Habla: There is no work in the West Bank, no entry permits into Israel
There is a huge line of cars waiting to drive into the West Bank at the Eliyahu Checkpoint, all of them bearing Israeli license plates. Reason unclear.
U. from the nursery told us the gate at Habla opens at 1 p.m., but the soldiers decided that today opening time will be 1:30 p.m.
– Have you let the Palestinians know?
– No, they already know.
– And if they have not met them?
– Let them wait. They’ll survive.
This is the answer we received from a young soldier who came to check on what those two women (us) were doing.
In the meantime, the waiting line for the opening grew, but as we know, the Palestinians survive…
At the entrance to Habla are 2 vehicles with saplings and the Ras A Tira guys. Except pedestrians. 4 vehicles exited Habla, as well as 2 tractors, 2 pickup trucks, 3 trucks. Lively traffic…
Among those waiting stand several young men from Ras A-Tira village. They bear beautiful oranges for sale in Habla or Qalqiliya, and say they have 200 dunams of olive trees and Israel does not allow them to go and harvest them. The checkpoint is closed. They look longingly at the fruit-laden trees and know that this year, too, it will all rot away.
Finally, the gate opens. Young male and female soldiers check IDs. Irritatingly slow. First those coming from Habla, and then they signal those waiting to enter. They do not detain anyone. A young soldier approaches to find out what we’re doing there. Says they will close at 2 or 2:30 p.m. Everything is subject to change.
We left at 2 p.m.
There are two women from Hod HaSharon sitting in U.’s nursery. He has arranged a lovely coffee corner and it’s nice to sit in the shade there and sip sweet tea and bitter coffee. As usual, U. has many stories to tell, but we are in a hurry to meet our friend Z. from Azzun. Naturally we bought some winter blossoms in his nursery, everything is so cheap. The boy now working with U. is wonderful at serving us while U. does his host part.
The exit from the old road from Nabi Elias to Azzun is closed. Why? Because. This isolates Nabi Elias – the settlers cannot reach it as easily as before, and they were shopping there so cheaply as we reported in the past. They even brought a kosher supervisor to the butcher shop. He is no longer there. Entrance to Izbat Tabib and Azzun is apparently closed as well. There are bypass dirt tracks through the fields from which they reach Nabi Elias.
Because of the closure we meet Z. and his wife at the entry to the old road. They are very thin and he is trembling all over. Says he cannot reach a doctor in Jerusalem for he has no entry permit into Israel. Gives us a small bottle of olive oil as a token of gratitude. Touching.
There is no work in the West Bank, no entry permits into Israel as we know. He has four big sons who need to eat, they too have no work. So, they are about to starve. Tzviya’s husband could arrange his employment but there are no permits…
We collected donations to support Z. and his family, thank you all the donors who have been so generous. We need more. We brought plenty of clothes, beddings, blankets and utensils for Z.’s recently opened second-hand shop. Apparently Azzun villagers, also very low on funds, are not really buying. Everything is down.
Those were the days. Perhaps they will be back…
Location Description
'Azzun
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Azoun (updated February 2019)
A Palestinian town situated in Area B (under civil Palestinian control and Israeli security control),
on road 5 between Nablus and Qalqiliya, east of Nabi Elias village. The inhabitants are allowed to construct and improve infrastructures. The Separation Fence has confiscated lands belonging to the town's people. In 2018 olive tree groves owned by one of its inhabitants were confiscated for the sake of paving a road to bypass Nabi Elias. Azoun population numbers 13,000, its economic state dire. Its infrastructures are poor, neglect and poverty rampant. In the meantime, the town council has completed paving an internal road for the inhabitants' welfare.
Because of its proximity to the Jewish settler-colony of Karnei Shomron and its outposts, the town suffers the intense presence of the Israeli army, especially at nighttime: soldiers enter homes, arrest suspects, trash the house and sometimes ruin it, as they do in numerous places in the West Bank. At times a checkpoint closes the entrance to the town, so no one can come in or get out.
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A-Nabi Elias
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A-Nabi Elias this is a Palestinian village in the northern West Bank, east of Qalqilia on Road 55, north-east of Alfei Menashe colony and west of Karnei Shomron colony and the Palestinian city of Nablus. As of 2016, the village was populated by 1,458 inhabitants.
Near the village is a maqam (holy site memorializing a sanctified person) - the prophet Elisha. Until 2021 Road 55 crossed the village. Then a bypass road was paved through olive groves that were sequestered from the villagers. Consequently, the farmers were left with small olive groves that they could not access nor cultivate. Inhabitants protested against the road for weeks, supported by peace activists, but nothing helped and the road is now a given fact.
The village's main street had been a shopping center for all residents, including colonists. We even saw a Kashrut (kosher food) inspector in a butcher shop close to the falafel stand… The bypass road, according to tradesmen, has impacted their businesses and clients, while others claim that there are customers now for parking has become easier.
Alfei Menashe and Tzofim colonies nibble at the village lands from the north and south and get closer to it all the time. Colonists of Alfei Menashe have outdone themselves, sending their surplus sewage from the oxygenation pools toward a-Nabi Elias land, even reaching the houses.
The villagers are known as seekers of peace. For years there was no hostility towards Israelis. On the contrary, we were always welcomed warmly and stopped there to enjoy their delicious, inexpensive falafel.
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Habla CP (1393)
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Habla CP (1393)
The Habla checkpoint (1393) was established on the lands of the residents of Qalqilya, on the short road that
connected it for centuries to the nearby town of Habla. The separation barrier intersects this road twice and cut off the residents of Qalqilya from their lands in the seam zone.(between the fence and the green line).
There is a passage under Road 55 that connects Qalqilya to the sabotage This agricultural barrier is used by the farmers and nursery owners established along Road 55 from the Green Line and on both sides of the kurkar road leading to the checkpoint.
This agricultural checkpoint serves the residents of Arab a-Ramadin al-Janoubi (detached from the West Bank), who pass through it to the West Bank and back to their homes. The opening hours (3 times a day) of this agricultural checkpoint are longer than usual, about an hour (recently shortened to 45 minutes), and are coordinated with the transportation hours of a-Ramadin children studying in the occupied in the West Bank.
Nina SebaOct-22-2024Habla checkpoint: the checkpoint is open.
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