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‘Azzun ‘Atma, Bruqin, Haris, Kifl Harith, Kufr alDik, Wed 11.9.13, Morning

Observers: Susie A.,Ruthi B.Z., Dafna A., Sara'le A., Devorka A. (reporting), with Nadim. Translator Hanna K.
Sep-11-2013
| Morning

 

 

 

09:30 Kufr Al-Dik. We arrived in coordination with Hannan the organizer, after she approached us to renew the activities with the women after a long vacation since the Ramadan.

  

The plan was that Susie and Ruthi would work with the women in the club, while Daphne, Sara'le and Dvorka would go on a tour.

 

We entered the club which had by now moved to a new and beautifully renovated place, but contrary to the usual procedure where a group of enthusiastic women greets us, this time there was only the deputy organizer waiting for us. Another woman and the organizer herself joined us later. It seemed the club was not prepared to any activity, even the sewing machines were not yet connected to the electricity.

 

After a deliberation between Susie, Ruthi and Hannan we got the impression that she is mainly interested in production for sale, but does not yet find the means to accomplish this. It was decided to try a different approach in handicraft. It seems we shall resume activities in the club after the holidays only, in the hope that till then the place will be prepared for work.

 

We also met Halla, the organizer of the first women's club where we began the activities in the village. She and a group of women and children were the last group who arrived this summer for the Sea Day. Halla cited enthusiastically the praises she heard from her friends of the wonderful holiday they had experienced. When we talked about the water hardship in the village she remembered that when they were at the sea one of the small children got very excited about the strong stream of water from the showers on the beach (a thing they are not used to in the village) and called the other children to come and enjoy the shower.

 

Following Halla's initiative a group of sick people from the village will go on a trip to Tel Aviv at the end of the month. This trip too will be arranged for them by the "water women".

 

In the coming weeks this women's club too will move to another building, after it will be renovated. We again discussed the renewal of activities with the women and perhaps English tuition for youth.

 

11:15 We left in the direction of road No. 5 via Bruqin. From Bruqin it is easier, though not less irritating, to see the rows of red roofed houses which were built this year as an expansion of the Barouchin settlement. We got the impression that on this ridge many prefabricated elongated houses were added, probably industrial buildings.

 

We passed from Haris to Kif'l Haret'. The streets are almost empty, except for a big group of mourning men who were sitting on chairs along the main road, and a group of high-school girl students who returned from school.

 

After a "visit" at the "tomb of Kalev ben Yefune" which was once open to visitors, we drove to see the place where, last winter, a number of house which the inhabitants built on their olive areas, were destroyed. As already mentioned, the buildings were destroyed under the pretext that they had been built on the C Zone. Everything seems mad, because among the destroyed houses are scattered other houses, some old, and others in different stages of building, some which are ready and finished. It is impossible to understand the logic and the wickedness of the occupation.

 

12:30 On the way back we passed through Azzun Atma and near the new delineation of the fence. At Azzun Atma the gate was, as usual, open and at this hour there is no passage of students of workers. The place seems almost abandoned, but for the soldiers' booth.

 

All along the route we didn't see military cars or soldiers, except for one command-car which was parked near the hitch-hikers station on the way up to Elkana settlement, to guard our settlers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • 'Azzun 'Atma

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    • 'Azzun 'Atma
      A Palestinian village of about 1,800 residents. The settlement of Sha'arei Tikva was established on its land adjacent to it, and the settlement of Oranit was established on its agricultural lands. By 2013, the separation fence had passed through the village and a checkpoint staffed by the army allowed the residents to cross from side to side. After building a massive wall surrounding the village and some of its agricultural lands, the residents went daily for five years to their lands that remained in the Seam Zone through the Oranit agricultural checkpoint (4). Since 2018 it has only  opened during the olive harvest and the farmers have to pass daily at the Beit Amin / Abu Salman checkpoint (1447), about 3 kilometers north.

      From a report from March 24, 2021: "The farmers from Beit Amin and Azon Atma are happy that since February 21 the Oranit checkpoint .is going to be open 3 times a day, The farmers are really developing the place."

      Report from July 14, 2024: "Ornit checkpoint is closed . The Beit Amin/Abu Salman agricultural checkpoint is closed (there is no contact with the military to check if it opens rarely), the Ezbat Jaloud checkpoint was opened once a day before the war.

      Updated for July 2024

       

      עזון: הכניסה הראשית לכפר עזון: חסומה כבר מספר שבועות
      Apr-11-2019
      Azoun: The main entrance to village blocked now for several weeks
  • Bruqin

    See all reports for this place
    • Bruqin is a village of about 4,000 residents in Salfit County. 600 dunams of the village's land were expropriated in 1984 for the establishment of the Barkan industrial zone. Small sewage treatment plant This area is regularly flooded. The sewage flows into Baruchin and pollutes the streets of the village. In 1999, the Bruchin settlement was established. The barrier of separation and harassment Settlers keep the villagers away from 30% of their lands (about 4,000 dunams). About half of the village lands are in Area C, on which Israel prevents construction.
  • Haris

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    • Haris

      The village has 4,500 people and they have 5,000 dunams of land. The entrance to the village is blocked and opened arbitrarily, without informing the residents.The village has a seasonal checkpoint that blocks the road to the agricultural land and this checkpoint opens once a year! 2,500-3,000 dunams were stolen from the village in order to build the settlements of Revava and Netafim, which are located west of Haris.

      The center of the village is Area B and around Area C. The population grows but the occupation does not permit new construction in Area C.

  • Kifl Harith

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    • Kifl Harith

      This is a Palestinian located north-west of the settler-colony town of Ariel, 18 kilometers south of the city of Nablus. It numbers 3, 206 inhabitants, as of 2007. 42% of the village lands lie in Area B, and 58% in Area C. In 1978, some hundreds of dunams of the village’s farmland was sequestered in order to found the settler-colony of Ariel – in total 5,184 dunams from the Palestinian communities of Salfit, Iscaqa, Marda, and Kifl Harith. Dozens of square kilometers were also confiscated for paving road no. 5 as well as road 505 and their buffer zones, and the Israeli electricity company’s power station. Over the years the village has suffered harassment by sometimes-armed settler-colonists, even casualties. In 1968 the army’s rabbinate ruled the maqam site Nabi Yanoun (sanctified grave of the Prophet Yanoun) is in fact the tomb of Joshua, Son of Nun. Another structure in the village, named Nabi Tul Kifl by the Palestinians, has been identified by the Israeli authorities as to the tomb of Caleb, Son of Yefuneh. These sites are located in the heart of the village, near the mosque, and at times of Jewish religious festivities and pilgrimages, the center of the village is illuminated by projectors and thousands of Jews arrive, protected by hundreds of Israeli soldiers. During such a period, a night curfew is imposed on the village and the villagers are forced to stay shut inside their homes.

  • Kufr a-Dik

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    • Kufr a-Dik This is a Palestinian village in the Salfit district of the West Bank, located 8 kilometers east of the Green Line. The village population numbers 4,494 (as of 2007). 14.5% of the village were included in Area B (supposedly under Palestinian civil control) and 86% categorized as Area C – meaning both civil and military Israeli control, which severely affects the state of the village and its inhabitants. Over the years Israel has robbed 1,448 dunams from the village’s farmlands for the sake of building the settler-colonies of Penuel, Alei Zahav, Yoezer, Har Alei Zahav, and the industrial zone next to Penuel. Lands were also sequestered for the paving of Road 446 whose length stretches over 4 kilometers and includes a buffer zone 75-meters wide on both its sides. Following the paving of the road, the village has suffered not only landgrab but home demolitions and the destruction of water wells as well. Rates of unemployment in both the private and the public sectors reach 60%. In the years 2010-2013 creative activity was held by members of MachsomWatch and women of the village. For further information: http://vprofile.arij.org/salfit/pdfs/vprofile/Kafr%20ad%20Dik_tp_en.pdf
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