only several hours after the attack.

The invaders dismantled the alarm system, sprayed black paint on the security cameras, inspected the files and cabinets and left the place after three hours and ten minutes.

The loot they took with them:
1. Two detainees (a person who works at the office and a client).
2. The office computers
3. The memory from the cameras and the alarm system.