‘Azzun, Habla, Tue 3.9.13, Afternoon
Sylvia has sent us to meet four blacklisted Palestinians and have them sign forms.
12:55 Habla. No one is at the entrance to the village.
13:00 The military vehicle arrives, five people get out including two MPs. It’s very hot; they get organized slowly. People start arriving but the gates are closed.
13:10 The first five leave Habla toward the revolving gate.
13:15 I try to find out the reason for the delay but the soldier turns his back and walks away.
13:17 The first people finally go through. The pickup truck from the plant nurseries goes through, also a tractor and a horse cart.
13:20 Two Palestinians, a wagon and a tractor enter.
13:25 The children’s vehicle exits. Only a few boys are in it.
13:30 We leave.
13:35 Arab a-Ramadin. The village is quiet. Flowers have been planted at the school. Earthworks underway. It’s not clear what’s planned here.
13:40 Eliyahu checkpoint. No lines.
13:45 Azzun. We meet the first blacklisted person. Shimrit has him sign the forms.
We visit our friend Z. to give him goods for his second-hand store.
We continue toward Ariel.
15:00 In Abu Ali’s restaurant at the entrance to Ariel we meet three blacklisted people whom Sylvia is dealing with.
One, from Jama’in, tells us there are signs in the olives groves near the village of plans for a rail line (north-south).
After inspecting ID cards, getting their signatures and money for the fees we leave, hoping we’ll be able to help.
15:45 Tapuach junction. A soldier and dog carefully inspect a Palestinian car.
16:00 Huwwara checkpoint. The flag flies from the tower. Traffic flows in both directions. We go toward the tower and three Giv’ati soldiers immediately come toward us to find out where we’re going. They say no one proceeds on foot to Nablus from Tapuach junction, and in any case we’re in Area A, which isn’t permitted.
We stop for falafel and sweets in Huwwara.
16:45 Back to Tapuach junction. Along the way we see a traffic jam on the road to Nablus. A military vehicle is parked to the right.
Ten Palestinian vehicles in the inspection lane at the junction. Traffic flows. A dog handler leads her dog. A Palestinian vehicle is being checked from all sides by a dog; it sticks its head in and out of the car. What do they hope to find there??
17:10 Shomron checkpoint. We go through easily even though we didn’t take down the banner; they ask only where we’re coming from. Ariel, of course!
17:15 Azzun Atma. About 20 people waiting on line to enter the inspection station. The line is orderly. Settlers’ cars arrive, Palestinian laborers get out and join the line.
Soldier, to the next Palestinian on line: “Come.” Dear soldier, do you think you could say “please”??
17:30 We leave.
The end.
'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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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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