Al-Walaja, Etzion DCO
At Walaja the entrance only allows to come in or go out at one time. In other words, the army can close the entrance to the village whenever they want to.
Three young Bedouin from Beer Sheva were arrested on suspicion of having taken part in an armed robbery in Bethlehem and were cleared but their car is now in Bethlehem in the hands of the Palestinian Authority, and they have not managed to get it back and once again are being sent from pillar to post including the DCO. We gave them the number of Leap and St. Yves.
An elderly man was waiting for a young relative from Beit Awa who is at university who had been called in by the GSS for questioning.
The father is working, and the young man was scared to come on his own. He came out while we were still there, 17 years old and one could see by his face that he was very frightened. We asked if the GSS had wanted him to cooperate with them and he said no. But afterwards he told the older man that they had wanted him to do so, and he had refused. There was a big difference between the two men. The younger who only knows the police and army and the settlers and the older man who has worked in Israel, speaks excellent Hebrew, and knows other Israelis. He said that the GSS would probably phone him again and use his fears to force him to give them information. They know who is weak. He said that the situation in the villages is terrible, and we gave him the number of Michal Tsadik in the hope that she can help them. They had arrived at 10 and were lucky to have got out so quickly. The older man said that other people had gone in before them.
Al-Walaja
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Al-Walaja
A checkpoint for vehicles, located on the Green Line, in Nahal Refaim National Park. Staffed by Border Police and private security companies and active 24 hours a day. Palestinians are not allowed to cross, except for residents of East Jerusalem. Preparations are made to move the checkpoint so that The Ein Haniya spring, which has been used by the villagers for generations, will be permanently blocked for Palestinians, as will the the access to the 1,200 dunams of their surrounding agricultural land. Machsomwatch has been in contact with the people of village and reported on their changing situation over the years. (See the link to the reports)
Part of the village is in the municipal territory of Jerusalem drawn after 1967. In 2009 the village was surrounded by a separation barrier (mostly a wall) and then demolitionx of houses in the Jerusalemite part were carried out due to lack of building permits (but the fact is that no outline plan was prepared for the village, therefore it is impossible to get any permit for construction). In 2018, a petition was submitted to stop the demolitions, and it was agreed that the village, with the help of the organizations "Bimkom" and "Ir Amim" will prepare an outline plan, while the demolitions orders will be freezed. Despite the fact that the approval process is underway and soon to be discussed in court, a decision was approved in August 2023 to demolish 6 houses immediatly . Protest actions by inhabitants and various organizations, including Machsomwatch are now taking place to cancel this decree.
updated to August 2023
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Etzion DCO
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serves residents of Bethlehem and surrounding villages who need magnetic cards, work permits for Israel, permits for one-time entry for religious or health reasons, various police permits, etc.
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