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Azzun, Qalqiliya, Wed 16.4.08, Morning

Observers: Sarah K, Rina Z. (reporter), Joan - a guest, a student from Sapir college.
Apr-16-2008
| Morning

Summary:
Complaints re delays of workmen going through Elijah Passage. A case of prohibition by Police, and a mother worrying about
the deportation of her son to Jordan – two more cases demonstrating the
use of bureaucratic means to oppress.
Because of a disagreement between Nadim and Nina S. on payment for
changing the habitual route, we could not check if the road to Azzun
from the the western entrance is open or blocked.
Qalqiliya (Elijah Passage)
7:10- 7:35
Workmen going through the passage complain about some officer who
abuses them and delays them for no good reason. Every morning workmen
who work at the settlements on the seamline, especially Alphei
Menasheh, go through here.
We saw over 20 men and three or four women. They complained that
they had been waiting for a long time. One claims to have been there
since 05:30. A woman from Alphei Menasheh appears. She came to collect
the female workers. She confirmed that people have been waiting since
05:30 – 6:00 and arrived at the factory at 08:00.
She too complained of very slow inspections. The inspections start at 06:00.
In a small booth two military policemen sit and inspect the
permit of each worker, checking it on the computer. When we went there
to find out what was happening they asked us to wait, because they were
in a hurry to finish the inspections of those in the queue. And indeed,
since we got there the inspection got significantly faster, until the
queue was disappeared.
It seems to us that whoever passes through the passage at an
early hour should look in and ask the workmen what is happening, thus
also showing the Military Policemen that someone is interested in their
work.
07:35 – 08:05 Qalqiliya Checkpoint
Fairly lively traffic. When we were standing at the checkpoint the inspection was fast and the queues faded away.
We met a man who is on the list of those prohibited entry by the Police, the father of 13 children who had worked for years in Kfar Saba. From
the beginning of last year his Israeli work permit was taken away from
him because of a police file, and he does not know what is in it. Haya
Offek deals with cases of those prevented entry by the police and is dealing with his case.
With him came an older woman, a Jordanian citizen who has lived in
the territories for several years. She has two sons in prison. One had
succeeded in obtaining a Palestinian identity card but the other has
not. (It is a known fact that many thousands of Jordanians in the West
Bank do not obtain Palestinian citizenships because of the objections
of the occupying Israeli authorities). She hired a lawyer for 1000 IS
and he appealed to the High Court of Justice, but there are
bureaucratic delays. In one month time her son is due to be released
from prison and she is afraid that he will be deported to Jordan, where
he has no family. We referred her to the Centre for the Defence of the
Individual, with very little hope of getting her help.
Azzun
The main entrance to the village from Route 55 has been blocked
for several months with piles of earth and barbed wire. From the road
we could not see whether or not the road from the western entrance,
joining Izvat Tabib and Azzun , was blocked, since we could not go in
and look. This was because of a disagreement between Nadim and Nadia S.
as to the payment for using a route inhabitual for the shift.
Kfar Lakif
From the road – it seems that the entrance is open.
  • '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.

       

  • 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.
      נבי אליאס. הכניסה המערבית סגורה
      Ronit Dahan-Ramati
      Jun-18-2026
      Nabi Elyas. The western entrance is closed
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