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‘Azzun ‘Atma, Thu 4.9.08, Morning

Place: 'Azzun 'Atma
Observers: Nora R., Hannah P. (reporting); Translator: Orna B.
Sep-04-2008
| Morning
5:30 Azun Atma

We reached the village entrance which is blocked with stones. The workers we met said "What a pity you did not come yesterday. The queues were very long. Today the passage is faster".  
 
After passing all the obstacles we took a taxi to the checkpoint on the other side of the village which is surrounded by the Fence and is on the border with the territories under the control of the Palestinian Authority. And what is the village itself? A Palestinian village with a Fence and a checkpoint  towards Palestine and a possiblity of crossing over to Israel on foot.

 
Z. the checkpoint commander did not let us stand near the checkpoint, only at a distance of 30 metres. Our requests went unheeded. He instructed the soldiers to close the checkpoint as long as we did not move away. We had to move away.

 
Workers are passing through the checkpoint speedily. (They have no carrier bags with food because of the Ramadan). There is a long queue of cars, about 30. Cars are being thoroughly inspected. At the end of the week there are also workers returning from a week's work. During the week they live in Kafr Kassem. Workers who worked at night in the quarry return. The work is organised in three shifts. 

 
At the entrance to the checkpoint there are cars which have been there for over an hour. Only after the whole queue of cars at the checkpoint pass they are checking those entering.

 
To sum up – A Palestinian living beyond the checkpoint, in order to enter Israel, has to go through the inspection at the checkpoint, take a taxi through the village to the blocked side , and then await a different vehicle which will pick him up and take him to his place of work .

  • 'Azzun 'Atma

    See all reports for this place

    • '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
      View the full album
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