Beit Ummar, CP Etzion, El Khadr South, Tantur, Um Tuba, CP 300
From 2:00 till 6:00 PM – A glorious day with pleasant sunny spring weather, all the almond trees were blooming at the same time and wildflowers emerged through the garbage.
A jeep had stopped to check the papers of a couple across from Tantur, but after inspection, the Id’s were returned.
He followed us and didn’t let us stop to investigate checking at the exit of the Tunnel Road (nr. 60) before its turn into Gilo. We continued. The construction underneath the road to Beit Jalla has turned gigantic. Abu Nassim, smiling as always, helped us with the papers from Haya.
The Pillbox in Beit Ummar was manned. There were jeeps stationed at the entrance to the Al Aroub Refugee Camp, but no detainees.
At the Ezyon CP cars were checked randomly, but no one was detained. We didn’t go to the DCL and thus missed the stabbing incident. Instead, we decided to try and find Nuaman and drove back North. At Al Khadr South (not far from Solomons’s Pools) a truck had just unloaded 150 chairs and was waiting for his customer to come and collect the remaining 150 chairs, which were still on the truck. Apparently, he would have to give up, because the man didn’t appear for the remaining chairs and/or to pay his bill. At Tantur we saw eleven detained Palestinians but continued to Har Homa (also called Har Shmuel – Mount Samuel) from where we missed the first exit to Umm Tuba and therefore the road to Nuaman. After trying in vain to find the right junction, we returned via blooming trees and flowering fields. We met many workers on foot in the fields.
The parking lot of Bethlehem CP (Rachel’s Passage) serves Jewish cars only. Apparently, only cars belonging to CD-staff (either with yellow number plates or CD-signs) are allowed to pass this CP. All returning Palestinians told us to PLEASE come in the morning when often (but not that morning) only two sleeves are operative, the crowds are enormous and the waiting is unsupportable. It was the first of the month, a day for the Ultra-Orthodox to pray at Rachel’s Tomb. We saw two big reinforced Egged busses leave.
One man had just missed them and used the time he had to wait to preach to us on the importance of the evening prayers on this particular day. The eleven workers without licenses had meanwhile been sent to the sidewalk across CP 300. Some of them claimed to have been there for four hours which was exaggerated since we had passed earlier. Meital was called and told us that because of the stabbing (and also a road-accident in which a policeman was injured) procedures might have slowed down somewhat. He promised to investigate and got back to us soon to inform us that he was doing his utmost and that the men would be released shortly. And indeed within twenty minutes, the men were told to come forward one by one to sign the usual forms, which are now in Arabic. Within a couple of minutes, all but one were on their way home and Ruth commented to the soldier on his efficiency. He asked her whether she was being cynical, but she said: “No, on the contrary.” He thanked her. The one remaining worker had no Id or document whatsoever and was taken for investigation – Rules are rules and there was no way we could help.
Beit Ummar
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Beit Ummar
The Gush Etzion-Hebron road - which is the main axis of the southern Hebron Mountains - passes through the boundaries of the village. Many incidents of stone throwing occurred on this section of road. There is a checkpoint at the entrance to the village.
In March 2006, a 25-dunam land seizure order was issued around the settlement for the purpose of establishing a "special security area" (SHBM) and a warning fence around the nearby settlement, Carmei Tzur. In April 2019, 401 dunams of the land of the villages of Beit Omer and Halhul were expropriated for the purpose of paving a road that bypasses the house of Omer to the east. Demonstrations are held by the villagers against the seizure of land with the participation of Palestinian, Israeli and international activists.
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Bethlehem (300)
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Located adjacent to the Separation Wall ("Jerusalem Wrap") at the north entrance to Bethlehem, this checkpoint cuts off Bethlehem and the entire West Bank from East Jerusalem, with all the serious implications for health services, trade, education, work and the fabric of life. The checkpoint is manned by the Border police and private security companies. It is an extensive infrastructure barrier and is designated as a border terminal, open 24 hours a day for foreign tourists. Israeli passport holders are not allowed to pass to Bethlehem, and Palestinian residents are not allowed to enter Jerusalem, except those with entry permits to Israel and East Jerusalem residents. Israeli buses are allowed to travel to Bethlehem only through this checkpoint.The checkpoint, which demonstrated harsh conditions of crowding and extreme passage delays for years, started employing advanced electronic identification posts and has upgraded its gates' system as of the middle of 2019 - and conditions improved.Adjacent to the checkpoint, in an enclosure between high walls and another passage, is the historic Rachel's Tomb, which is now embedded within a concrete fortified building. It contains prayer and study complexes for Jews only, as well as a residential complex. updated November 2019 .
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Etzion area / Gush Etzion
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Etzion Area / Gush Etzion is a group of Jewish settlements south of Jerusalem, between Bethlehem and Hebron. Attempts at Jewish settlement in the area began in 1927. 4 kibbutzim were established between 1943–1947 but were destroyed during the Battle of Gush Etzion during the War of Independence in 1948.
After the 1967 Six Day War, Jewish settlement in Gush Etzion was renewed, and since then another 14 settlements and 10 outposts have been established. According to the info-icon of the Civil Administration, Gush Etzion is now 7 times larger than its historic area, and the Jewish lands purchased before the evacuation in 1948 constitute less than 15% of the large settlement bloc of the Gush Etzion Council today, which Israel demands to annex in the permanent agreement with the Palestinians.
The Palestinian localities in the area are concentrated in enclaves, the largest of which is in the east - the Bethlehem area, which includes Beit Jala, al-Khader, Beit Sahur and more. To the west are settlements such as Husan, Nahalin, Al Jaba'a and Batir and small and ancient agricultural villages such as Shushahala, Khalat Sakaria and more. These are scattered on the last agricultural land left by the Palestinians in the area. In the 2000s, many illegal outposts sprang up, taking over private Palestinian land under the auspices of the administration and the army, trying in an extremely violent way to evict farmers from their land and homes and thus expand the settlements. Watch the video about the harsh reality in the Shushalah and Makam Nabi Daniel area.
During the 1990s, the new Road 60, most of which is forbidden to Palestinian traffic, was paved, and a separation wall was built next to it. Access to many of the Palestinian villages and agricultural lands in the area was blocked, and a buffer was created between the villages themselves as well as between them and the lands they owned. The layout of the settlements and the network of roads and checkpoints in the entire Etzion area indicate the intention to create a territorial and transportation continuum between Gush Etzion and Jerusalem.
Machsom Watch members have been active in the for many years. We talk to the Palestinians at intersections, DCOs, villages and Makamim (ancient Palestinian heritage sites) and try to publicize the looting, apartheid and violence they are experiencing. You can read about their activities in the attached reports.
in 2021, after many years of negotiations, the Civil Administration issued a new plan for the central village of Khirbet Bet Zakariya, including construction permits. The adjacent settlers protestated and asked the minister of defence to cancel the permits. Our members are in contact with the village and are trying to involve other organiztions and use public opinion and to stop this cancelation.
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Har Shmuel CP
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Har Shmuel CP
This checkpoint is located on the way between Bidou and the enclave villages around Nabi Samauil, and separates them. It also blocks the way for Nabi Samauil farmers headed to their own farmlands that have become ‘state land’. Further along, the way to Bidou is another unmanned barrier blocking the road to Beit Iksa. Another large manned checkpoint with a watchtower separates the Bidou enclave from Israel proper. Importantly, the entire Bidou enclave is defined Area C and C by the Oslo Accords, and its fencing-in as an enclave was carried out in order to take over Palestinian land and build settler-colonies on it.
The holes in the barrier fence close to Har Shmuel are used for pedestrians working inside Israel. The workers we have met said that the way they must take from their home inside the enclave to their workplace in Jerusalem about 15 kilometers long – through another enclave: Bir Naballah. Driving this way in part involves potholed tracks, finally landing them at the overcrowded Qalandiya Checkpoint, which they cross to their work inside Israel. Incidentally, some of the workplaces are right opposite the Bidou enclave, so their track ends up being nearly circular.
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