Jordan Valley

Translator:  Charles K.

Bezeq checkpoint 13:10We passed through.  No one paid any attention to us. 

(Photo:  Biblical landscape, Jordan Valley)
  
13:30  TayasirWe went up to our observation point next to the soldiers’ position.  An officer used his cell phone to photograph a Palestinian man standing with his arms outstretched holding an opened ID card.  The officer faced the soldiers’ position, and the man faced us.  After he came through the revolving gate and the inspection we asked him why he was photographed; he shrugged and didn’t reply.  We didn’t have an opportunity to ask the 2^nd lieutenant.  He demanded IDs; it wasn’t enough to tell him we were from Machsom Watch.  We refused and he told us to leave because we were interfering with his work and it’s a closed military area.  We refused, because it isn’t!  It’s an open civilian area!  And all we’re doing is observing.  Again he asked for identification.  In response to our request that he identify himself, he said that he didn’t have his ID with him.  We gave him our standard speech about our right to stand near him.  We suggest he ask the DCO.  He continued to insist.  He ordered someone over the walkie-talkie or the phone to bring him his wallet, and from that moment on he was only hostile but no longer harassed us.

We heard many shots the entire time we were there!
A soldier cleans up and throws away the remains of lunch.  A tray is left for the cats.  Two bags of bread for the children returning from school, who fight over the bread (it’s hard to avoid the associations and the images so deeply inculcated in us).  After the children realize we won’t give them any money they run toward their waiting ride.  The vehicle this time is new and very spacious, compared to the small jalopy we’re used to seeing.  After the flood of children the officer takes time to inveigle to cat to eat.  From time to time he shouts “ta’al” to someone waiting at the entrance.  ID’s aren’t checked against the computer.  Sparse traffic on foot.
The walkie-talkie bursts forth: “How many Watch women are there at ???”  Reply: A pair.  Two Israel-haters standing over us.  Pass it on to One.  Roger.”A garbage truck followed by a refrigerator truck enter the base.  The officer looks through binoculars.  Discovers the flag is torn and must be replaced.  Officer to the road:  “The last three digits of the taxi?”  The road:  “Oh, that’s not what they said.”  Who are they waiting for?  Today we won’t get an answer.

14:15  We left.

West of the road to the Hamra checkpoint, where the signs say “Danger – firing range” next to the tents and the shepherds living in them, we see many soldiers in groups.  They’re drinking coffee or standing with their backs to the road.They’re resurfacing the road today also Stop/Go).  They’ve made good progress northward during the past two weeks.

News flash!  East of the road, on the ridge where the settlement of Maskiyot established itself, we can see new buildings being built.  Next to them a soldier and a car.  Today we’re impressed once again by the very healthy, very green orchard east of the road.  Israel is drying up, water is very limited for non-Jewish inhabitants, while here the settlers have orchards and vineyards…

14:35  Hamra checkpoint
Two people (non-Jews) clean the water conduit below the road.  A soldier watches over them.  A soldier and a female MP come over to tell us they’re concerned about our safety, and their checkpoint is closed to us.  They also have to understand that we’re not leaving and they’re wrong about who owns this place.  From the moment the discussion ends – we became irrelevant.  Five male and two female soldiers took a break for coffee, songs and jokes.  From time to time a male and female soldier came out to wave through people coming from the east (the Jordan Valley).  Those coming from the west (the West Bank) received slightly more serious attention.  The few people crossing on foot were happy to see us.  “Welcome to Palestine,” they called to us.

When we were ready to leave a brown Xsara arrived at the checkpoint from the west – Area A – with a yellow license plate that crossed and continued north.  We photographed it.  We’ve already run into Israelis drilling for water from Area A; perhaps that car was one of them.

15:50  We left.

On our way back we drove up to the settlement of Maskiyot.  They’re in fact building (photo).  At the entrance to the locality is a large, new public building, probably completed during the “building freeze.”  We didn’t enter the settlement because the gate was closed; it opens only for people it knows.

On the way to the Bezeq checkpoint we saw a huge D-9, clean, with barred windows, being transported on a semi-trailer.

15:50  Bezeq
The guard wants to know where we’ve come from.  We replied, and continued on our way.

Succoth Eve in Israel
Palestine under closure, no entry for Palestinians into Israel

Shaar Shomron Checkpoint
A van is detained exiting Israel, its passengers Palestinian. The license plates are Israeli.

Zaatara Checkpoint 11:06
Sparse vehicular traffic passing unchecked by the manned checking posts. The checkpoint fence serves as usual as a display case for settlers’ various posters. Today an armed soldier is seen at the small guardpost by the roundabout.

Maale Efrayim Checkpoint 11:20
No soldiers in sight. Roads nearly empty but for few vehicles with Israeli license plates, and army and police.

Hamra Checkpoint 11:30
Vans delivering workers back from their day’s work in the settlements await the soldier’s hand gesture. When that is finally apparent, they may proceed towards Tubas. Vehicles coming from Tubas are checked. We are told that especially in the morning there is considerable pressure here of workers off to work early. No closure in these parts.

Tyassir Checkpoint 13:01
Here too the drivers bound for Tubas await the soldier’s gesture in order to proceed. Vehicles arriving from the Tubas direction are checked. Their passengers disembark and are inspected at the pedestrian checkpoint. Traffic here today is normal.
Next to the checkpoint we happened to meet a B’tselem representative and his assistants, having received a complaint about the herd of cows that is held at the army base and not returned to its owners. To be followed.
A herd of cows has vanished into the army base near Hamam al Malih:
Several days ago Daphne received a call from a shepherd in the Jordan Valley, requesting help in getting back his cows that had entered the army base area by mistake. For some days now he has been asking to have them back but the soldiers deny the presence of the cows at the site...

Daphne repeatedly talked with the Jericho DCO about the matter. In some talks, the DCO denied the presence of cows on the base, in others he admitted they were there and said the shepherd should come and the cows would be released. In fact the shepherd did come to the base again and again and the cows were not returned.

At 13:30 we drove to the army base and asked the sentry to call his commander to explain the “cow matter”. The subject must have been familiar to the sentry – he answered us politely and within minutes the commander came out to speak with us.

The commander claimed he had only arrived at the base this morning to replace the commander who’d left for holiday leave. He said that this morning, when he arrived, he himself had released the cows. To our question, how many cows did he release he answered that he didn’t know exactly. About ten. Where? Through the gap in the fence behind the base, the gap through which they have entered. Where was the shepherd while the cows were being released? Standing at the front gate of the base. Why did he not tell the shepherd he was releasing the cows at the gap, very far away from the gate, so he could catch them passing and prevent their getting lost again? The commander rolled his eyes and shrugged. Why were the cows not released earlier? He had no idea, he only got here today. What did the cows eat and drink as they hung around the base all those days?  Again, he shrugged and rolled his eyes. He added that he had closed the gap in the fence. Another gap in the fence had not been closed because, he claimed, it is close to the sentry post and therefore in view and “not a problem”.

We brought to the commander’s attention the fact that since the cows just simply let go it would probably take a while until the shepherd will manage to locate all of them. We asked to make sure he would not be arrested now while roaming the area searching for his cows (the Bedouins are not allowed to cross several imaginary limit lines around the army base, and if they do, jeeps are immediately alerted and they get arrested). The commander’s answer: “It’ll be okay. We know him here...” (we didn’t bother asking why he was harassed if they know him here... We assumed that this question too would be met with a shrug and rolling eyes).

Note that this affair is more complex than we’d seen and heard today. A further detailed account will be submitted by Daphne. The fact is that 40 (!) cows had been roaming the base for a few days, their shepherd repeatedly begging for them to be released. Many lies had flown to and fro during these days, a lot of deep concern for the shepherd whose flock is the sole source of livelihood for his family. Many telephone calls and pleas and requests and hours during which the shepherd had stood in front of the gate, all for nothing. At the end of our talk we pointed out to the commander that in front of the entry gate much live ammunition lies scattered. He agreed with us that this was ‘out of line’. We must all remember  times in the past when Bedouin children were caught in possession of ammunition and were accused of supposedly having stole it from the Israeli army. And here, right to our very eyes and the commander’s eyes – all this ammunition lies scattered around in front of the base.

We proceeded to return to Tel Aviv.

Shaar Shomron Checkpoitn 14:44
Again a Palestinian vehicle with an Israeli license plate is detained. As we try to photograph it, the guards are alerted and prevent us from doing so, pointing to signs that prohibit taking pictures.

Translator:  Charles K.

Bezeq checkpoint 13:10
We drove through.  No one paid any attention to us.  A weapon pointed at the road; we can’t see the head and body of the person holding it.  Afternoon.  The Jordan Valley is steaming – very, very hot and humid.

Mechola junction
Soldiers stationed at the pickup point, and another on the hill.  They seem to be on duty.  When we return we’ll already know their job is to guard the new recruits’ parents who are riding around in the afternoon heat searching for the Kfir base where a recruits “Parents Day” is underway.

13:30  Tayasir
We:  “Hello.”  Soldier: “Hello, hello.”  Others are notified of our arrival over the wireless:  “…If they interfere, tell him and he’ll take care of it…”  I wonder what we have to do that would constitute interfering???  Beyond that, the soldiers take no notice of us.  Why are all of them sergeants today?

Middle Eastern melodies wailing to God on high (coming from a cellphone), IDs inspected next to the computer station.  Women’s purses checked externally – the sergeant leaning against the wall hefts them in his hand to estimate their weight.  Buses and cars carrying laborers pass westward without delays.  The IDs of drivers coming from the west are checked at the position on the road.  The passengers, “wahad wahad” [one by one] go through inspection in the upper lane.  Laborers from Tayasir cross to work in a Palestinian date factory near Jericho.  They’ll work until 10 PM.

A school minibus arrives.  The soldiers are on the alert for the flood running toward them.  The children burst out through the revolving gate.  The first picks up a package of bread that was lying on the side, the others notice us and ask for presents, food, money, a watch…They have to make do with greetings and handshakes and run to the waiting minibus.  A Palestinian truck stops at the checkpoint, on its roof a sign, “There’s none like him, King of the Road.”

14:10  A soldier laden with equipment arrives for the new shift; the rest will come when we leave.

14:20  We left.

14:50  Hamra checkpoint
A small sign, like the one we saw at the previous junction, gets our attention, and we cross the road to read and photograph it.  Two soldiers (sergeants) approach us.  Who are you?  We reply.  They thought we stopped because of a problem with our car and came over to find out.  We thanked them.  They told us about Parents Day for the Kfir brigade recruits.  The male and female soldiers were busy showing parents who’d lost their way how to return.  While the soldiers at the checkpoint were dealing with wayward parents, the Palestinian cars had to wait.  The junction became somewhat crowded.  Here’s what it looked like:  Cars with the soldiers’ parents waiting behind Palestinian cars??!!.  Good Lord!  How frightening!!!  So they honk in annoyance and pass them at the junction – on the right, on the left…

Nuri leaves the checkpoint and asks about Dafna.  He praises her.  Tells us that today the soldiers are ok.  Invites us for coffee.  We politely refuse (we’re dreaming of air conditioning and we have to get to Parents Day soon).

15:35  We left.

We decided to drive to “Parents Day.”
We removed our MachsomWatch badges and turned east at the junction leading to the Kfir base.  The flags that greeted us at the junction were evidence of how the soldiers should think:  Written on them, in red:  “Think Army”

A female soldier greeted us and waved us on to a male soldier (or maybe it was the other way around) who pointed us to the parking lots.  Families laden with baskets, flowers, balloons passed by a stand where they received a white rose and a printed sheet of colored paper (a different color for each battalion) from the brigade commander.  We asked for the page for Dukhifat (because they’re the ones at the checkpoint today).  We were told that the texts are all identical.  We decided not to continue inside, because we really had no business there.  On our way we saw more parents who’d gotten lost and were on their way to the Peless base, and had started returning.

16:00  Bezeq checkpoint
Everything ok?      

Translation: Bracha B.A.

Bezek Checkpoint 15:20
We drove through unnoticed. The view with the sun in the west is lovely. There is still roadwork between Roi and the Hamra junction.

13:45 Hamra Junction
A banner on a fence reminds us to register for the Likud party. (is political propaganda permitted  in a military zone?

8 cars are waiting to cross. The first is from Gaza and the driver is already impatient and is honking the horn. Before we managed to ask how long they had been waiting the line began to move forward and within a short time all the traffic going west went through. During the time we were observing there was constant traffic going west and busses of workers going east and there were no more delays.

An officer greets us and another soldier with a drawn weapon follows him like a shadow. He asks us how things are going and then leaves us alone.  Other soldiers halfheartedly ask us to leave and not disturb them but decide not to pursue the argument with us. A black, Mercedes is sent back to let its passengers out to be checked before it goes through. We left at 16:35.

16:55 Tayasir
There are four soldiers present – one at the observation point, one checking vehicles, one checking pedestrians, and an officer leaning on the barrier looking tired and worn out. We are told that on Yom Kippur the checkpoint will be open. People don't have to remove their belts but only have to place their mobile phones and money on the table. There is a lot of traffic here as well. A large group of pedestrians arrives and a truck that brought them waits for 15 minutes before they go through. We left at 17:30.  

17:45 – Bezek Checkpoint
We say hello and begin to drive through. 
The attendant (angrily): Where are you coming from?
From Tayasir and Hamra.

He lets us through whether he likes it or not.  

Bracha B.A.

This is the second day of Rosh Hashanah for the Jews and Eid el Fitr for the Moslems.

Bezek Checkpoint 10:10
We drove through and were unnoticed.  No one was pointing weapons towards the traffic because there was none.  We decided to begin observing at Hamra Checkpoint.

10:30 Hamra Checkpoint
There are one or two woman soldiers and three men.  There is a dismantled turnstile lying next to the shed.  The arms of the turnstile are lying next to another wall.  There are cars and a lot of taxis.  People are dressed up and there are many children.  Some have gone to a wedding and others are visiting because of the holiday.   Everyone is checked.  Even the young children have learned to undo their belts and put them back on after they go through.

The loudspeaker announces, "Come up, come up, five at a time."  Cars wait 2-3 minutes to go through.  To our surprise one transit with children goes through without having to get out and walk through.  People coming from Jenin on their way report that they drove through without any problems.  We left at 11:20.

11:45 – Tayasir
Happy New Year..
"I know those bitches."  (meaning us).  There is a greeting on the gate from Duhifat Battalion 94  known as the black dragons.  Obviously there is some sort of gathering.   There are a lot of empty bottles and cans on the ground around the garbage container.  Someone tried to burn the garbage and it is scattered around.  A soldier comes up to us from the watchtower  and asks what we are doing there.   He is followed by a first sergeant who demands to see our ID cards.  We point to our [Machsom Watch] tags but he is not satisfied, saying that this is his checkpoint and we have to show ID cards. He calls someone on the walkie-talkie but gets no answer.  We inquire as to his ownership of the checkpoint and he explains that he is the commander.   We continued to our usual observation point.  He continued to call on the walkie- talkie.

There are four soldiers present: one is at the observation point, one on the road, one at the pedestrian crossing and the commander.  The door to the restrooms swings and creaks.  Here, too, cars and taxis pass through with people in holiday dress, and children remove their belts and put them back on again when they go through.   A voice from the walkie-talkie reports "I know those bitches.  Just don't let them stand too close and get in the way."    The soldier at the pedestrian crossing is eating sunflower seeds and the soldier at the vehicle inspection point puts his cigarette aside before approaching the cars.  All passengers' documents are checked.

At 12:15 we begin to leave and the commander asks why we don't stay until the end of the shift at 14:00.

12:30 Bezek Checkpoint
People greet us as usual:  "How are you?"
"Great."  

Guests: a Swedish journalist and S., an interested young woman

“Ramadan couldn’t reach the Jordan Valley because it didn’t receive a permit and was turned back at the checkpoint” (A saying often heard in the Jordan Valley when people explain why they’re not fasting).

Summary
Abandoned checkpoints – almost no one shows up, very hot (though not like it was three days ago) and the fast is unbearable.  In these conditions, having to drag oneself from the car to the checkpoint, and then back to the car, is a little too much to ask, so if it isn’t urgent people stay home.

12:30  Gitit checkpoint
Empty.  No soldiers at the checkpoint and no Palestinians.  Only three settlers encamped in the checkpoint, right in the midst of the concrete blocks, apparently waiting for a ride and meanwhile making themselves at home.  Lords of the land, lords of the army.

We went to see the ruins of El Pharsiya.  It’s a very harsh scene: piled-up remnants of people’s lives, among them sparkling white new tents donated by the Red Cross, which are now too subject to a demolition order.  El Pharsiya never received the demolition order, and its residents have been living on their lands (privately owned and officially registered) for more than 50 years.  So why now?  P., our friend, says the goal is to create a strip “free of Palestinians” between the main settlements in the area and develop it for Israel’s benefit.

14:45 – Tayasir
Only about 20 vehicles passed in either direction during the course of an entire hour.  The soldiers are bored, but their commander makes sure that inspect the waiting vehicles.  From time to time the soldier who is supposed to be inspecting vehicles locks himself in the air-conditioned booth.

The Palestinians wait quietly in the 40-degree heat (104 Fahrenheit), in the sun, in cars with no air-conditioning.  The commander tells the soldier to come out and inspect, so he slowly pulls himself together, puts on his ceramic protective vest and goes out into the heat.  A delay of about ten minutes.

The soldiers inspecting people on foot call “wahad-wahad” (“one-by-one”) even if there are only three people, or when they’re addressing 8- or 10-year-old children and their parents.  The children also must come through individually; they do so slowly, hesitantly, looking worriedly at the soldier and his gun.  It’s unpleasant for an adult to go past the soldier hidden in a booth and another standing next to the revolving gate with a weapon drawn.  To have to confront the occupation alone is oppressive and threatening; how much worse is it for a small child…

The soldiers insist, and don’t allow more than one person at a time to approach them.  Whoever dares to step forward a meter or two is sent back immediately.  This greatly delays the crossing, because the 30 meter walk toward the checkpoint starts only when the previous person has come out the other side.  That’s not much, but when you’re talking about a group of 20 people it results in a completely unnecessary delay.

17:15-17:45  Hamra checkpoint
People cross quickly.  No delays.  Many soldiers doing compulsory service who this time don’t harass us. Few Palestinians.  A friend told us that three days earlier a Palestinian boy went through the checkpoint with a bottle of cola that the soldiers coveted.  The boy tried to resist but couldn’t, and they finally took it from him.

Translator:  Charles K.

03:40-07:00  We decided this time as well to leave before dawn to see what happens at Tayasir and Hamra checkpoints during the hours people leave for work, because it’s Friday, and because it’s Ramadan.

BEZEQ checkpoint  03:40
We crossed.
We decided to begin at the Tayasir checkpoint.

04:00  Tayasir checkpoint
A warm breeze, still bearable (compared to how hot it will be later, when we’re no longer here).

Still completely dark.  The soldiers’ positions are illuminated, as is the army camp.  Two soldiers stand in the positions on the road.  A dog barks incessantly, comes down from where the positions are located and walks into the darkness beyond the checkpoint area.  We went up to the position; we were pleased that the soldiers didn’t think we were dangerous and didn’t react until they saw us, and asked what we were doing here.  No, they hadn’t heard about MachsomWatch.  They’re in the Duchifat unit, and will be stationed here for five months.  Meanwhile, the soldier sleeping on a chair at the entrance to the upper position came into this one.  The other two returned to the position on the road (we were in “the melting pot” – three soldiers from three different Jewish diasporas).

04:20  Laborers began arriving from Tayasir.
30-40 people crossed in succession.  Those we asked were on their way to the settlement of Na’ama (near Jericho), to work in the date groves or picking herbs (it’s hard to refrain from imagining laborers “being cooked” in the greenhouses where the herbs are grown).  We asked them what time it was, and learned that they operate according to the Occupier’s clock, at least in the area of the checkpoint and at work.  Today is Friday, so they’ll leave only toward 13:00.  Among the laborers were 15-year old youths.  Two crossed barefoot, and looked as if they didn’t own any shoes.  Those we asked how things were going said that today there were no delays and that the crossing was ok.

05:00  Again quiet, no people.  The soldiers began making coffee.
We left.

The road to Hamra was not so dark any more.  It’s easy to see the signs and the obstacle (a ditch and berm) stretching along the eastern side of the road.

05:30  Hamra checkpoint
A truck driver:  “It’s going fast today.”  The time?  Like ours. (five-thirty in the morning).  The passengers – here, too, we met laborers on their way to the settlement of Na’ama.  And a small taxi, waiting to take people to Amman.  Mini-van cabs passed, picking up families, mostly women dressed festively.  We kept track of the cars from the time we first saw them on the road west of the checkpoint, until they crossed; it never took more than three minutes.

We didn’t see many soldiers when we arrived.  An open military vehicle stood there; a male and a female soldier stood near the position on the road.  The armored corps flags had been replaced by the gray and white flags of the Jordan Valley unit (those with dappled berets).  This time we saw a red symbol on the flag that was different from what we had seen in the past.  None of the soldiers there (later we counted eight) approached us, didn’t ask, didn’t inquire.  Too bad, because we wanted to ask them about the guide to polite conversation at checkpoints, which newspaper reports associated with this checkpoints.  Maybe they asked about us over the walkie-talkie.

05:55  Four soldiers got into the military vehicle and left, one of them yelling at us, “You’re shameless.”

Light traffic.  People still arrive only from the west.

06:10  We left

We drove on the dirt road leading to the shepherds’ lean-to’s north of the northern vineyard of the settlement of Beqa’ot.  We brought bags of clothing to one of the families that lives there (in constant fear of the Civil Administration, which shows up at least once a week to demolish the lean-to’s and confiscate the vehicles and tractors used for pulling water tanks for the sheep and the inhabitants).  We politely refused to sit down.  We continued to the next clothing stop (near one of the concrete pillars – “Caution:  Live fire area”).  We didn’t accept the invitation to sit there either; we just wished them well.  And continued on our way.

06:58  BEZEQ checkpoint
We maintain the ritual:
-        How are things?
-        Great!!!