Azzun, Jit, Jubara (Kafriat), Qalqiliya, Sun 10.2.08, Afternoon
Summary
"Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage" came to mind
today as we ponder the idea of being imprisoned. The checkpoints,
bars and gates, separation barriers, walls and fences, curfews and
the Occupier's law may keep people physically imprisoned, but "sumud"
and the human mind are the ultimate escape, and remain forever free.
13:30 Jubara
At the entrance to the checkpoint, the usual police barricades, but
the not so usual sight of several young men in handcuffs, sitting on
the ground by the police trailer. No time to go to Ar-Ras or Anabta
today, from the main road, we see that although many yellow taxis are
parked there, traffic seems to be flowing smoothly in both directions.
13:45 Junction of Routes 55 and 60
Rolling checkpoint and a Hummer with a full complement of soldiers
pulls over most Palestinian vehicles, about four in line in front of
us. Palestinian vehicles, particularly trucks, attempt to get across
the deep ditches to make their way towards Jenin. At least one is
stuck.
15:30 Junction of routes 55 and 60
The rolling checkpoint is still in full force, and the line to go
towards Anabta is quite lengthy as we make our way up to Jit, where
there's no checkpoint.
On the way to Qalqiliya
Lots of army materiel on the road, as well as blue police jeeps. The
Shvut Ami outpost seems to be empty, but a settler father and small
son stroll languidly through the field, by the roadway near the
house.
16:00 Azzun
Somewhere along the roadway, a Hummer hides, and as we approach Azzun
we see a giant earthmover and several large army trucks. The access
to the town is completely blocked, not by concrete boulders, as in
the past, but by huge mounds of earth. It looks like the start of a
mediaeval siege, and it's not dissimilar. Azzun is under curfew, but,
at this time, we've no idea if the huge earthworks are for punishment
of the town or for its unlikely protection from marauding settlers.
16:10 Qalqiliya
We're greeted by a long line of taxis, passenger vehicles and trucks,
at least 25, going in the direction of Qalqiliya, but hardly any
leaving. A shouting soldier calls from atop a brand new concrete
contraption from which he's the "monarch" of all he surveys. "Go to
the other side" (of the road), we're told, whereas a passing
pedestrian is told, in the same officious manner, "Go around the
pole, don't walk there." There are five reservists manning the
checkpoint and, as is usual here, there's random checking, random
stopping of vehicles, meaning sometimes a yellow taxi passes,
sometimes a yellow taxi is stopped and thoroughly checked.
16:30 Habla (on the seam line)
It's still half an hour to opening time (of the gate), but already
men, women, horses and carts, trucks, cars and a tractor, as well as
shepherds, goats and sheep have gathered to wait to go home. Many get
off work at 3:00, so have to wait two hours until the Occupier deigns
to open the gate for people to pass from their own fields to their
own homes on the other side of the separation barrier.
'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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Jit Junction
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The checkpoint is located on Route 60 near at the junction with Route 55, near the village of Jit. There was a checkpoint for vehicles passing between the north and south of the West Bank, which was abolished towards 2010. Since then, surprise checkpoints have been set up there from time to time with a police or Border Police vehicle, and vehicles and their passengers are inspected.
Anat PolakJul-17-2025Yitzhar Road, Jit Junction: traffic jam
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Jubara (Kafriat)
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The Jabra checkpoint was on Road 557, south of Tulkarm, on the side of the Figs Pass, which is located within the Palestinian Authority (a few kilometers east of the Green Line), and serves as an entry barrier from the territories to Israel. The checkpoint to the village of Jubara, which until 2013 was in the seam area, blocked and surrounded by a fence, was intended for the passage of the family members of the house next to the checkpoint, and also for the MachsomWatch volunteers (with special permission only), on their way to checkpoint 753. on the other side of the village. The soldiers supervising the "fig crossing" also supervised the crossing at this checkpoint, in our shifts we often waited a long time until the key was found and the gate opened. The checkpoint was abolished and became part of the separation fence that was moved west following the High Court.
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Qalqiliya checkpoint
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Qalqilya is surrounded on all sides by the separation barrier. The only exit from the city is in the east of the city on the road that leaves the city in an easterly direction. This is where the checkpoint was located. When the checkpoint was active until 2009 our shifts watched long queues of cars being inspected at the only exit from the city to the West Bank. The checkpoint was canceled, but there is a military presence at the entrance to the city.
Nina SebaAug-18-2025Azzun: Enclosed by a high fence and the gate to the village is closed
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