Eliyahu Crossing, Jayyus, Kufr Jammal, Tue 11.12.12, Afternoon
11:10 We stop at the closed checkpoint next to Alfey Menashe to give our guest a brief explanation. Back to Highway 5 and then north.
11:45 We stop in Jayyous to buy olive oil from N. Next to the grocery we talk with a young man who has an Israeli work permit. He says that yesterday he arrived at the Azzun Atma checkpoint at 05:00, as he does every day, and went through only at 06:30. He was one of 25 people detained for interrogation by the Shabak. Their IDs were taken; after about an hour and a half they were asked a few questions and released. The usual mistreatment. He thinks that the speed at which you go through the checkpoint depends on the mood of the soldiers stationed there.
Eliyahu checkpoint– People go through quickly. No delays.
12:15 Kufr Jimal – We stop at the grocery and talk with Dr. Farid, who went to medical school in Grenada and worked in Saudi Arabia for 18 years before returning to the village. He doesn’t discuss politics because it’s hard for him to express himself in English, but says that every problem has a solution. You just have to want to find it. All his friends in the village want peace, to live in an independent country alongside Israel. Since they’re weak, and Israel is strong, they need the world’s help. Our physician guest is moved by the meeting with Dr. Farid.
13:00 Eliyahu checkpoint – We go through flying our flag and are stopped. Our IDs are checked; our guest is asked to get out to be inspected in the office. We wait on the side for Rita and I take out my camera to photograph the dog and dog handler inspecting a pickup truck. A security man arrives immediately and warns me. Though I managed to take a picture it’s not any good and I didn’t dare continue to photograph.
After about ten minutes Rita is released. She reports the interrogation was polite; she told them only that she joined women from Machsom Watch on their circuit. She didn’t tell them why she had come to Israel.
13:15 Habla – The gate is open. No lines. Cars, pickup trucks from the plant nurseries and the school bus come through. Crossing goes quickly.
Eliyahu CP (109) / Crossing
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Eliyahu CP (109) / Crossing This checkpoint, also known as the Fruit Crossing, is one of the main checkpoints between Israel and the West Bank. It is located on Route 55 between Alfei Menashe and the turn to Qalqilya and Zufin, more than 4 km east of the Green Line, in the separation fence, which separates Qalqilya from its lands to the south, thus leaving Alfei Menashe West of the fence - the Seam Zone. This checkpoint, a few kilometers across the Green Line, is intended for "Israeli settlement in the West Bank and the population of the Seam Zone." It is managed by a civil company. Palestinians with a special permit for their lands in the seam area are also allowed to pass through it, on foot, and sometimes by car.
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Jayyus North (935)
See all reports for this placeKufr Jammal
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Kufr Jammal This village, rising about 200 meters over sea level, is located about 14 kilometers south of Tul Karm town and about 17 kilometers from the Mediterranean Sea. The families living there since the mid-18th century number about 3,000 persons at present. The village has lost thousands of dunams of its northern and western lands due to the construction of the Separation Barrier, leaving the lands themselves behind the barrier. After the Israeli Supreme Court ruling in 2011, the barrier was moved to the west and many farmlands were returned to their owners. It is a quiet village, its relations with the nearby settler-colony of Sal’it are favorable, and many of the villagers work in the colony’s industrial plants. Farmers cross the agricultural checkpoint close to this settler-colony in order to tend their fields unhampered. However, there are numerous acts of harassment and disorder taking place when the village farmers cross the other agricultural checkpoints: gates do not open at hours suitable to the farmers’ needs, and for a short period of time only; the Civil Administration usually prevents all kinds of crops except olives; tractors and other farm equipment are forbidden entry; only a single permit is issued per family, and occasionally such permits are confiscated and their re-issue is delayed – the common excuse is usually “security reasons”. How do the villagers make their living? Holders of work permits inside Israel travel at 3 a.m. to Eyal Checkpoint near Qalqiliya town in order to make it on time to their workplace at Sal’it (close to their village) and elsewhere. Owners of vegetable patches who hold permits are allowed to reach their fields beyond the Separation Barrier through the distant Falamiya Checkpoint. Importantly, fields returned to the village show amazing improvement intending, irrigation and farming variety – and instead of the neglected olive tree groves that were accessible only to holders of transit permits through agricultural checkpoints usually closed, farming has now flourished. (updated Jan 2021)
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