Hebron, South Hebron Hills, Tarqumiya, Mon 15.6.09, Morning

תאריך: 15/06/2009 ,בוקר

צופות: Raya Y., Hagit S. (reports)

Hebron

According to Wye Plantation Accords (1997), Hebron is divided in two: H1 is under Palestinian Authority control, H2 is under Israeli control. In Hebron there are 170,000 Palestinian citizens, 60,000 of them in H2. Between the two areas are permanent checkpoints, manned at all hours, preventing Palestinian movement between them and controlling passage of permit holders such as teachers and schoolchildren. Some 800 Jews live in Avraham Avinu Quarter and Tel Rumeida, on Givat HaAvot and in the wholesale market.

Checkpoints observed in H2:

Bet Hameriva CP- manned with a pillbox
Kapisha quarter CP (the northern side of Zion axis) - manned with a pillbox
The 160 turn CP (the southern side of Zion axis) - manned with a pillbox
Avraham Avinu quarter - watch station
The pharmacy CP - checking inside a caravan with a magnometer
Tarpat (1929) CP - checking inside a caravan with a magnometer
Tel Rumeida CP - guarding station
Beit Hadassah CP - guarding station

Three checkpoints around the Tomb of the Patriarchs

סגור תיאור

Translation: Bracha B.A.

Tarqumiya CP: There are a lot of trucks and heavy traffic, but nothing is going on.

Road 35
The first entrance to Hebron from the west is open and there are a lot of cars.
Shuiyukh-Hebron: All as usual: there are roadblocks on each side, a few women are passing through… All the signs that were reminiscent of the reports from the last few days were also present today. Obama. Barak. Expansion, Not Destruction.
Opposite the Humanitarian CP: The entrance to the city is closed.

Hebron
It is evident that children are on summer vacation: they are in the streets, sometimes with their mothers. The entrance to the Giborei Hebron neighborhood is closed.
Pillbox 160: two Border Police soldiers sit within quietly.
The Pharmacy CP: quiet. Children are running about.
Shuhada Street: quiet and almost entirely deserted.
Tarpat CP: quiet. Almost no one walks through.
Tel Romeida: Two paratroopers are present but they do not stop people, just making sure they walk outside the fence. The soldiers are new to the place, and unwilling to talk to us. When we are outside,a police car arrives, stops next to M., our driver, and asks for his ID. When we ask what goes on, the policeman answers that it’s just a routine check.
It is quiet even next to the Patriarchs' Tombs' Caves: At first there is no music and later it begins but at a reasonable volume.Two soldiers from the Border Police are calm and pleasant for a change and even talked with us. They tell us of their work and ask about ours and it seems that they accept it with relative understanding, perhaps even a certain amount of admiration. They relate to passers-by with assertiveness but are absolutely fair.
Settler-girls walk on the road while a Palestinian women and a few children walk on the other side of the fence. At the grocery store next to the olive press we bought some labaneh, tehina, and the recommended guava juice.