‘Azzun, Irtah (Sha’ar Efrayim), Mon 13.9.10, Afternoon
Translator: Charles K.
Jayyous
15:00 – We turned right off Route 55 to Azzun. A new yellow barrier has been installed at the entrance to the village, but it’s wide open. We drove north under the highway, to Jayyous. We stopped at the grocery store. Salah, the owner, came over to us, invited us in warmly, saying: “I heard you talking Hebrew and was glad. Come more often, and bring other Israelis with you. There’s room for both people in this land. Why must we be enemies? Pour our blood onto the earth? The earth belongs to God.” The words of Salah, from Jayyous.
The main stories:The usual routine. Soldiers go to homes where 17- or 18-year-old youths live, knock on the door in the middle of the night, wakink the entire family up. They take the youths, or send them to the DCO. It usually involves attempts to obtain collaboration, trying different ways to convince them.
Samir Salim – used to work in Israel, but has been prevented from doing so after his brother was killed by the IDF. Most of his land is west of the fence but he can’t get a permit to go across and cultivate it. He also has land east of the fence, adjacent to it, on which he erected a large chicken house. But he’s been told he needs a permit, which he’s been trying to obtain since 1999, to no avail. Finally he was ordered to demolish it. It was demolished, and a number of years ago he went to court. He showed us a thick file with all the documents and correspondence. Shoshi gave him the phone number of a lawyer, Fathi Shabita, who handles cases like this; she knows him personally. She even called him. It turns out that the case has to be handled via the village’s local council – Sharif Umar, or Abu Azzam. We informed Samir Salim, and hope that something can be done.
Nadr el Salim – His father worked in Israel for many years. When Nadr was 15 his father was injured and was no longer able to work, so he himself worked in Israel to support himself and his family. One day he was caught and jailed, received a 5-year suspended sentence to be implemented if he was caught again in Israel. That was more than five years ago. He’s now 31, married, his wife is pregnant and he wants to obtain a work permit, but doesn’t receive one. We’ll refer the case to Sylvia; perhaps she can help.
Salah, the shop owner, wanted us to speak with Sharif Umar, from the local council, and with others, but it was already past 16:00 and we were in a hurry to get to Irtach. We’ll meet them next time.
We drove through Kafr Jamal and Kafr Tzur, saw the settlement of Sla’it jammed between the two villages; from there we continued to Beit Lid, Safarin and then to Irtach.
17:00 – Irtach
The booths are completely empty, the many laborers arrived at the checkpoint are quickly swallowed up. The complaints refer to what happens in the morning. They’re held in the rooms for hours. One of the laborers told us that this morning he was kept in a room for an hour and a half. He loses a significant portion of his workday, and sometimes the entire day.
'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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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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