‘Azzun ‘Atma, Haris, Kifl Harith, Qira, Shomron Crossing, Mon 23.9.13, Morning
10:05 Kifl Haris. As usual, the village is quiet, almost deserted – most shops are closed, a few open. No army.
10:15 Qira. The village is quiet. We drove straight to the women’s club. We waited a bit until about ten women arrived and began a yoga class. All remove the black clothing covering them from head to foot, remain in t-shirts and pants. They’re in a good mood, participate actively and willingly, even in the difficult exercises. Working with them in this way is very satisfying.
After a while 3-4 more women arrived. Susie, who’d been participating in the yoga class, worked with them on sewing she’d brought with her. We held the two classes – yoga and crafts – simultaneously for about an hour and a half, and then conducted a short conversation in English with all of them.
12:15 Nadim arrived; we started back via Haris. It was also quiet here, most shops closed, except for groceries. We saw children coming home from school.
12:45 We drove to the 'Azzun 'Atma checkpoint, which was completely empty, no army or Palestinian cars. On the way to the checkpoint we saw the new fence under construction; the mesh hadn’t yet been installed. Nadim says that the purpose of new fence is to encircle buildings in 'Azzun which are now beyond the present fence, as well as to move the checkpoint slightly. That will create a total separation between the settlers’ road and those used by the villagers – in short, a flawless “apartheid” road!!!
13:10 We drove home via Kafr Qassem.
'Azzun 'Atma
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'Azzun 'Atma
A Palestinian village of about 1,800 residents. The settlement of Sha'arei Tikva was established on its land adjacent to it, and the settlement of Oranit was established on its agricultural lands. By 2013, the separation fence had passed through the village and a checkpoint staffed by the army allowed the residents to cross from side to side. After building a massive wall surrounding the village and some of its agricultural lands, the residents went daily for five years to their lands that remained in the Seam Zone through the Oranit agricultural checkpoint (4). Since 2018 it has only opened during the olive harvest and the farmers have to pass daily at the Beit Amin / Abu Salman checkpoint (1447), about 3 kilometers north.From a report from March 24, 2021: "The farmers from Beit Amin and Azon Atma are happy that since February 21 the Oranit checkpoint .is going to be open 3 times a day, The farmers are really developing the place."
Report from July 14, 2024: "Ornit checkpoint is closed . The Beit Amin/Abu Salman agricultural checkpoint is closed (there is no contact with the military to check if it opens rarely), the Ezbat Jaloud checkpoint was opened once a day before the war.
Updated for July 2024
Apr-11-2019Azoun: The main entrance to village blocked now for several weeks
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Haris
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Haris
The village has 4,500 people and they have 5,000 dunams of land. The entrance to the village is blocked and opened arbitrarily, without informing the residents.The village has a seasonal checkpoint that blocks the road to the agricultural land and this checkpoint opens once a year! 2,500-3,000 dunams were stolen from the village in order to build the settlements of Revava and Netafim, which are located west of Haris.
The center of the village is Area B and around Area C. The population grows but the occupation does not permit new construction in Area C.
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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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