Deir Sharaf

Nablus and Tulkarm checkpoints,

A bit rainy and few go out to work, no military presence on the main roads.  Schoolchildren are on mid-year vacation.

06.30  60 to 70 people in line. There are 3 checking positions.  One is outside the building and has no computer, but people are registered and their belongings checked.

06.40 It starts  to rain and there are still over 40 people in line.  Passage is quick and the line shortens. At 06.50 workers who had crossed begin to return because of the rain – their work being outdoors.  They were happy about the rain in spite of losing a day’s work.  As more and more workers return this slows down the checking as these returnees, too, have to be registered. But at least the latter can shelter under the roofing.

One man pointed out that this is a good day – and we think so, too, in comparison with other days.

We noted that the man no.50 in line, passed through in 14 minutes.

06.55 About 20 people are still in line, all the time with a dribble of new people. A few wait next to the container and when the line is relatively short they join – apparently they are not in a hurry. Without a doubt, because of the rain, there are fewer people than usual.

The boy coffee-seller arrives.  He comes every day before school trying to sell his wares. We don’t want coffee but he refuses just to take money.  Today he asked for an umbrella.  We will try to bring him one next time, as well as a few exercise books.

07.20 Tulkarm. There are very few in line, no doubt because of the rain. We waited for the school busses – but were then told that the children are on a two-week vacation.

07.50 about 10 waiting in line and 4 cars in the car check Eliyahu Cross.

07.55 A military vehicle opposite the entrance is watching.

08.10 Jit Junction  A police car. The policeman is apparently checking a car owner’s documents, helped by a soldier.t

08.20 Deir Sharaf The owner of a bakery reports that there is no news, all is quiet and life is good.  It is interesting that, somewhat like Tel Aviv, when  far from Bil’in or Silwan, his life is good, there is an income and things are relatively quiet – ‘it should just remain so,’ he says.

'Anabta open, we did not see soldiers.08:45   

13:00 Habla

We arrived at 13:00 and surprisingly the gate was open and functioning.  Not many people passing, maybe because of the holiday, Christmas, today is a holiday (no work and school) in the West Bank.

'13:40 Azzun

People waiting at the entrance for a taxi, not much traffic on the road.

13:55 Deir Sharaf

Business in the mini market and the green grocer, but everyone else on holiday.

14:30 Irtah

The few workers returning passed with no problems.

13:00 Habla

We arrived at 13:00 and surprisingly the gate was open and functioning.  Not many people passing, maybe because of the holiday, Christmas, today is a holiday (no work and school) in the West Bank.

13:40 'Azzun

People waiting at the entrance for a taxi, not much traffic on the road                    

13:55 Deir Sharaf

Business carries on in the mini market and  at the green grocer, but everyone else is on holiday

14:30 Irtah

After Sunday’s reports about checkpoints being established at many locations, we decided to make a complete circuit to see what’s going on.  We saw no flying checkpoints other than one that was removed while we were in the field.  There were more military vehicles than usual on the roads, but they didn’t interfere with Palestinian traffic.

06:40  Eliyahu crossing – A number of cars at the inspection station for Palestinians (from Israel as well as from Palestine).  Crossing takes 5-6 minutes.  The cars are checked by dogs and also by people.  Not many people on the pedestrian line, but we couldn’t time how long it took them to get through because no one wore clothes that stood out and we were standing too far away to identify those entering and remember them.  People coming out said it took about 10 minutes to cross.

07:10  Habla – The gate is already open and we see that many people crossed.  On average, it takes ten people about 6 minutes to go through.  Initially, people were inspected at the guard station, where there was a soldier with a portable computer and a second soldier with a scanner.  Later the computer in the inspection room was turned on and people again crossed there.  At 07:20 the children’s bus arrives, the driver waits for the soldiers to notice him and wave him over to the inspection stations.  He said that people with a 00 license go through without having to stop at the inspection station, and he’ll try to get one.  Then the bus advances to the middle of the crossing and a soldier inspects its baggage compartments – as if something would be smuggled into Habla!

Tractors cross with tools, material, olive seedlings – there’s a great deal going on here.  If only people could live here without the damn checkpoint.

We continued via the entrance to Qalqilya and drove through 'Azzun – no soldiers at the entrances; they’re open (the previous day soldiers were reported to have been there).

08:10  Jit junction – From a distance we saw military vehicles and what looked like a flying checkpoint at the Sara/Huwwara junction.  We decided to first stop by Deir Sharaf – the road to Shavei Shomron.  The checkpoint was open but the police officers standing there stopped a Palestinian for inspection, and us as well.  After inspecting my documents – driver’s license, vehicle registration – and finding out that we just want to see what’s going on here, they let us continue.

We stopped at the bakery in Deir Sharaf.  They told us that Jit junction is closed to traffic driving toward Huwwara.

08:50  Back to Jit junction.  Now two military cars were standing on the side above the junction, but the soldiers were lounging in the cars, apparently not doing anything.  Another military car and civilian pickup truck stood on the side of the road to Huwwara, not doing anything, electrical cables and tools alongside them.  The crossing was open in all directions.  Apparently there’d been a flying checkpoint there which had been dismantled by the time we arrived.  We watched what was going on for a while and then continued to Huwwara.

09:10  Huwwara – The crossing is open.  No soldiers on the road.

09:30  Beit Furiq – The crossing is open, no soldiers on the road  except for the one who’s always at the ascent to Mt. Gerizim.

09:50  Za’tara junction – Soldiers are present who from time to time ask some driver something, but the crossing is open, even if slow.  In fact, we crawled all the way up because the crossing went so slowly.

10:00  The entrance to Ariel/Salfit – No military.  We entered in the direction of the entrance to Salfit to see what’s happening there.  Two soldiers stood at the entrance to the road to Salfit (where there’s a yellow gate that can block the road) who told us we can’t drive to Salfit in a car with an Israeli license plate.  We turned around and returned home. 

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The second day of Eid al Adha – Festival of the Sacrifice 

06:30  Habla

The checkpoint is open, very few Palestinians wait to go through.

A plant nursery truck is inspected.  The driver argues with the soldiers and the truck moves back.  It’s not clear whether the driver isn’t permitted to cross, because we see what appears to be a similar truck very carefully inspected, including the driver’s documents, the seats, engine and baggage compartment, but the truck and driver are finally allowed through after an inspection lasting a quarter of an hour.  The driver passes us angrily, complaining about the MP and the soldiers.

People dribble through.  The plant nurseries are closed; we don’t know whether they’ll open later in the day.

06:55  No one crossing.  We leave.

07:00  Gate 109

We enter the parking lot and park opposite the crossing so we’ll be able to see what’s happening.  A guard approaches, explains that it’s the employee lot (there’s no sign).  We move a little. We cross the road, and although the guard comes over we’re not chased away and have a good view of what’s going on.  There are few Palestinians; people on foot cross very quickly.  We see a group of Palestinian women who’d gone through walking slowly along the roadside on their way to Israel.

No cars in the inspection pen.  A refrigerated truck with a yellow license plate stands next to it, but continues to Israel after a brief discussion.

07:15  We continue to the Jayyus checkpoint, hoping to arrive before it closes.

A military jeep stands at the entrance to'Azzun; we have to go around it to turn to Azzun.  No laborers wait at the exit.

07:30  Jayyus gate

A truck and two tractors are still waiting to go through.  The soldiers carefully inspect the truck; meanwhile I speak to A.A., who says the olive harvesting continues, despite the holiday, to take advantage of the good weather; there’s still much work.

The two tractors cross quickly.

07:35  No more people are waiting; the soldiers close the gate.

07:45  Falamya gate

A family with five children, the youngest about two years old, walksalong the road from Falamiya toward the gate, loaded with tools for harvesting olives.  Because of the holiday they’re all going to harvest, happy and cheerful.

The reach the gate and the revolving gate which opens and closes with the press of a button operated by the MP in the inspection building.  The father picks up the youngest, the two older ones join him and the two younger children can’t decide what to do.  They’re clearly very frightened; they remain with their mother on the other side of the closed revolving gate while the father enters the inspection building with the children.  We all hear the terrified screams of the little boy, the mother is locked out and can’t help. The soldiers yell to the MP to open the gate for the mother also, but she doesn’t, and the screaming continues.  The children who are with the mother also hold on to her fearfully.  Finally the family is reunited, the little boy holds his mother, still crying, and all of them look frightened.

There is a continuous trickle of people, obviously on their way to harvest olives.

Another extended family with many children arrives on a tractor pulling a wagon.  The adults get off to be inspected, leaving four little children on the tractor.  The soldiers discuss whether the children must go through the inspection building but decide they don’t have to get off the tractor.

Another family arrives; an elderly couple with a donkey cart; a car and driver; a youth and old man with a donkey cart.  Many more cross than on an ordinary day. 

08:20  We leave

08:30  Kafr Jamal

Our friend’s grocery is open and we’re served tea and cookies in honor of the holiday.  We really wanted to hear whether there had been any more problems regarding opening the interior gates, but it turned out that a few days of rain had followed our visit, when no one had harvested, and then the holiday began, so as far as he knew no one had harvested since; in any case, he hadn’t heard of any problems.  We tried to understand where those interior gates, where Palestinians are locked in, are located, and to help us understand Z. took us along the road to Tulkarm, opposite the settlement of Sla’it, where we saw the holdings beyond the separation fence, below the settlement.  He showed us his land, cut by the separation fence, explaining there were coils of razor wire on the other side of the fence, in which locked gates have been installed, each giving access to 3-4 Palestinian holdings.  The soldiers open the gates in the morning and after the Palestinians enter their holdings lock them in, and reopen then only in the afternoon (if they remember…!).  The holdings involved are located in the area between Sal’it and Kokhav Ya’ir.  Two questions we didn’t ask, which I’ll try to get answered by phone tomorrow:

1. What happens if someone feels ill during the day? 
2. Today we saw many people who went in later.  How did they reach their holdings?

Once we get more specific information, I wonder whether we could send a letter of compliant.

09:20  We arrived at the Jubara checkpoint. 

One car is parked outside the gate.

The inspection of cars and people, entering and leaving, proceeds rapidly.  Women don’t go through the scanner.  Taxis arrive, their passengers get out.

09:50  We drive along Beit Lid’s steep roads.  There are many people in the streets; a festive atmosphere.

10:05  Deir Sharaf

Many cars and people in the village center.

We drive on Highway 60 to Shavei Shomron.  The crossing to Jenin is open.  The entrance to Kafr Naqura is open, but the road to Asira a-Shamaliyya and from there to Nablus is closed to Palestinians; it’s used only by the army.

Whenever we stop, Palestinians immediately stop also and ask whether we need help, and answer all our questions. There are many women and children in the cars, and a festive atmosphere.

Jit junction is open to traffic, only a blue police car lying in wait inside.

10:45  Eliyahu crossing (109)

There are about five cars in the inspection pen, doors and windows wide open.  The cars are surrounded by people inspecting them.  From the road we can’t see whether there are dogs.

We drive home.  Nothing terrible happened.   What’s terrible is that everyone has gotten used to this.

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. 

Summary

Although we, the women of MachsomWatch, try to shine light on the evils of occupation, we are only too aware that the occupied, the oppressed, the Palestinians rarely make the headlines, let alone the media. Yet, for more than a week, Palestine has been the center of international attention. Whether the shadows will once again obscure the evils of occupation remains to be seen, so it is up to us, those of us who venture to occupied territory, to Palestine, to continue to highlight violations of human rights and focus on the day to day abominations of occupation. Yet, today, the day Abu Mazen returned to Ramallah from the United Nations General Assembly, it would be inexcusable, no, unfeeling  of us not to highlight the proudly waving symbol of Palestine’s liberty and freedom atop so many  buildings and decorating the many roadways we passed by on our shift.

12:50 Habla

More problems have been created lately at Gate 1392, although rumors that it would be closed in October appear to be unfounded. Every day, there appears to be “something new,” put into place by soldiers on duty and  meaning rules and regulations, probably not emanating from high up but made up on the spot by those same soldiers on duty.

13:10 At the gate itself, one solider, one military policeman and one Hummer, joined soon by a jeep and soldiers which soon triple the numbers guarding this agricultural gate. We see the son of the greengrocer who has walked to the concrete house to have his permit, etc. checked, returns to his truck on the Habla side of the Security Barrier and is made to lift up its canvas sides for “checking.” This is a man who crosses here several times a day, and, sure enough, ten minutes later, he returns to cross back to Habla. Again his empty truck is checked, and the same rigmarole goes on and on and on.

We question the soldiers, politely, as to why almost all of them are wearing something around their right ankle, a padded looking “protection” of some sort, or a place to  conceal something, maybe a knife? We are left guessing as the answer we receive from the commander, a captain, is that it it is to protect the knee (just the right knee, mind you, and yet so far from the target)!!

13:45 on route 55, the first of many blue Police is seen. This one has pulled over a car bearing Israeli license plates (yellow) and police are questioning a couple of young men. All this before the gas station and the junction to Alfei Menashe.

At the junction, at the turnoff to the settlement, an armored blue police Hummer.

On the road leading to the Security Barrier and to Alfei Menashe, we see that more Bedouin shacks have been pulled down, the homes of many human beings now a mere pile of rubble. Yet, signs of life: on our return from Gate 1360, at 14:00. The green school bus is letting off the elementary school kids that we usually see at the Habla agricultural gate.

Gate 1360

Once again, the gate on the “Israeli” side of the Separation barrier is open, but the many gates on the other side are firmly locked. As we peer across the Separation Barrier, we spy a flag waving in the breeze, high atop the opposite hill. It’s not been there before: yes, it’s the Palestinian flag, and there are many more that we now observe in the village below, flying from private homes, sometimes three at a time.

Route 55

14:10 “Welcome to Eliahu Crossing Point” shouts a new sign in three languages. There is much action at this new and enlarged checkpoint which has been privatized and seems to be run by the same company as at Irtah (Sha’ar Efraim – same uniforms). The welcome is made manifest by Border Police and blue Police, working in tandem, stopping many cars coming from Israel proper. Note: MW should stop and monitor here in the future.

14:15 Qalqiliya

No prize for guessing: more blue Police, and we note that Israeli cars (yellow license plates) bearing Palestinian Israelis -- women with hijabs -- have been stopped. We should probably monitor here in the future too.

Nabi Elias and Azzun both display Palestinian flags and bunting, and there are flags also alongside Route 55, except in the areas of settlements where the blue and white flag flies as if it’s Israeli Independence Day (which usually falls in May)! More Palestinian flags at the junction of the road going to Ariel, via Immanuel, more in Funduk, Israeli flags outside Quedumim, Palestinian flags at Jit village, Israeli flags at Jit Junction and again at the Junctions of Routes 57 and 60…..These observations clearly deserve a graph or a more graphic description than mere words….

14:45 Shavei Shomron

An armored blue police Hummer, one blue policeman, one solider. The policeman is crudely brusque and commanding, “Turn around and get out…..this is Area A, only security and the army can come here.”

On question: what is the blue Israeli police doing guarding checkpoints today in cahoots with the army?

Deir Sharaf

Here there are not only Palestinian flags but tee shirts and a flag bearing “Palestine 194 UN.”A small crowd of men is absorbed in watching, on the television, Abu Mazen’s joyous return to the Muquata in Ramallah. People are happy although the food delivery man filling the coolers with salads (Israeli salads) mentions that he was beaten by Border Police last Wednesday in Huwwara, and others confirmed rumors of Palestinians being fined for bearing Palestinian flags on their cars. During our whole shift, we saw only one such flag on a car, but many dozens on houses and along roadways.

Anabta

We can’t help but note that Area A which has not figured prominently on signs in the past couple of years seems to have appeared once again on these red signs, often fixed to large concrete boulders.  No soldiers visible at Anabta, and the next flags spotted were at Avne Hefetz (Israeli settlement).

15:25 Jubara

The trunk of the car is checked by a gaggle of military police people, and other than a new brightly colored canvas shelter for soldiers guarding the Tulkarm exit checkpoint, northing else to report.

15:35 Irtah (Sh’ar Efraim)

Here we listen to stories of harassment and of waiting for hours to enter Israel in the early morning hours. We note that the packing case that has been placed on the far side of the turnstile leading back home for the Palestinian workers has been joined by a large load of building material, strategically placed in front of the turnstile – just a mere new obstacle! Dozens and dozens of men returning home, many bearing sweetly smelling guavas being sold by an enterprising driver at the entrance to the stop off area. One can’t help but notice the general bonhomie and good mood of the Palestinians. They have achieved much in the past week in spite of the continuation of this endless occupation. 

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