Burin (Yitzhar), Huwwara, Wed 11.2.09, Afternoon
Natanya translating.
At the Shomron crossing Nadim is stopped and asked to identify himself. The soldier has not heard of Machsomwatch. Racheli protests to the soldier as to why he does not ask for her ID, is it because she is Jewish. The soldier in his "lord of all your survey" manner orders us to stand at the side and "dry out" for some minutes and then allows us to go on.
Huwwara
In the area before the checkpoint soldiers and the commander go through and order the kiosk owners to move away. We tried to intervene and asked the soldiers why they do not allow them to make a living. The commander says in the beginning that it is because of security reasons and afterwards change the version and said that he was just carrying out the orders of the brigade commander. He does not know where they can make a living. "Maybe in Huwwara or in Nablus." Why do they not leave them in peace and how exactly are they a threat to the security with the small modest kiosks. Has one minute been given to the thought? The soldiers moved off and the kiosk owners returned to their routine.
The boy who sells the coffee came to us and called our attention to a man
He said that settlers had accused him of throwing stones. Before we could get to him he was pushed into a police van. Rachel spoke to the representative of the DCO who said that the man had admitted that he had thrown stones. The van went off with its booty inside it. It did not take long before we saw soldiers leading a second man also blindfolded and handcuffed and he was put into the jeep which drove off. The drivers around did not know what the problem was and went on with their conversation. The routine of the checkpoint.
The line of cars from Nablus was without end in spite of two checking posts. The dogtrainer was present and the x-ray machine. Racheli photographed and the soldiers run out of the checkpoint and shout that it is forbidden. She argues and they threaten to call the police. The matter ends without anything further. This is also the routine. The long procession continues to wait and the soldiers carry out the checking with maddening slowness.
At the pedestrian crossing everything is as usual . I see the long line through the many fences. Far from the "sterile area" as it is called by the army. There are two "sterile" areas at the checkpoint, "sterile" soldiers with their rifles prepared to shoot which is not at all sterile. From inside the posts sterile commands arise, a sort of sterile bark.
"Back. Back. Lift your shirt." A minimal language and efficient which does not waste a moment of time for the individual. A short and measured tone, alienated, which tried to cover and to ignore the mass of people who have to pass through the checkpoint. Whoever is going to work, to the clinic, whoever is with his wife and children, who is going to his wedding, those who in the evening will share the story with his family. All are turned into "ordinary' or "humanitarian" by the lanes of the checkpoint.
One of the "ordinary"passes through and suddenly the routine of the checkpoint is disturbed by the ringing of a call phone. The "ordinary" answers which annoys the soldier who is not prepared for disturbances of her routine security and shouts at him again and again to close the phone. As if the phone call may turn him into a special spy. She calls in the commander and quickly the man switches off his phone and apologizes. He is evidently annoyed but wants to get home in peace.
What does he have to do with the anger which arises in my stomach. And I behind two fences too far away to intervene and feeling so helpless. A taxi driver standing next to me and feeling my frustration tries to encourage me and says that it is good that we come, that when we are here the soldiers behave better. I thought of the telephone call which had frightened the soldier from her lair and suddenly I understood why those detained were blindfolded,…..so that the soldiers should not see their eyes and understand that these Palestinians are also people.
The regular line takes sometimes up to 50 minutes.
A teacher who goes through the "humanitarian" is moved to the ordinary line and takes two hours. He again tries for his privilege in the humanitarian and refused. His picture in the ID has not been signed and is not covered. Racheli asks the humanitarian centre and the captain in charge of the crossings, trying to help him and in the meantime we persuaded him to stand in the ordinary line. When we left he was still there.
The line of cars from Nablus moving slowly.
On the way to Yitzhar a rolling checkpoint.
At Bruin two cars being checked.
Burin (Yitzhar)
See all reports for this place-
Burin (Yitzhar)
This is a Palestinian village in the Nablus governorate, a little south of Nablus, on the main road passing through the West Bank. The settlements: Yitzhar and Har Bracha, settled in locations that surrounded the village, placed fences so it is cut off the main road.
There are around 4000 inhabitants. Most of them are engaged in agriculture and pasture, although many graduates of the two secondary schools continue to study at the university. Academic positions are hardly available, they find work as builderd, or leave for the Gulf countries.
The village lands were appropriated several times for the establishment of Israeli settlements and military bases, and as a result, Burin's land and water resources dwindled. lSince 1982, more than 2,000 dunams of village land have been declared "state land" and then transferred to Har Bracha settlement.
Over the past few years and more so since 2017, the villagers have been terrorized by the residents of Yitzhar and Har Bracha, the Givat Ronen outpost and others. Despite the close proximity of soldiers to an IDF base close to one of the village's schools, residents are suffering from numerous stone-throwing events, vehicle and fire arson, also reported in the press.
In 2023, the prevention of the olive harvest in the village plot was more violent than ever. Soldiers and settlers walked with drawn weapons between the houses of the village and demanded that people stop harvesting in the village itself and in the private plots outside the village. The settlers from Yitzhar and Giv'at Roned raided the olive groves and stole crops. 300 olive trees belonging to the residents of Burin, near Yitzhar, were uprooted. The loss of livelihood from the olives causes long-term economic damage to the farmers' families, bringing them to the point of starvation.
(updated for November 2023)
-
Huwwara
See all reports for this place-
The Huwwara checkpoint is an internal checkpoint south of the city of Nablus, at the intersection of Roads 60 and 5077 (between the settlements of Bracha and Itamar). This checkpoint was one of the four permanent checkpoints that closed on Nablus (Beit Furik and Awarta checkpoints to the east and the Beit Iba checkpoint to the west). It was a pedestrian-only barrier. As MachsomWatch volunteers, we watched therre since 2001 two shifts a day - morning and noon, the thousands of Palestinians leaving Nablus and waiting for hours in queues to reach anywhere else in the West Bank, from the other side of the checkpoint the destination could only be reached by public transport. In early June 2009, as part of the easing of Palestinian traffic in the West Bank, the checkpoint was opened to vehicular traffic. The passage was free, with occasional military presence in the guard tower. Also, there were vehicle inspections from time to time. Since the massacre on 7.10.2023, the checkpoint has been closed to Palestinians.
On February 26, 2023, about 400 settlers attacked the town's residents for 5 hours and set fire to property, such as houses and cars. Disturbances occurred in response to a shooting of two Jewish residents of Har Bracha by a Palestinian Terrorist. The soldiers stationed in the town did not prevent the arson and rescued Palestinian families from their homes only after they were set on fire. No one was punished and Finance Minister Smotrich stated that "the State of Israel should wipe out Hawara." Left and center organizations organized solidarity demonstrations and support actions for the residents of Hawara.Hawara continued to be in the headlines in all the months that followed: more pogroms by the settlers, attacks by Palestinians and a massive presence of the army in the town. It amounted to a de facto curfew of commerce and life in the center of the city. On October 5, 2023, MK Zvi established a Sukkah in the center of Hawara and hundreds of settlers backed the army blocked the main road and held prayers in the heart of the town all night and the next day. On Saturday, October 7, 23 The "Swords of Iron" war began with an attack by Hamas on settlements surrounding Gaza in the face of a poor presence of the IDF. Much criticism has been made of the withdrawal of military forces from the area surrounding Gaza and their placement in the West Bank, and in the Hawara and Samaria region in particular, as a shield for the settlers who were taking over and rioting.
On November 12, 2023, the first section of the Hawara bypass road intended for Israeli traffic only was opened. In this way, the settlers can bypass the road that goes through the center of Hawara, which is the main artery for traffic from the Nablus area to Ramallah and the south of the West Bank. For the construction of the road, the Civil Administration expropriated 406 dunams of private land belonging to Palestinians from the nearby villages. The settlers are not satisfied with this at the moment, and demand to also travel through Hawara itself in order to demonstrate presence and control.(updated November 2023)
.
Shoshi AnbarMay-18-2025Huwara: The old houses in Area C
-
