‘Azzun, Eliyahu Crossing, Masha, Tue 11.6.13, Morning
Translator: Charles K.
10:50 Eliyahu checkpoint
People cross quickly in both directions.
11:00 Azzun
We arrived earlier than usual. Many people and vehicles in the streets, shops are open, it’s obvious that school vacation has begun – many children in the streets. After a short visit with Z. we continued south to Maskha via Thulth, Siniriyya and Bidya.
11:40 Masha
We’d made an appointment to meet with people from the local council. On the way to the municipal building we drove through the wide streets lined with shops and industrial establishments with signs in Hebrew, a reminder of the time when many Israelis shopped here before Highway 5 opened.
We met G.A, an accountant who works in the municipality, his uncle, R.A., who works as a guard and was our translator; then the uncle’s uncle arrived.
The village has 2400 residents.
6400 dunums out of the total of 8800 belonging to the village are located on the other side of the separation fence. Elkana and Etz Efrayim were built on land belonging to the village, which formerly extended all the way to Kafr Qassem. 60% of those who own land beyond the fence haven’t received permits. They submitted a list of dozens of requests for permits via the Palestinian Authority. When they try to find out what happened to them they’re told they haven’t yet been dealt with.
'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.
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Eliyahu CP (109) / Crossing
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Eliyahu CP (109) / Crossing This checkpoint, also known as the Fruit Crossing, is one of the main checkpoints between Israel and the West Bank. It is located on Route 55 between Alfei Menashe and the turn to Qalqilya and Zufin, more than 4 km east of the Green Line, in the separation fence, which separates Qalqilya from its lands to the south, thus leaving Alfei Menashe West of the fence - the Seam Zone. This checkpoint, a few kilometers across the Green Line, is intended for "Israeli settlement in the West Bank and the population of the Seam Zone." It is managed by a civil company. Palestinians with a special permit for their lands in the seam area are also allowed to pass through it, on foot, and sometimes by car.
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