‘Anabta, Deir Sharaf, Habla, Irtah (Sha’ar Efrayim), Jit, Jubara (Kafriat), Ras ‘Atiya, Mon 15.3.10, Afternoon
Summary
A newly published book, entitled, The Power of Inclusive Exclusion, by two faculty members of Tel Aviv University, analyzes the Israeli occupation as a rationalized system of political rule. Unlike the usual views of the occupation as a twisted form of brutal colonization, a type of Jewish apartheid, or an inevitable response to terrorism, The Power of Inclusive Exclusion uncovers the structural logic that sustains and replicates, maintains and duplicates the regime that is occupation and that is now over four decades old – hardly an "occupation" in the usual, temporary sense of the term. Based on what we, MachsomWatchers, observe today, and what we have monitored over the years in the OPT, it's an interesting point of view. After all, there are always new forms of humiliation and harassment, new bans of some sort or other, new prohibitions or "exclusions."
12:00 Habla
A Palestinian tells us that he can't bring his wife from Habla to "my lands," and although he has a permit to get to his own property, his wife doesn't. The soldier explains patiently, "you can call it a border, if you like, but she can't cross… nobody can cross without authorization." Since that indeed is the case, and the soldier`s mind can't be moved, the car returns to Habla.
A Palestinian in a newish car tells us that we should come at 6:30 in the morning when the gate, or gates, are crowded and there are problems.
A private car with Israeli license plates, yellow, drives along the separation road, inside are two soldiers. A large tractor, dragging a chain harrow, prepares the dirt roadway to be smooth and ready for the IDF to track "infiltrators." Two young men are turned back at the far side of the crossing point, not allowed to cross, for what reason we can't tell.
12:13 — two minutes earlier than scheduled, the soldiers close all the agricultural gates, for here at Gate 1392, there are certainly more than one or two gates to be securely locked – until the next scheduled opening.
On the way to Ras Atiya
Work proceeds apace on the new roadway/checkpoint, and the new Separation Wall is topped by a wire fence, which looks electrified.
12:45 Ras Atiya
Sitting in the shade under the concrete shelter is a teacher we've met before. We learn that there is trouble here: teachers can no longer cross by merely showing IDs, but have to get out of vehicles and pass through the so-called "checking room"(a concrete windowless structure). This policy/law (whatever its euphemism) is but a few days old. Moreover, earlier in the day, because of the pressure of so many people going out of the village or coming in, the teachers on their way to the nearby, visible school, the policy/rule was not enforced. But what a difference now. The chief person/people behind this latest harassment is not Y. the commander, but his two military police, an especially rude and officious woman and a man who speaks nonstop to Palestinians, saying, over and over, "English or Hebrew, not Arabic." In fact, it is the complete lack of sensitivity to Arab culture that strikes us today in this occupation which seems to know no bounds. "Honor" is key in Palestinian society, and teachers are honored, as many used to be in Western society too. The Palestinian teachers cannot understand why a new rule is being enforced when they cross this Seam Line every day, to and from school. Is there no "honor" to teachers, they keep asking. The soldiers, especially the military policewoman, show not the slightest consideration or appreciation of anything but their own, ugly way of being.
Over and over again, we hear from teachers, some young, some older, mainly men, that they don't want to go into the "checking room," and demand a reason why they should. They don't understand why soldiers who know them, who have seen them pass, day in day out, can't show some consideration to them, as teachers. As for us, the monitors, we see, once again, that the problems in this part of the OPT lie on the Seam Line and along the Seam Zone. It is here that the newest and greatest humiliation and harassment occur every day, and it is here that the Occupier dreams up and enacts all the latest prohibitions and bans.
Y. defends this newest order, recently received, saying the soldiers, need to "keep track" of who goes in or out. To us, monitors, it looks like the exercise of total control. Some teachers are told that since they refuse to go into the checking room, they can "go back to the school and sleep there."
13:10 — another group of Ras Atiya residents, desiring to return home, is stopped, made to go to the checking room, but the door is locked! Three people wait – and wait.
13:20 — the minibus, donated by the Italian government, with a driver well known to us, as he is to everybody around here including the soldiers, is stopped. The driver tells that it was all right in the morning, but now there are problems being created, that he feels the soldiers are daring the teachers to demonstrate. Again, the issue of "honor" accorded to the teaching profession is expressed to soldiers who have no tolerance or understanding of "the other."
The "mukhtar" of Ras Atira has been called by the teachers and appears, speaking in his charming, fluent Hebrew to the soldiers to little avail. The military policewoman, in particular, is rude and uncouth, the commander standing back and allowing her to proceed as she will.
13:45 — suddenly, we see that the minibus, which has been stopped in crossing the Seam Line road, proceeds across: no one has had to get out of the bus after all. So, the soldiers gave way – influence of MachsomWatch and the head of the nearby village?! We are told, in no uncertain terms, it won't be that way tomorrow…. And if the children have no teachers who can reach them in the morning, what does the Occupier care?
14:15 Jit Junction
A Hummer, with Border Police in attendance, stands in the old checkpoint position, and a line of four to five cars from Huwarra waits as a Border policeman checks the first car.
Deir Sharaf, Anabta and Jubarra: nothing to report
Irtah: not a soul, other than civilian security guards in sight: the "closure," because of "problems" in Jerusalem is in force, meaning that no Palestinians can reach their jobs in Israel.
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'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.
Oct-28-2011Anabta checkpoint 24.10.11
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Deir Sharaf checkpoint
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Deir Sharaf checkpoint is located west of Nablus and south of the settlement of Shavei Shomron, at the entrance to the village of Deir Sharaf on the road leading to Nablus. The checkpoint was activated in early March 2009 after the Beit Iba checkpoint was closed. Palestinians are allowed through the checkpoint , but not for Israelis. Unlike the checkpoints leading to Qalqilya and Tulkarm, crossing of Israeli Palestinians is only allowed on Saturdays.
Nina SebaFeb-28-2024Deir Sharaf - the entrance to the village
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Habla
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Habla CP (1393)
The Habla checkpoint (1393) was established on the lands of the residents of Qalqilya, on the short road that
connected it for centuries to the nearby town of Habla. The separation barrier intersects this road twice and cut off the residents of Qalqilya from their lands in the seam zone.(between the fence and the green line).
There is a passage under Road 55 that connects Qalqilya to the sabotage This agricultural barrier is used by the farmers and nursery owners established along Road 55 from the Green Line and on both sides of the kurkar road leading to the checkpoint.
This agricultural checkpoint serves the residents of Arab a-Ramadin al-Janoubi (detached from the West Bank), who pass through it to the West Bank and back to their homes. The opening hours (3 times a day) of this agricultural checkpoint are longer than usual, about an hour (recently shortened to 45 minutes), and are coordinated with the transportation hours of a-Ramadin children studying in the occupied in the West Bank.Ronit Dahan-RamatiApr-25-2025Habla Checkpoint: system of gates
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Irtah (Sha'ar Efrayim)
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The checkpoint is for Palestinians only. It is the main barrier to the passage of workers from the northern West Bank to Israel. Workers with a permit to work in Israel and also for trade (with appropriate permissions), medicine, and visiting prisoners. One can cross the checkpoint only on foot. The checkpoint is located north of Road 557 and south of Tulkarm. Operated by a civil security company, opening hours: between 4:00 and 19:00 on weekdays. As members of Machsom Watch, we began our shifts to this location in 2007. We arrived before it opened at 4 in the morning and report since, on the harsh conditions and the long and crowded queues of workers. The workers who pass by continue their journey by transportation to work throughout Israel. In the first period of its activity, about 3,000 and then 5,000 people passed through this checkpoint every day. Due to the small number of checking points and arbitrary delays for long periods of time in the "rooms", workers feared losing their transportation. Hence workers leave their homes at 2:30 at night to be among the first. Today, 15,000 pass and the transition is faster. Workers are still leaving their homes very early to get past the checkpoint at 7 p.m. In an adjacent compound, there is a terminal for the transfer of goods on a commercial scale, using the back-to-back method.
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Jit Junction
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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
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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.
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Ras 'Atiya
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The checkpoint is presently on the Separation Barrier roadway, manned and open 12 hours a day, from 6:30 to 18:30. West of it is the large Seam Line village whose school is attended by children from the nearby villages east of the Barrier and many of whose inhabitants have permits to work in Israel. How long this checkpoint will remain in place is unknown, since construction of the Separation Wall, just by the settlement of Alfe Menashe, east of the present Separation Barrier, is endless, as is the creation of a new road and, obviously, a new checkpoint.
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