Kifl Harith, Qira, Shomron Crossing, Mon 2.9.13, Morning
09:30 Shomron crossing. Traffic flows.
09:45 Kifl Haris. An army jeep drives around near the entrance to the village.
We place the Machsom Watch banner in the windshield. We arrived at Qira early. The family of one of the participants in the class who lives across the street invited us for coffee.
10:10 Sally-Ann is beginning a movement class with six students. Additional women arrive one by one. Harriet said she watched, seated, and saw how much they enjoyed the class.
I teach advanced English to four students.
11:15 We switch groups; I teach eight students English; Sally-Ann has four. The little children interfere; Sally-Ann suggests to the director that next week she find a babysitter.
By the time classes ended there were 12 participants. Five were new; they hadn’t come last year.
While we were teaching, Elon (Harriet’s husband) sat outside. Laborers working in an adjacent building joined him. They drink coffee and talk about their families.
12:00 We return via Kifl Haris.
I didn’t feel comfortable driving through in a private car, so we didn’t continue.
12:20 Shomron crossing. They didn’t check our ID cards.
Kifl Harith
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Kifl Harith
This is a Palestinian located north-west of the settler-colony town of Ariel, 18 kilometers south of the city of Nablus. It numbers 3, 206 inhabitants, as of 2007. 42% of the village lands lie in Area B, and 58% in Area C. In 1978, some hundreds of dunams of the village’s farmland was sequestered in order to found the settler-colony of Ariel – in total 5,184 dunams from the Palestinian communities of Salfit, Iscaqa, Marda, and Kifl Harith. Dozens of square kilometers were also confiscated for paving road no. 5 as well as road 505 and their buffer zones, and the Israeli electricity company’s power station. Over the years the village has suffered harassment by sometimes-armed settler-colonists, even casualties. In 1968 the army’s rabbinate ruled the maqam site Nabi Yanoun (sanctified grave of the Prophet Yanoun) is in fact the tomb of Joshua, Son of Nun. Another structure in the village, named Nabi Tul Kifl by the Palestinians, has been identified by the Israeli authorities as to the tomb of Caleb, Son of Yefuneh. These sites are located in the heart of the village, near the mosque, and at times of Jewish religious festivities and pilgrimages, the center of the village is illuminated by projectors and thousands of Jews arrive, protected by hundreds of Israeli soldiers. During such a period, a night curfew is imposed on the village and the villagers are forced to stay shut inside their homes.
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Qira
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Qira
This village is located in the Salfit district of the northern West Bank, 19 kilometers south-west of Nablus. The village population numbered 1,387 as of 2016. 97.6% of the village lands are categorized as Area B, whereas the 2.3% remaining are in Area C. The Separation Fence erected around the settler-colony city of Ariel separates Qira from its local town Salfit, and necessitates a detour of about 20 kilometers.
In 2010-2015, the women’s center in the village held meetings and workshops shared by the village women and children with members of MachsomWatch.
For further information: http://vprofile.arij.org/salfit/pdfs/vprofile/Qira_vp_en.pdf
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Shomron Crossing
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Shomron Crossing The Shomron checkpoint for vehicles. is located east of Rosh HaAyin and Kafr Qassem, on Road 5 (Trans-Samaria) leading to Ariel and the Za'atara junction. It is intended for blue ID cardholders, foreign guests or diplomats, and international organizations only. In 2009 the management was entrusted to a civil security company.
Ronit Dahan-RamatiAug-21-2025Highway 505: Salute to the Hilltop Youth
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