‘Anabta, Ar-Ras, Azzun, Jit, Jubara (Kafriat), Qalqiliya, Thu 20.3.08, Afternoon
13:40 Ras Tira
A number of soldiers are standing at a gate in the separation fence. They check all the people who wish to pass through. Right now these are three children on a donkey and cart. The soldiers tell us the gate is closed every day between 6:30 PM to 6:30 AM. During the day only residents of the adjoining villages and people who hold special permits are allowed through. From a distance, we can see that the army has set up a flying CP on the road leading to Izbat Saliman. The soldiers check the cars from one direction at a time- seven cars are waiting to be checked.
14:05 Qalqiliya
A huge Israeli flag is on display above the soldiers' heads. Three young people arrive in carnival masks and make up and hand the soldiers huge bags of candy for 'Purim', the male has a real gun. Their shirts read 'follow me- young leadership training'.
The people who wish to enter or exit Qalqilya are subject to a short interrogation and examination of facial features before they are let through.
The entrance to Azzun is still blocked with razor wire and dirt mounds.
Signs by the side of the road:
"Hebrew labor and Jewish shopping- the times call for it!"
"We've had enough of contempt- legal aid for Jews against the legal system"
"At the end of the mourning period we'll rise and do the deed…destroy the terrorist's house!"
14:40 Jit junction
The CP is unmanned, but the apparatus is there to be used whenever the army decides.
17:27 Anabta
10 cars from the direction of Tul Karem and 7 from the other direction. One of the cars doesn't stop far enough from the soldier, so he thinks. The soldier reprimands the man, who speaks no Hebrew, and so begins to drive in reverse. The soldier calls him back but gives not up this coaching opportunity and continues preaching to the non comprehending driver.
17:47 Jubara
The soldiers say we must wait for 10 minutes until they open the gate for us, for security reasons. We note no activity around the gate. Five minutes later comes a solider with a key.
The children's gate
Seven men of different ages sit by the side of the road with many bags and packages. These are work seekers upon their return from Israel; They have been here for half an hour. People who wish to enter the village are registered on a piece of paper, and given a two digit number which they must remember to tell the soldiers upon exit. (Besides the routine ID check). One of the women speaks no Hebrew and doesn't know her number. The soldiers tell her partner- if she doesn't understand the number in Hebrew she should ask for it in Arabic.
The owner of one of the two grocery stores in the village has some marble stairs in his van which he wishes to bring inside the village for a friend. The soldiers say he has no permit and make radio calls to find out.
The soldiers call out to the men to bring their IDs and make some more calls over the radio. We speak with the men.
"I was born into this kind of life I don't know anything else. Someone new come along every time, promising things will get better but they never do"
"No one cares about us, no country in the world, not even our leaders"
"I've spent all my money just to get a visa to go to France, I have friends there from the same village." "There's no difference I'll go over there and send my family money, just like when I go to Israel"
"I have seven children I have no choice but to sneak into Israel to get work"
"We don't return through the hills because it takes several hours and it's dangerous"
"I said to them if when we arrive at the CPs, there's a religious soldier, let me speak to him… I call them 'righteous man'"
It's getting dark. The lights at the CP are down. The soldier who has come to fix the generator arrives at the group of men sitting on the ground screaming and waving his gun. Ten centimeters away is the soldier's gun from the Palestinian man's body when he notices us- two Jewish women.
At seven PM the seven men are allowed through.
To the man still waiting in his van says the soldier-
'I've tried, there's no permit, think of something creative'
In complete darkness, at the Ar- Ras CP checking of vehicles and pedestrians continues. Five cars, a soldier aiming through the eyepiece. They light up drivers' faces with a flash light.
'Anabta CP
See all reports for this place-
'Anabta CP The checkpoint is located south of the village of 'Anabta, at the intersection of Road 60 (leading to Nablus at the entrance to Area A), with Road (57, 557, 5576) facing west towards the Einav settlement and the checkpoint at the exit from the West Bank - Figs checkpoint. Until 2010 we used to watch the intersection and report the long columns created due to a slow inspection of the vehicles in both directions.
Oct-28-2011Anabta checkpoint 24.10.11
-
'Azzun
See all reports for this place-
Azoun (updated February 2019)
A Palestinian town situated in Area B (under civil Palestinian control and Israeli security control),
on road 5 between Nablus and Qalqiliya, east of Nabi Elias village. The inhabitants are allowed to construct and improve infrastructures. The Separation Fence has confiscated lands belonging to the town's people. In 2018 olive tree groves owned by one of its inhabitants were confiscated for the sake of paving a road to bypass Nabi Elias. Azoun population numbers 13,000, its economic state dire. Its infrastructures are poor, neglect and poverty rampant. In the meantime, the town council has completed paving an internal road for the inhabitants' welfare.
Because of its proximity to the Jewish settler-colony of Karnei Shomron and its outposts, the town suffers the intense presence of the Israeli army, especially at nighttime: soldiers enter homes, arrest suspects, trash the house and sometimes ruin it, as they do in numerous places in the West Bank. At times a checkpoint closes the entrance to the town, so no one can come in or get out.
-
A-Ras (The Children Checkpoint)
See all reports for this place-
A-Ras (The Children Checkpoint)
On Tulkarm-Qalqiliya road (574), east of Hirbet Jubara. tia checkpoint is dedicated to residents traveling to and from Tulkarm, so they should not cross apartheid road 557 (only permissible for settlers).
-
Jit Junction
See all reports for this place-
The checkpoint is located on Route 60 near at the junction with Route 55, near the village of Jit. There was a checkpoint for vehicles passing between the north and south of the West Bank, which was abolished towards 2010. Since then, surprise checkpoints have been set up there from time to time with a police or Border Police vehicle, and vehicles and their passengers are inspected.
Yehudith LevinMay-14-201414.05.14 Jit junction צומת ג'ית
-
Jubara (Kafriat)
See all reports for this place-
The Jabra checkpoint was on Road 557, south of Tulkarm, on the side of the Figs Pass, which is located within the Palestinian Authority (a few kilometers east of the Green Line), and serves as an entry barrier from the territories to Israel. The checkpoint to the village of Jubara, which until 2013 was in the seam area, blocked and surrounded by a fence, was intended for the passage of the family members of the house next to the checkpoint, and also for the MachsomWatch volunteers (with special permission only), on their way to checkpoint 753. on the other side of the village. The soldiers supervising the "fig crossing" also supervised the crossing at this checkpoint, in our shifts we often waited a long time until the key was found and the gate opened. The checkpoint was abolished and became part of the separation fence that was moved west following the High Court.
-
Qalqiliya checkpoint
See all reports for this place-
Qalqilya is surrounded on all sides by the separation barrier. The only exit from the city is in the east of the city on the road that leaves the city in an easterly direction. This is where the checkpoint was located. When the checkpoint was active until 2009 our shifts watched long queues of cars being inspected at the only exit from the city to the West Bank. The checkpoint was canceled, but there is a military presence at the entrance to the city.Karin LindnerMay-14-2014Etz Ephraim settlement. Nurit overlooks Siniriya
-
