Bruqin, Haris, Kufr alDik, Tue 15.1.13, Morning
09:30 We left from the Rosh Ha’Ayin train station.
We’d only arrived at the Shomron gate when we saw something unusual – an army jeep on the road and armed soldiers on both sides of the road.
10:00 We reached Hars. Again we saw a group of armed soldiers, stationed at the entrance to the village. They’re not blocking the entrance or preventing entry.
This is our first emotional, happy meeting with the group of women learning English after a three-week break during which the mothers were busy because of mid-term school exams. (Parents are expected to prepare their children for exams.)
In addition to the English class, there are about twenty women in the club knitting hats and scarves. They’re paid for the work by an international organization that assists refugees and orphans. The organization donates the items to children from needy families.
Our circuit: We left Hars at 10:00. Armed soldiers are also stationed at the entrance to the Ariel industrial zone, on the road to Brukin. They’re not stopping cars; traffic flows. Brukin is quiet. Few people in the street.
From there to Kafr a-Diq. Life proceeds there normally with no disturbances.
Again we weren’t able to meet with Hanan, the club’s director. When we drove back toward the industrial zone the soldiers were gone. They’d packed up.
11:45 Back to Hars, then to Rosh Ha’Ayin.
Bruqin
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Bruqin is a village of about 4,000 residents in Salfit County. 600 dunams of the village's land were expropriated in 1984 for the establishment of the Barkan industrial zone. Small sewage treatment plant This area is regularly flooded. The sewage flows into Baruchin and pollutes the streets of the village. In 1999, the Bruchin settlement was established. The barrier of separation and harassment Settlers keep the villagers away from 30% of their lands (about 4,000 dunams). About half of the village lands are in Area C, on which Israel prevents construction.
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Haris
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Haris
The village has 4,500 people and they have 5,000 dunams of land. The entrance to the village is blocked and opened arbitrarily, without informing the residents.The village has a seasonal checkpoint that blocks the road to the agricultural land and this checkpoint opens once a year! 2,500-3,000 dunams were stolen from the village in order to build the settlements of Revava and Netafim, which are located west of Haris.
The center of the village is Area B and around Area C. The population grows but the occupation does not permit new construction in Area C.
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Kufr a-Dik
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Kufr a-Dik This is a Palestinian village in the Salfit district of the West Bank, located 8 kilometers east of the Green Line. The village population numbers 4,494 (as of 2007). 14.5% of the village were included in Area B (supposedly under Palestinian civil control) and 86% categorized as Area C – meaning both civil and military Israeli control, which severely affects the state of the village and its inhabitants. Over the years Israel has robbed 1,448 dunams from the village’s farmlands for the sake of building the settler-colonies of Penuel, Alei Zahav, Yoezer, Har Alei Zahav, and the industrial zone next to Penuel. Lands were also sequestered for the paving of Road 446 whose length stretches over 4 kilometers and includes a buffer zone 75-meters wide on both its sides. Following the paving of the road, the village has suffered not only landgrab but home demolitions and the destruction of water wells as well. Rates of unemployment in both the private and the public sectors reach 60%. In the years 2010-2013 creative activity was held by members of MachsomWatch and women of the village. For further information: http://vprofile.arij.org/salfit/pdfs/vprofile/Kafr%20ad%20Dik_tp_en.pdf
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