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‘Anabta, ‘Azzun, Ar-Ras, Jubara (Kafriat), Qalqiliya, Mon 12.1.09, Morning

Observers: Osnat R., Roni Sh.
Jan-12-2009
| Morning
Translator: Orna B.

06:55 Elija Gate
There is no queue of workmen, possibly because of the relatively late hour. They go through the new magnometer very fast and mount vehicles awaiting them at the parking lot.

The vehicles' queue is not long either.

07:00 Qalqiliya

No queue at all. Only cars with Israeli number plates are checked against a list.

Pedestrians are sent to walk through the car park.

07:20 Azzun
The entrance to Azzun is open. We got the impression that there were very few vehicles on the roads but at the Funduk all the shops are open. Children are on the way to school and everything seems normal.

09:40 Anabta

Cars are waiting at the entrance. The entrance lane is closed with concrete blocks so that the cars have to alternate going through from either direction.

A soldier approaches and tells us politely "for our own good" to beware of passing cars. When we ask why they closed one lane we are told shamelessly that i't is "for the soldiers' convenience" to be manning only one checkpost.
It is true that traffic is not heavy and that they wait only 2-3 minutes each time, but it does not occur to the generally polite reserve soldiers that the inspections are unnecessary and that it might be possible to go through with no queues at all.

10:00 Jubara, (Figs Passage)

Cars are waiting at the entrance; documents are inspected, and a commercial vehicle is inspected more thoroughly by the side of the checkpoint. Settlers fly through. We go through the settlers' entrance and ask a soldier to open the gate to the village for us. The soldier asks who we are and opens the gate.

Gate 753  – the soldiers waive us through.

10:15 A-ras

A few bored reserve soldiers, (more numerous than usual) are happy to see us, willing to start a political debate. We are not…
Everyone congregates by the tower but there is a commander who issues instrcutions from time to time.
A pickup truck arrives from the direction of Tulkarm, its covered number plate arouses the commander's suspicions. The vehicle is inspected, as well as the driver and his ID number is sent to the computer for a checkup.

The checkpoint commander asks us who is responsible for repairing the road, and when we answer that in our opinion the army is responsible for it because it is within the checkpoint area, they all laugh. Even Osnat's argument that an occupying army is reponsible for the welfare of the occupied does not appeal to their amused viewpoint.

10:40
  We leave.

  • 'Anabta CP

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    • '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.  
      Anabta checkpoint 24.10.11
      Oct-28-2011
      Anabta checkpoint 24.10.11
  • 'Azzun

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    • 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)

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    • 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).

  • Jubara (Kafriat)

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    •   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

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    • 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.
      Azzun: Enclosed by a high fence and the gate to the village is closed
      Nina Seba
      Aug-18-2025
      Azzun: Enclosed by a high fence and the gate to the village is closed
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