Jubara (Kafriat)

Translator: Hanna K.

Today it is very cold, grey, rain from time to time. 

10:05 Salfit CP

Another improvement at the CP: a booth has been added at the left side of the road.

As usual there are two soldiers at the CP. The CP is open, there is no traffic.

10:15 Za'tara/Tapuah intersection

A military jeep at the parking lot

Two soldiers (at least) on the observation tower in the center of the CP.

On the road itself there are neither soldiers nor police.

The traffic is lively, almost as usual.

10:25 On the road from the Za'tara/Tapuah intersection to Huwwara, at the right turn in the direction of Beita, a military hummer is parked horizontally and blocks half a lane.  

Three soldiers on the road stop and check vehicles leaving Beita.

They stop a vehicle and wave to the others to pass,

They check I.D.s, trunk. They release it a few minutes later.

Immediately after releasing one they stop another and so on and so forth.

The checking seems haphazard and doesn't last long.

One pedestrian is stopped and checked.

10:50 Huwwara

At the center of the village, just opposite the falafel stand, there is a military hummer.

The soldiers are in the jeep.

11:00 Huwwara CP

The CP is empty. There probably are soldiers in the tower, we couldn't see clearly.

The traffic is lively and free.

11:10 Beit Furik CP – empty

11:15 A hummer is parked at the entrance to Itamar

11:20 Again the Huwwara CP 

This time there are soldiers here. A military Hummer is parked at the exit from Nablus.

There are four soldiers on the road, they signal and stop cars for checking.

Again – the selection seems haphazard, one vehicle is checked while a soldiers signals to the others to go on driving, and when the checking of one is finished they fish another vehicle.

While we were there they released the cars quite quickly, after checking the I.D.s and the trunk.

11:40 Sara Junction

We see a police car, no detainees. Later, immediately after we turned into road no. 60 we saw a police jeep hastening in the direction of the junction.

12:00 We entered the road to Beit Ibba. We saw no CP not even a flying CP at the Shave Shomron settlement area.

Actually, just as we went back to road no. 60 a military jeep entered and drove in the direction of Beit Ibba. We didn't check.

12:30 Anabta CP

The checkpoint is empty.

We bought coffee from the man with the thermos (it is rainy and cold and he is here!)

and collected a Palestinian hitch hiker who, according to him, had been waiting there for an hour without anybody stopping for him.

12:40 Kafriat/Te'enim passage

No cars as opposed to sunny Saturdays. We returned to Israel.

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Habla, 109, Beit Jimal, Jubara, the road to Tulkarm up to the rear crossing to the Te’anim crossing (near Izbat Shufa) and back via Khaja and Funduq to Route 55, 109 and then home

07:02  Habla

The gates are locked and there are no soldiers.  Many Palestinians wait on the Habla side.  The elderly guard waits with his “vehicle” on the side where the plant nurseries are located.

07:04  The first children’s bus arrives, and the second follows immediately.  We telephone the DCO; they know about the delay – someone will be there right away.

07:07  A civilian car with four soldiers speeds along the security road toward the gate.  They rapidly start getting organized; in response to my question, the checkpoint commander says there was a problem with the vehicles this morning.

07:14  The MP lets the bus drivers and the guard in, and passes them through quickly without inspection.  The first group of five laborers also enters; they come through five minutes later.

07:17  The second group of five enters, and exits at 07:20.

Inspections continue rapidly, even though there are only four soldiers.

07:45  Despite the rapid inspections, about 100 Palestinians are still waiting to cross, and people argue about their place in line.  The MP pulls a woman out of line and sends her through.

When we read recent descriptions of the situation at checkpoints like 'Azzun 'Atma, or, even worse, at Qalandiya, we know things are better here, but it’s still hard to accept that every day people going to work must traverse an obstacle course, and do so again on their way home.

07:50  We leave.

08:35  Falamya agricultural gate

The gate is open from 05:00 until 17:00.  This is the gateway for farmers from Jayyus, Falamya and Kafr Jimal, whose lands are very far away.  Some of them are allowed to drive along the security road to another gate in the inner fence, and from there on the internal roads, some of which are blocked by concertina wire and aren’t always opened, even during the olive harvest.  During the summer they’re locked, and opened only after coordinating with the DCO. 

As usual, there’s a steady trickle of people crossing here.

I ask one man I know how things are.  “So-so…,” he says.

The bad part, which doesn’t change, is that he needs the permission of the soldiers to reach the land belonging to him and his family, along with inspections and questions and prohibitions.  The other part is the rest.

We meet a guy from Falamya who doesn’t have a permit; he hoped the soldiers would let him through because he came with a man who has fields of za’atar and employs laborers, including this guy’s brother.  We put him in touch with Sylvia.

He takes us to the Falamya seasonal gate which is connected directly to the village.  He says that the gate was open during the olive harvest, but it’s now closed again, even though keeping it open could make life much easier for the residents.

We pass his family’s house on the way to the gate, and then a well next to which is a lovely hut, orchards and vegetable fields.  We meet two women who lived  for many years in Lebanon and now have returned to the village and their land.  The guy helps us explain to the women who we are; they shake our hands in appreciation.  They speak French, telling us about their life in Lebanon.

He tells us he attended university in Jordan. He is a construction engineer but can’t find work in his field so is looking for an agricultural job.  He too  is  not willing to emigrate in order to find a job.

09:30  We leave our new friends and continue to Kafr Jimal.  Z. isn’t in his shop; we continue along the road toward Tulkarm.  We turn left onto a dirt road below Sla’it, drive to the Sla’it gate – it serves farmers holding permits who are going to their olive groves and laborers working in the settlement.  The checkpoint is open Sunday through Thursday morning from 05:30 to 06:00, and from 15:00 to 15:30 in the afternoon.  Maybe that would be a good time to go there and talk to people.

10:30  We continue to the Jubara gate and turn toward Tulkarm, drive up to the rear gate of the Te’anim crossing which is next to Izbat Shufa, and are happy to run into our friend K., the taxi driver from Beit Lid, who worked the Tulkarm – Beit Iba route during the period when things were worse.  We talk to him and catch up.

Since this gate is open to Israeli Arabs only from 11:30, and we don’t know whether they’ll let us through, we return by the same route, via the Zayit plaza toward Funduq, go through Khaja, turn right at Funduq onto Highway 55 toward the Eliyahu crossing (109), and then home.

06:30 Habla. The gate was closed and locked, but we see Palestinians waiting on the other side.  A phone call to the checkpoints officer, T., shows that, officially, the olive harvest is over despite that fact that the month of November is not finished and rain fell for a whole week which prevented people from working!  The opening hours of Habla returned to 7 AM - 9 AM (and probably also the afternoon and evening hours remained the same).  We also clarified the situation at Jayuus North, where the morning hours are 06:00 - 06:30.

06:40  crossing 109. We met workers who had gone through.  They had been waiting since 04:00;   the checkpoint opens at 05:00, and they went through at 06:30.  They complained that the inspectors worked very slowly  In the parking lot, there were taxis waiting to take workers to the nurseries and to Alphei Menashe.  They reported that workers go through from 05:00 - 08:30 in the morning, and return in the late afternoon.  Also the driver of a private car, who works in the nursery, was waiting for passengers.  A nursery employee complained that both he himself and his car have to be thoroughly checked with dogs etc. every time he goes through.  There are days when he has to pass up to 10 times, and be inspected each time. We cross the road and try to observe the inspection area of the workers and the vehicle inspection.  It is difficult to see, as they added a fence which is so close that you can't see through it.  A worker going by complained that, in the afternoon, there is a long line of people returning from work and, when there is rain, there is no protection and the inspection takes a long time. The manager of the area arrives and asks us to move back and stand next to the settlers'  transport station, a place from which we are not able to see anything, naturally.  A "discussion" develops, one-directional, in which he sticks to his opinion that the conditions at the checkpoint have improved a lot and that the Palestinians should be happy that the checkpoint is now in civilian hands.  Each of our questions has a pre-determined answer.  Everything is quick, efficient and humane.

  07:30 At this hour there are few workers going by.  We measured the time for 5 workers, from their entrance to the booth until their exit:  6 minutes.

07:45  Agricultural gate at Falamiya. A tractor with women and children coming to the olive harvest enters after inspection.  There are only a few people entering.  Although the harvest has officially ended, there are still people who haven't finished their work.  Also a farmer from Jayuus reported to us by telephone that they hadn't finished because he was the only one from his family who received a permit and the rains also caused delay.

08:15 Jamal village. At the grocery we were told that they hadn't opened the gates today at all and there were still a lot of olives to harvest.  Besides, the problem had not been solved of the 5 Palestinians whose permits were confiscated because they tried to open the gates preventing them from entering their land, even though they had permits to enter through the main gate.  In a discussion with T., we were told that the problem is known, but they hadn't solved it because of the rain and promised that they would deal with it and, if the issue is not solved within 3 days, to remind him.  He also suggested that I give H. his direct phone number so that he could call him himself.  I asked Z. at the grocery to call me if the problem remains unsolved.  Again, I ask myself and my friends if, and how, we can be of more help in this issue.

 09:00  Jabara checkpoint continues to operate as usual as the only entrance and exit gate for the residents of the village, and only people with special licenses who are not residents of the place are permitted to enter.  We go down onto the road to Tulkarm, travel under road 557, and arrive at the outskirts of Izbat Shufa, over the "Fig checkpoint".  There seems to be a gate there which opens every day at 11:00 only for Israeli Arabs wanting to get into Israel.  The gate is open until 23:00 at night.  It isn't clear whether we are permitted to cross when the gate is open.  We will try to find out the reasons for this special gate.  At this point, there is no choice but to turn around and  all  the way back. We are given some Guavas to eat and turn back.  On the way, we pass areas filled with beautiful wild flowers.

10:00  Return by way of gate 101, quiet at this hour.

Habla

07:05

opening of the CP

There are not many workmen here – it's a rainy day which is also the Palestinian Independence day.

The crew acts quietly and the queue becomes shorter at an acceptable rate

07:20

A tractor of a known resident who passes every day is checked and he isn't allowed to pass because of some freight item. After long minutes of discussion he leaves his papers, turns back and returns ten minutes later. Finally he passes at

07:35. 

07:40

For a few moments there was havoc, a kind of congestion of vehicles and carts on both sides because there was a hold up in the middle of the road of people who were checked and delayed. A few minutes later it was dispersed. On principle those who come from the Israeli side wait superfluous time as they get less attention and they have to be alerted. The soldier posted there doesn't do it. Today there is no transportation of pupils because of the holiday. 

07:50

We set out in the direction of Azoun.

Ja'ayus

08:10

N. from the taxi station tells us that at night the army again visited the village, entered the houses and loitered outside (perhaps because of the importance of the day for the Palestinians). In the village there is no holiday commotion, there are no studies, the streets are empty and most of the shops are closed.

Palamiya

08:20

The CP is empty.

Kafr Jamal

The street begins to wake up. On the grocery H. turns to us. He couldn't finish the olive harvest. The interior gate was opened for one month only and then shut. An attempt to open it in order to finish the work caused punitive actions by the army. The authorizations of 7 people were taken from them and are already more than a week at the DCO. Each time one calls the DCO they are told "everything will be alright." In the summer too there were similar cases of arbitrary closing of the interior gate, which prevented the farmers from carrying out the required work.

We consulted Micky, as T. the crossings officer wasn't available. We were informed that he would arrive two hours later. And indeed at about 11:00 we were able to get to him, we gave him all the details and he promised to call the man and assist him.

09:10

We made another tour of the villages. It is pleasant to note that there is now a proper connecting road  (US aid) and more than that – good signposts, in part in Arabic and English only and in part in Hebrew too. Also there are traffic signs and delineation of the pavements. The change is blessed (even a voyage of 1000 miles begins with one little step).

On the way we reached A-Ras  "the children's gate" (Jabara) . There was no traffic. From this side there is no exit passage as in the past. On the road to Tul Karem we reached a relatively new exit passage. It is opened every day at 11:30 only!

Watchers:  Nora R., Chana P. (reporting)

Translation:  Suzanne O.

Agricultural Gate Jayyus

7:10 a.m.

Because of a puncture in a tyre we skipped Habla and drove to the agricultural gate Jayyus.  Carts, tractors and pedestrians come to the gate.  They come for the olive picking which will last for another 7 days.  At 7:30 a.m., the gate closed.  (In fact there are two systems of gates…)

We continued to Jayyus village, to see Nayim and give him clothes for his wife's shop.  There was nothing we could do; we had to enjoy breakfast with them.

Falamiya Gate

8:45 a.m. 

A tractor is parked by the gate, full of olive plants and canisters of oil.  Since the driver had no permit to take the plants to his grove, he was not allowed to cross.  He said he is going to the DCO to get a permit.

Kafr Jammal

9:30 a.m. 

We stopped on the way to talk with people and they told us that they had sacks of olives which they picked last week but had not received a permit to remove them from the area.  They are trying to get a permit but they are rejected and sent back and forth.

Jubara

9:30 a.m. 

At the gate we met a man with a tractor pulling a cart containing an ox.  There was no permit for the ox!  Therefore he was unable to cross.  We phoned the DCO and they phoned the gate but the man claimed that it was too late and did not try to cross.  He claimed that things are getting worse at the gate today, previously he had not been stopped.  In addition each vehicle is inspected by a dog.

From here we returned home. 

Summary
A day after the autumn social protest demonstration calling for “fairer treatment” of Israelis, our shift goes, as usual to the Seam Zone and into Palestine. True, MachsomWatch deals with violation of Palestinian human rights, but week in, week out, we see, even if we don’t monitor and report, the victims of Israel’s growing ethnocentrism, its Palestinian citizens, whose civic rights are sorely abused at the “gateways” to the OPT, at Jubara, Eliahu Crossing or Shomron Crossing in the central area: the confrontational or sullen and surly checking by the army or private security personnel reflect the worsening situation for a large percentage of Israel’s population, part of the continuing denial that all relates and is connected to the Occupation.  Over the years of monitoring, it’s often struck us that harassment coupled with humiliation have been and still are the most powerful weapons of occupation, and sometimes MachsomWatch is subjected to the same – one way to keep our antenna attuned to the far greater sufferings endured by Palestinians.

13:00 Habla
There are soldiers, more than half a dozen hanging around the Separation Barrier, showing no interest in opening any of the many gates that make up this checkpoint. Bicycles, young men without bicycles, older men with horse carts – all wait patiently as nothing happens.

13:15 - the seven soldiers present clamber aboard the stationary jeep which speeds off into the distance – and then there were none except one standing guard(?) in the concrete position just by the gate on our side. As is usual, the long-suffering Palestinians wait some more. We call the DCO office. Just then, from our side of the Separation Barrier, a jeep comes up to the locked gate, which is opened for it. We have to wonder if we’re not all actors in some strange theatrical farce. The jeep bears the commander who sets about opening all the gates. No, not all, for, during this shift, the far gate remains closed all the time and must be opened each time a vehicle or a human being wish to enter….

13:20 - on our side, a Palestinian asks the commander if he may go across, or go to the concrete house for his credentials to be checked. “Not yet” is the laconic answer. The full complement of soldiers is now present, and the painter, an inhabitant of Habla, whom we know well, asks if he may carry across the Separation Barrier something (we can’t hear what) that is not permitted. “No way” is the straight answer he receives. “All I did was to ask” he adds.

13:25 - the by now well known cry of “Five at a time” is called out by the commander. The bus with the elementary schoolchildren makes its way across, carrying them home. Again they have waited since before 13:00. We ask why it’s so slow today. “That’s just the way it is” is his rude response. As to why the checkpoint is opened 20 minutes late, instead of at 13:00, he responds in an equally offensive manner, “The army has its reason” or some such ridiculous saying. 

13:27 - the DCO calls to see if the checkpoint is open by now but that’s it, no chance for us to add anything else.

13:30 - the commander calls over to a soldier at the far side of the Separation Barrier to open the gate there, and it’s again closed at the whim of the commander.

13:35 - two men arrive on our side of the Barrier, and the three soldiers, including the commander, let them wait as they huddle in the center and talk and talk some more. It sure looks as if they pretend nobody is there. And that, in fact, is the case, for after all to this army of occupation, the Palestinians are “nobody.”

13:45 - the larger green school bus waits on the far side of the Separation Barrier. When the gate is opened, its baggage doors are opened wide, and the soldiers painstakingly examine the inside of the bus.

13:50 - a waiting Palestinian lifts back part of the half opened gate on our side, to help the large bus get through, and is scolded, with a finger, by a soldier. As usual, the girls in the bus wave wildly as they pass by us.
 
13:55 - the woman from Ras Atiya who works in Israel proper arrives,  bearing a huge, heavy sack and other packages. She is cheerful, as always, stops to chat, then struggles to go to the concrete house to be checked. Surprise, surprise, the commander offers to help and takes the heavy sack from her. 

Deir Sharaf
Large infrastructure works on the road from Deir Sharaf to Beit Iba, and a longish traffic jam in which nobody honks or gets excited. We must be in Palestine!

16:00 Anabta
The checkpoint is closed, large piles of whitish stones on the sides of the road, not a soldier in sight, but nobody working either. On the concrete barrier across the roadway a sign, in Arabic, indicating that the checkpoint is closed from 23.10.11 until 1.11.11. Many vehicles, as last week, approach the checkpoint, few can see the small typed sign, and many make their way through the dirt path up to Ramin and from thence to Tulkarm.

16:10 Jubara
The female Military Police officer who inspects our IDs, while the soldiers burrow through the trunk of the car, refuses to let our foreign visitors into Israel proper as they are not carrying their visas with them, then indicates that she is the commander of this Crossing. Frequently, MachsomWatch visitors do not carry passports with them, and this is the first time that this has caused an incident, an ugly incident that shows the IDF in all its ugliness. There is a standoff, we are told to park our car far away from the checkpoint, refuse to do so, and although our lawyer is called, in the end we make our way back to the Eliahu Crossing, which, contrary to our expectations of the new private security company, checks neither IDs nor asks any questions but instead bids us goodspeed on our way home. Otherwise, there’s a strong taste of the Occupation which may well linger long after we return.
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Summary
The turmoil created by the “Arab spring” revolutions may have affected people here, not so its politicians who haven't changed the strategic equation and continue with occupation and settlement building in a language that is, frankly, just stuck in the past. The celebrations on both sides of the divide in the prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas last week freed more than 1,000 prisoners, including Gilad Shalit, and came about through the vox populi, not the vox dei. And what about the situation in the OPT as observed today: more of the same, none of the good, plenty of the bad and the ugly.

12:30 Habla
A magnificent lesson on what goes on for the long time inhabitants of Qalqiliya and today’s dire life in the Seam Zone, complete with map. The effect of the “girls” (that’s us, MachsomWatch women) on the overall perception Palestinians today have of Israelis – all for the edification of a newcomer. We are called something like “angels of mercy,” but that’s mainly thanks to the women who work with Menuei Shabak and Menuei Mishtara: “they work as if pouring water over hot coals.”

13:10 Gate 1392
We arrive late because of the above session. Six people wait on our side of the Separation Barrier, and it’s clear that this is one of those extra slow days which seem to typify guarding this checkpoint. Nothing moves, and then we begin to understand that the five Palestinians who are called at any one time to be checked inside the concrete house come in as a group and exit also as a group.
 
13:15 – a Hummer arrives, followed by a jeep as the Hummer soon drives off into the distance. The soldiers’ shift, twenty minutes late, is now complete, but this does nothing to speed the checking.

13:23 – the elementary schoolchildren’s bus has been waiting for nearly half an hour, and it waits some more as the commander, a reservist, confers in the middle of the Separation Barrier with another soldier (also a reservist). Two soldiers, plus the usual woman Military Police enter the bus.  

Eliahu Gateway/Gate 109
For us no problem as we are made to cross the obstacle course to get to blue Police and Border Police who sit, waiting for what, on the ground. But at Gate 109, on the far side of the so-called gateway, stand two Palestinian buses, with nobody inside. Palestinians are certainly being checked in the newly expanded and improved checking facility there. In the mornings, Gate 109 continues to be a terrible place for Palestinians who have permits to go to the Seam Zone. Often, if they arrive at 7:00, they don’t get out until 9:30, and the kinds of demeaning behaviors they are subjected to remind us of the worst days at Huwarra or Beit Iba, being forced to undress, subjected to uncouth behaviors of women soldiers, etc. All this seems to have started here at Gate 109 since its privatization.

Route 55
It’s quiet today, little traffic, as if everybody, including in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, had had enough of the endless festivals in Israel proper.  

Deir Sharaf
Another disastrous year for the olive harvest.

14:50 Anabta
The checkpoint is closed, a row of concrete boulders stands across the narrowest part of the access point. Parallel to the boulders is an army jeep. The soldiers never get out. They watch the endless stream of semi-trailers, cars, trucks, etc., approach the checkpoint, and then watch them maneuver, with difficulty, to turn around. We see one car valiantly clamber up the steep IDF-made mound having found a way to circumvent this latest obstacle in the daily life of a Palestinian. Later, during our watch, a few brave cars, all without four-wheel drive, make their way down this huge mound, into the dust-filled dirt path to make their way to where they want or need to go. Of course, no signs announcing that the checkpoint is closed today as there are roadworks beyond, or so we are told. No, let them come up to the concrete boulders, and let them do what they will. Not a concern for the army of occupation.
We have time to study the junction itself and the signs on it. One, in particular, takes our fancy, or at least draws attention to itself. In bright, glowing colors, on the background of a photo of the beautiful Roman ruins at Sebastia, near Nablus, (which we are forbidden to visit, in spite of their fame and beauty) the “next festival of Samaria in Sebastia” is announced for Sukkot (the just passed Jewish festival) on 17.10.11. Once again, the settlers are more equal than all others.

15:15 Jubara
A soldier there asks where we’ve been shopping, but the name of Habla means not a thing to him, nor does that of MachsomWatch!

Summary
For those of us who travel to the OPT, week in, week out, it’s tiring to know that the Israeli authorities demolished about a dozen  Palestinian-owned structures in Area C, and that demolition orders continue to be meted out; that  Israeli forces injured nearly two dozen Palestinians in the past week, and how many more in the coming week? How much more will settler violence against Palestinians and plundering of their property increase during this year’s olive harvest? How much more theft of olive crops and damage to trees? And what about the ever increasing “blacklisted,” who find, from one day to the next, that their permits have been nullified by the ever insidious arm of the Civil Administration which does its dirty work behind the scenes, hoping to remain out of sight. Knowing about the non-stop violence, greed, abuse, humiliation and bureaucracy of occupation is wearing, yet we know only too well that this unbridled lawlessness is not the Wild West but a reality in which we have no choice other than to continue monitoring in an attempt to have our voices heard above the effective din of the Israeli authorities’ public relations campaigns.  

13:00 Habla
As we arrive a soldier is helping a Military Policewoman deal with her gun. That, of course, takes precedence over opening all the many gates at this agricultural checkpoint where already the school bus is waiting together with at least 15 people on either side of the Separation barrier, plus the usual assortment of donkey and pony carts, pick ups,  tractors, bicycles, young men as well as old plus a handful of women.

13:05 – a Hummer speeds by on the Barrier road, never to return. Most of the gates remain locked. The soldiers are in no hurry today, although the summer heat has turned to pleasant autumn warmness.

13:10 – a jeep arrives and the two soldiers are joined by others. Soldier number one, who refuses to acknowledge our greetings, now beckons for five Palestinians at a time to come to be checked in the concrete house. That being the case, no one from the Habla side, wishing to cross, is allowed through, and the furthest gate remains locked.
We see the small kids getting out of the school bus. Just how long have they already waited? In this part of the world, children do not come first for the conqueror.

13:20 – finally, ten minutes later, the bus gets to the center of the Separation barrier, soldier number one goes inside, to check, and the Military Policewoman circles around it.
One of the waiting Palestinians expounds in a usual way for many of his ilk: “You can’t say soldiers are all good or all bad, some are like this, some are like that.”

13:25 – a pickup truck, whose driver comes from the Bedouin enclave near Alfei Menashe settlement, proudly points out his tiny toddler daughter, wandering around on her own, unafraid and full of spunk. But what hope is there for her? No water, no electricity: “What can I tell you?” says her father as he waits and waits some more. Ten minutes later, the pickup truck, filled with other kids and a couple of adults, reaches the Separation Barrier, and every bit of it is checked; even the tightly tied tarpaulin at the back has to be undone, for there too checking needs to be carried out.
13:40 – soldier number one, no rank badges, comes up to us, asking us to move. As we begin to ask why, another soldier beckons to him, clearly asking him to cease and desist.
14:00 – a large, green Egged-type bus bears the older kids on their way home from school.

Eliahu Crossing, Gate 109
Several blue police, as well as Border Police and security staffers, hang around, clearly ready to pounce on any non-Israeli licensed vehicle, or perhaps one bearing non-Jewish Israelis. Indeed, we hear today of the unbridled racism of the security company in charge of “security” here, a term implying the punishing of everyone with an Arab name or born in Palestine, plus a new demand, requirement or “law”: that a magnetic card be produced together with a permit.

Route 55
Lots of military jeeps, blue police and other military materiel on the roads today.

Deir Sharaf
The olive harvest appears to be similar to last year’s – not good. Along our route, olives are being picked, but not avidly, a lot of women at work.

15:00 Jubara
The usual Military Police women ask for IDs, and, as usual, are non committal, showing a definite “attitude.” We park the car, telling a soldier we are to meet somebody at the gate through which Palestinian Israelis return, in vehicles only, from visiting friends or family in Tulkarm. We soon realize that the person we are to meet cannot be here. While we wait, two soldiers come up and, with genuine curiosity, ask about MachsomWatch. They have heard about the women who “hate the army,” have never met any before today, and can’t believe that it’s us! We tell them, instead, what we do and why, and are struck by their genuine interest in our activities.

We make our way to the path taken by pedestrians needing to cross into Tulkarm. A steep, dusty stony path, down from the highway, the apartheid road, into an olive grove where a number of Palestinians await the return of a prisoner friend. From here, we get a very different view of the gateway we know as Jubara: here, the main, well paved highway with its speeding vehicles seems to be light years away, yet it’s only a couple of meters between us and them…. The expected, newly released prisoner doesn’t arrive, the Palestinians wait some more, as is their wont, but one of the men helps locate the person we are to meet today regarding his blacklisted status. But we also hear other stories of permits withdrawn for no reason, and once again are glad of the work of MachsomWatch women who work on behalf of those blacklisted by the Israeli authorities. The stories are heartbreaking and shocking. But that’s the occupation, just one other aspect that many, including us, tend not to see on our weekly forays into the OPT.

Summary
The October 2011 reports of the United Nation’s (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Occupied Palestinian Territories (OCHOA), began either with “Fast Facts” or “Key Issues.” Both headings speak to an Occupation that is even more horrible than in the past. “Israeli forces injured 22 Palestinians throughout the OPT. Settlers injured another three Palestinians and vandalized around 250 trees. Israeli authorities demolished 26 Palestinian-owned structures, mainly including residential tents and water cisterns in “Area C,” where Israel retains control over security as well as planning and zoning. And all this throughout the OPT where already half a million Israelis live, and where Israel, in A.B. Yehoshua’s words, “nibbles” at the territory of the Palestinians where, in fact it is “plundering and infringing the very essence of the inhabitants’ identity.” What hope is there for a Palestinian state in such an environment?

Habla, Gate 1392
13:02 – the mess created by the change, in Israel, but not in Palestine, from daylight savings time last week, seems to have worked itself out. The same, we are told, could be said about the change from the IDF to a privately contracted firm to be on duty at Sha’ar Eliahu (Gate 109) where the checking , we are told, is a little less arduous than last week, but where Palestinians are treated very differently, surprise, surprise, from Israelis. These conversations go on while all wait for the gate/checkpoint to open. A soldier comes out to the waiting Palestinians, about a dozen of them, to say, “in two minutes.”

13:06 – again, surprise, surprise, the two minutes is, in fact, five when a Hummer arrives bringing the rest of those scheduled, including the Military Policewoman who again makes her presence felt here.

13:15 – the same people waiting here before 13:00, including the lady who offered us fresh “lubia” (freshly picked beans), still wait.

13:25 – only now do most of the waiting people get through. Shortly afterwards, the school bus comes by, carrying the cheerful Bedouin school kids (boys today) on their way home. We notice, not for the first time, that the bus, this school year, is much smaller than before. We wonder if this hasn’t to do with the number of homes that have been pulled down from the area near Alfei Menashe, in which case, those children probably no longer go to school in Habla.

13:30 – Separation Barrier near the ’Enclave’ around Alfei Menashe
Once again the gate here, facing us, is open, again no work on the new road being created by Israel near the Barrier, and we note that the flags are still flying at the little hamlet which is surrounded on all sides by Israel’s so-called “protective measures,” but which, in actual fact, give license for the settlement of Alfei Menashe to expand and attain contiguity with the nearby Green Line.
Qalqiliya
Free flowing traffic, no police or military
Route 55
All quiet today, few military or police vehicles around. At Azzun, we note, once again, that the flags that flew so proudly the day Abu Mazen returned to Ramallah from the UN General Assembly are no more. Individual flags, perhaps, for those who are brave enough to withstand the punishment of the Occupiers, but at the official level, say, the Municipality of Azzun, no way can they deal with the harassment and humiliation which has surely made them remove the colorful bunting and the flags from the central roundabout in this town.

Beit Iba
There are works going on at the former checkpoint, and rather than leaping to conclusions, we realize that the rocky road leading to Deir Sharaf is probably also caused by infrastructure works, maybe new sewers (and not the recreation of the infamous checkpoint).

Shavei Shomron
No checkpoint, no police or military in sight. Just the usual busy traffic making its way onward to Jenin.

14:30 Deir Sharaf
The DCO was “good enough,” we learn, to call the local Council to tell the Palestinian landowners that they had from 9-13 October to pick their own olives in the olive groves just south of the Shavei Shomron settlement. So, today, the second day of Israeli-authorized olive picking – from lands many of which were, years ago, stolen from local families, some  are indeed picking olives, but, once again this year, in their words, “It’s only half a harvest.” Only two brothers of the M. family are picking olives where once, maybe four or five years ago, some of us joined the many brothers and sisters, the aging mother and a variety of youngsters. S., the man selling vegetables and fruits from a cart, shows the meager picking of his harvest. Half a sack load where once he had sixty. He goes on to tell us of the scourge of wild boars that descend on the village after nightfall, the boars having been set upon the village of Deir Sharaf, by the Israelis, at the start of the Second Intifada, and boars, as most people know, eat everything and make life exceedingly difficult – but that’s the idea of this Occupation.

On the way to Anabta and Jubara, nothing to report, and at the Figs Gate, all our IDs or passports are checked or rather looked quizzically by an uncommunicative military policeman, our trunk checked. Business as usual.

15:30 Irtah/Sha’ar Efraim
Surprise, surprise, the guard, whom we already know, more or less welcomes us, telling us that Palestinians are no longer checked on their return from work as they make their way back home, but that we can’t join them. To Tulkarm, we wonder? And he tells of the delicious food, particularly the hummus that he’s eaten there. A mad world.

The many, many men returning from work are cheerful, and often have greetings for the four of us. One woman whom we’ve known from the Habla gate now tells of her great joy in coming through this “terminal” as she now has a job (plus, of course, a permit) to work in another town in Israel proper. The usual cheerfulness and friendliness of the Palestinian workers is heartwarming. 

 Eliyahu gate10.10 - We park the car in the parking lot and walk toward the new installations on the other side of the road and the new parking lot.  On the way, we see how people who have a permit to move about on their own lands and nurseries within Israeli terriitory are processed.  We saw how they emptied everything out of their cars and taxis into shopping carts and in addition their dog was inspected. Ran, the checkpoint commander, hurries over to us and informs us they we are allowed to stand and observe them only from the area of the bus stop, about  500 m. away.  What could one see from there?  We try to have a conversation with him.  We received an explanation of how the inspections are carried out, also for people going through the checkpoint. We were pleased to hear that he reads our reports

The seven villages of the "Baladia" of Zibad 11:00 - we travel by way of Jayyus, amazed at the new roads and the impressive signs in three languages. We continue to the village of Jamal and hear there, from several youths, that everyone in the village  received a permit to harvest their olives.  We looked for the village head in the "municipality" building, but he wasn't there.  We looked in the sewing workshop of N., who found her father, who told us that everything was going well:  in another week, all of the olive grove owners would received permission to go to the harvest  from 07:00 until 15:00. After drinking some cold and very good water, we were told that there was no water shortage and that their village has a partnership in a well which also provides water to the nearby settlement of Sla'it.

12:00  - we continue on the new road to the impressive "Baladia" building of Zibad.  This is a kind of local council which represents 7 villages:  Jubara, a-Ris, Kfar Tzur, Kfar Jamal, Zibad, Kfar 'Abush, Kur.  The mayor was not available, but he had a substitute.  Also R., from a-Ris was there, and the same relaxed atmosphere as N's father was reflected in Kfar Jamal.  It turns out that the IDF's programs which they had told us about during our first visit in Zibad in March are already in operation.  The people of a-Ris will get their lands, which had been closed off within the territory of the fence of Jubara, and the residents of Jubara can get to their lands, which are in the territroy of a-Ris, with a daily permit.  Of course, not everyone is happy with this news:  the people of Jubara had figured out how to benefit from their position within Israeli territory, and the residents of Kfar Tzur are in fact worried that they might lose part of their property which is within a-Ris. In any case, there was a feeling of satisfaction which we never had in previous visits in other villages in the nearby area.  Perhaps because of the special relations which the residents of Sla'it managed to create with their Palestinian neighbors?  The people of this settlement actually come during the olive harvest to help out the nearby villages.  Maybe the new roads reflect another contribution which they are receiving from the European Union?  And perhaps the promise of a Palestinian State and the intervention of the UN arouse optimism?  From the usual cliches about the state and about peace in the future it is impossible to understand their actual thoughts.

 Qalqilya 14:00 - Everyone is passing through in both directions.  No soldiers, no checkpoint.

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