Burin (Yitzhar), Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Sun 8.6.08, Afternoon
Translation: Tal H.
Tapuach Za'tara Junction Checkpoint 15:15
Shooting post still manned by single soldier in the middle of the roundabout, facing south. Very few vehicles at junction.
Burin/Yitzhar-Huwwara Junction Checkpoint – manned but no vehicles waiting.
Huwwara Checkpoint 15:30
Upon our arrival at the checkpoint, or about 100 meters before we actually got there, "life freeze" state is noted: a long long line of Nablus-bound service taxis, private cars and buses extends back, from the checkpoint compound, a huge crowd of people waiting nearby, about half an hour already, they say. Soldiers all around, a police jeep with Border Patrolmen pushing the crowd back, back, back and further back in fluent Arabic. Talk spreads of an explosive charge. On the other hand, we see Palestinians stuck inside the taxi-park and the vendors there, going neither back nor forward, nowhere.
15:40 Things seem to free up a bit for a moment as the crowd streams towards the entrance, only to be pushed back again towards the taxi park.
Two women fighters stand in the entrance lane to the taxi park: one picking her nose, the other pointing her rifle and repeating in a lilting voice, "Get back, get back…"
The soldiers urge people to move forward, then back, then forward and back again, no explanations given, as finally the crack of a controlled explosion resonates from behind a clump of trees across the road (beneath the settler quarry on the slope, under the Jews- and Samaritans-only road ascending the hill to Har Beracha colony).
Explosion? A little blast. The same as usually resounds after the police robot has checked an unidentified object left in a city junction, and the police hooks it up with detonators, keep away the bystanders and blow it up to make sure.
To be continued below.
As we arrived, we saw a boy who looked about 16-17 years old, standing blindfolded, hands tied and taken into an army jeep standing at the entrance to the checkpoint compound. There he would stay until driven away at 4:30 p.m.
We assume this was the 'terrorist' in whose belongings the pipe bombs were found, reported on Israeli news at 4:50 pm.
16:15 Hundreds of people now hurriedly streaming in both directions in and out of the checkpoint, the soldiers speeding up the process. At least the special side line for women children and elderly is speedy and empties relatively soon.
At 16:20 the checkpoint commander orders his men to resume normal inspection procedure, and the extra officer on the spot leaves. The Military Policewomen's habitual shrieks "Move baaaaack!!!" are resumed as well, and the crowding in the men's waiting lines behind the turnstiles full to bursting, as usual at peak hours.
Note that throughout the 'life freeze' at the checkpoint until the controlled blast, the soldiers really behaved as though the charge is live, stressed, pushing the Palestinians back and further and further back, while the Palestinians don't believe another word, convinced this is all a show, all of it, all of them. Literally. And as we hear the checked blast, and see the little cloud of smoke rising from behind the trees…
"About an hour later", reports Judit, "I climbed up to look for the spot where this blast had taken place. First among the thorns where I assumed I would detect signs of fire, a hole in the ground, something – but found nothing at all. I checked closely, walked around, I even used binoculars – until I climbed a bit further and got to the concrete wall of what seemed like a 'security pit', under the road going up to Har Beracha, and there I saw a spot with some gray dust, and five little sections of a metal pipe, about 10 centimeters long each, dusty, looking like crooked weenies, not a trace of gunpowder, or a hole in the ground or any other sign of a veritable explosion, not a stone out of place."
Naturally we don't pretend to know anything about explosives. Still, reason has it that the kind reported on by the army would leave some noticeable traces, both to ear and eye. The boy in whose belongings the mighty bombs were found was arrested and taken away and on the news he had already been hailed as a full-blooded terrorist.
The present, consistent pace of catching terrorists and dangerous explosives at Huwwara checkpoint (once every two-three weeks?) as in Beit Iba in the past is truly admirable.
Supplying regular terrifying information to news listeners, supplying soldiers with ample practice, and perhaps it's just something we do, like the campfire tall tales that have aged and become somewhat technological. Or perhaps we're dreaming…
Due to car trouble, we had to forego our weekly visit to Beit Furiq Checkpoint and leave Huwwara earlier than usual, around 5:30 pm.
Burin (Yitzhar)
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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)
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Huwwara
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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)
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Fathiya AkfaJun-08-2008Huwara: traffic jam on the main road
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Za'tara (Tapuah)
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Za'tara (Tapuah) Za'tara is an internal checkpoint in the heart of the West Bank, at the intersection of Road 60 and Road 505 (Trans-Samaria), east of the Tapuah settlement. This checkpoint is the "border" marked by the IDF between the north and south of the West Bank, in accordance with the policy of separation between the two parts of the West Bank that has been in place since December 2005. At the Za'tara checkpoint, there are separate routes for Israelis and Palestinians. In the route for Israelis, there are no inspections and the route for Palestinians inspects. The queue lengthens and shortens suits. The checkpoint is open 24 hours a day. The checkpoint is partially staffed and the people who pass through it are checked at random.Shoshi AnbarSep-27-2023Za'atra (Tapuah Intersection). Signs
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