Agricultural Gates Between Qalqiliya and Tulkarm, Monday, 28.11.05, PMObservers: Daphna B, Dalia G, Hagar L (reporting)General: this was an additional tour of gates in the separation fence in the sector between Qalqiliya and Tulkarm, with the purpose of examining how essential it is that we return to maintaining shifts there. In our tour in the area of Jayyus, we were assisted by a volunteer (Jean) from the World Council of Churches. We visited a home in Jayyus where EAPPI volunteers are living, exchanged addresses and telephone numbers with them in order to keep up regular contact. They are in the field every day and can transfer information to us, while we can act with the DCO and army elements, since they are very limited in their contacts with Israeli authorities.12:30 – Tzofim Checkpoint, which leads exclusively to Tzofim settlement. The soldiers will not let us pass, but when we say that we have a date with Jean, they point out a group of three houses/sheds, near the fence, of a number of Bedouin families, and say that we will find Jean there. We climb up there, meet a Bedouin who lives there and Jean, then set out in the direction of Azzun, turning to Route 574 northward to Jayyus.12:50 – Jayyus, the south gate: Gate 25/975When we arrive, we notice that, behind two fences on the system road facing the gates, there is a a tower in which a few soldiers are already present. A quick clarification elicits the fact that the gates will be open for half an hour between 13:00-13:30. A woman arrives to collect her children from school in order to cross through the gate to the agricultural area that was “annexed” to Israel, where a few Bedouin families live. We see that there is no coordination between the opening hours that the soldiers reported and those written on the gate, and we phone Qalqiliya DCO to ask that the data be brought up to date and the correct times be inscribed. From Jean we learn that there are problems with the gate numbers written on passes, when they are given… Clarification with the DCO elicits the information that, at Gate 26, holders of permits for Gates 25 and 22 ( the north gate at Jayyus and the one beneath Sal’it). According to the DCO the soldiers are up-to-date with this information, but when this mother arrives with her children, the soldier does not know and at first refuses to let them pass because their permit is for Gate 25. Daphna’s intervention works this time. The satchels of the two small children are checked carefully by the soldiers. Another problem at this gate is the scandalously short time during which the gates are open : 7:30-7:45 (yes, that’s right – for 15 minutes!), 13:00-13:30, 17:00-17:30. In conversation with L. from DCO Qalqiliya, it becomes clear that the timetable is set in coordination between the DCO and brigade. There is no hut in which to wait. A letter of complaint on all these issues will be forwarded to DCO Qalqiliya.14:00 approximately – Gate 25/943 (the northern gate of Jayyus). This gate is open 12 hours a day: 06:00-18:00. The gate is manned by the same team of soldiers all day. On the site there is a military policewoman who rules that it is forbidden for us to be there in a vehicle with Israeli number plates. At that same moment, a car with Israeli plates flashes past on the system road. To our astonishment the soldier says that he knows the driver, and mutters something about him carrying out works in the area.. As clear as the sun beating down on our heads, this is a settler. We draw the soldiers’ attention to the fact that there is no listing of opening hours on the gate, nor is there a number to call if the gate is closed. The military policewoman: “It’s not important. Everyone knows it is open all day” and “we never get to that side.” Our attempts to explain to her and her colleagues that they are here in order to give service to farm workers who have been cut off from their land, and that part of the service is knowing the opening hours, encounters unwillingness even to listen. According to Jean, this particular policewoman is usually much ruder to her and the residents. The separation fence has cut the farmers off from 75% of their land. Gate 25 is the main one through which they pass, and clearly the authorities of the occupation exploit that fact in order to damage and provoke the local people. One of the problems, known from other areas, is the motivation of the GSS when it comes to denying agricultural permits to family members. Their tactic is to give permits to old men and other who cannot work their land. All of this, apparently, with the intent of bringing the farmers to the point of not working their lands, whereupon the (occupation) authorities will take control of them. The process has already begun, and the expansion of Tzofin onto the lands of the village across the separation fence can already be seen.14:30 – A-RasWe climb back to Jayyus on a very steep slope and continue on Route 574 towards Jamal and A-Ras. We stop at a falafel stand in Jayous and get an update on the restrictions of freedom of movement of the locals: G. who speaks fluent Hebrew after many years working in Israel (Safari Restaurant in Herzlia), tells us that almost every evening between 19:00 and 24:00, the army arrives at the junction in the village centre and sets up a checkpoint, and anyone who passes on foot or in a vehicle is checked. We also hear from him that almost every day in the afternoon, when people are returning from Tulkarm, the army erects a floating checkpoint on the road not far from the tunnel, and stays there two-three hours. That checkpoint causes severe traffic delays [Jubara shifts take note]. Afterwards we meet a young man who speaks excellent English. He has a university degree in English, and works in Tulkarm Municipality. Both he and Jean take the opportunity to praise MW for our activities.We stop for a moment at the Children’s Gate on the road down to Jubara. The gate is closed at this hour. Next to the gate, the road which to this point has been narrow and uneven now become a gravel path which is shocking state after the rain. We drive for about two kilometres and after a sharp curve we get back onto a wide paved road – the road that we usually see when we travel from Jubara to Anabta. We do not know why the road wasn’t paved for its whole length, but suspect that the occupation authorities only paved a good road in the strip that is visible from Route 57, and ignored the parts not easily seen.We continue on the road, pass the bridge and reach the road to Jubara Checkpoint from the direction of Tulkarm. There we turn round and start back.15:10 – Gate 22/839On our way back towards Qalqiliya, still on 574, we stop and descend to the gate below Sal’it, roughly opposite Jamal. A sergeant from Nachshon Brigade greets us and supplies an explanation about the opening hours and the cross section of people passing through. The opening hours: 05:30-06:30 (80-100 workers cross, mostly those employed at Sal’it and Tzur Natan).13:00-13:30 (about 10 pedestrians). 15:30-16:30 (the workers return from work). According to the sergeant, after the workers pass, they walk about 200 metres (we reckon more) to the entry gate to Sal’it, where their employers collect them. The sergeant also knows that holders of permits for Gates 25 and 26 are permitted to cross at Gate 22. There is no notice hanging on the gate with the opening hours. At the checkpoint there is a hostile woman soldier.Since it was getting late, and the other gate we had wanted to see, facing Falmya village, was quite a long way away – we decide to forgo the visit and head for home. On the way we can see in the distance the lands next to Tzofim settlement which are being prepared for building.Our conclusion is that it is important to visit these checkpoints as much as possible, in the hours when they are supposed to be open. The distance of the gates from the main road opens plenty of opportunity to interfere with rights of transit, and it is important to document these violations and to help, as much as possible, the farmers to guard their fields. Together with EAPPI volunteers, we can create a reasonably constant presence at the gates and on Route 574.