We wanted to visit Burqa because we read about the problems this town has had and since our friends had not visited there of a long time.

The Nursery – we bought plants and sat to listen to the nursery owners’ stories that always flow freely. This time our friend shared with us a traumatic experience he had undergone about four weeks ago. Security guards at the Qalqilia Checkpoint decided that there was an explosive charge in his car. Anyone who knows him as we do knows this could not be. This man only knows how to do good…

The four security guards dragged him on the ground, cursed and kicked him. They stood him by the wall with his legs spread out and hands up on the wall, cocked their rifles and pointed them at him. The guy was in shock. The offense was unbearable. The youngsters working for the security company are worse than beasts. They choose an innocent man, tell lies about him and even before inspecting begin their physical and emotional abuse. Policemen came, checked, did not find anything, apologized and released him. But the trauma is still fresh.

The Israeli army enters Qalqilia nearly every night but usually things are pretty quiet. Occasionally there is friction. A week ago they arrested a child who threw a firecracker. As if he were threatening all of Israel. The kid was merely playing with a toy, but the soldiers don’t miss a chance to abuse a weak child.

Something positive: there is a chance that Habla checkpoint will open after Eid Al Adha.

We continued towards Nabi Elias. The entrance is closed with a yellow metal gate. We drove east and entered through the eastern entrance.

We met our friend from Azun and his wife, and for the first time we saw them smiling. Our car was loaded with packages, some of them dry good we bought for them, and some containing toys and presents for the children as the holiday approaches, as well as many clothes.

On our way we saw lines of cars making their way to Qalqilia for shopping and for the holiday that begins on Saturday.

The Israeli army is responsible for the traffic jams as it decided to inspect vehicles. Thus too in the entrance to Nablus. Many of the cars belonged to Palestinian citizens of Israel.

Those who celebrate the holiday at home hold a ceremony similar to the one held at Mecca, where a lamb is sacrificed and prepared for dinner. On our way we saw a lamb hanging on a hook after being skinned.

The main entrance to Burqa has been closed since Saturday, October 7th. Mustafa found a bypass track. On it we saw a memorial with the names of Palestinians killed by occupation forces.

At the Burqa council house we wished to hear about their problems and they said these abound, daily. In daytime it’s the colonists’ harassments, and at night – the Israeli army. They say a guest from abroad visited and said that if they are suffering they should move to a different place – Egypt or Jordan…

The village is partly in Area B and partly in Area C. There are 5,500 people living there. In 1978 its lands were taken for military needs, a part-civilian-part-military locality was founded, and later this became Homesh colony. The Palestinians appealed to the Israel Supreme Court, the land confiscation orders were repealed and from 2013 the Palestinian owners could tend their land by law. But the ‘hill youth’ thugs have not left Homesh and do not enable Palestinians to reach their land.

Several days ago, the thugs from Homesh came down to Burqa and burned two houses and a sheep pen. 10 days ago they burned all the wheat in the fields and several vehicles. The villagers’ condition is dire. They say everyone talks but nothing is done. They don’t understand how a powerful land such as Israel cannot get over its extremists. How is it that the Israeli army defends the colonists, not the Palestinians.

When the youngsters from town do something, the army comes right away and catches them. When the colonists run wild, the army makes no efforts to catch them.

Peace Now members came to support the villagers, and soldiers hurried to come and attack them.

Just yesterday, colonists threw poisonous powder on people. Several Burqa villagers lost consciousness and had to be hospitalized.

This is how it continues day after day, and there is no help. They are helpless and we are so ashamed.

Photo: In the memorial, next to a wall with the names of the Palestinians killed, is the figure of Handale, that well-known caricature of a Palestinian refugee child, always barefoot and wearing rags, his back to the spectator, his hands always crossed behind his back. This is the usual signature of Palestinian cartoonist Naji Al Ali on his thousands of drawings. Handale is a symbol of the poverty, neglect and hunger in the refugee camps. In one of the cartoons during the Lebanese Civil War, when someone asked him, “Are you a Muslim or a Christian?” Handale answered: “I’m hungry…”