Haris, Kifl Harith, Qira, Shomron Crossing, Mon 10.6.13, Morning
Harriet Goitein and Nitza Avigail travel to teach in Qira.
9:50 Haris – Many people are out. Stores are open. The town looks extremely neglected.
Kifl Harith – quiet – few people on the street, most stores are closed. There is evidence of new buildings starting. A large green building, perhaps a sport stadium is nearly finished.
10:00 Qira – very quiet. We arrive at the moadon. 3 teenaged girls are waiting for us. Since it is summer vacation these girls have participated in our classes for the last 3 weeks. They help Nitza set up and begin printing.
Nitza does print making, winding up 6 lessons on the subject. The women have made their own designs using a roller technique.They enthusiastically created scarves and paper prints. The women are very fond of Nitza and are looking forward to her return in the fall.
11:15 I taught the women English during the first hour using the ipad to show sites in Tel Aviv and Jaffa and giving a short background in preparation for ladies trip to Jaffa on Wednesday. We also conversed telling about our families and our birthplaces. Some of the women were born in Kuwait, one in Lebanon and two in Nablus. They also told about what they liked to do. Several do traditional embroidery and one weaves professional looking straw mats. It seems that a lot of the traditional embroidery is much less practiced.
For three weeks, during the second hour, I have taught English to the 5 teenage girls who were excited about it.
One of the younger women was extremely upset to find out that she was not registered for the trip. Nadim called Rachel Ofek giving her all the information about the woman. Rachel was able to mend the oversight and arranged for a permit within one day.
12:30 We returned through Kifl Harith and Haris. Haris looked so much better, it must have been trash pick-up day.
12:45 Shomron Crossing – the guard said hello and let us pass without further checking.
Haris
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Haris
The village has 4,500 people and they have 5,000 dunams of land. The entrance to the village is blocked and opened arbitrarily, without informing the residents.The village has a seasonal checkpoint that blocks the road to the agricultural land and this checkpoint opens once a year! 2,500-3,000 dunams were stolen from the village in order to build the settlements of Revava and Netafim, which are located west of Haris.
The center of the village is Area B and around Area C. The population grows but the occupation does not permit new construction in Area C.
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Kifl Harith
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Kifl Harith
This is a Palestinian located north-west of the settler-colony town of Ariel, 18 kilometers south of the city of Nablus. It numbers 3, 206 inhabitants, as of 2007. 42% of the village lands lie in Area B, and 58% in Area C. In 1978, some hundreds of dunams of the village’s farmland was sequestered in order to found the settler-colony of Ariel – in total 5,184 dunams from the Palestinian communities of Salfit, Iscaqa, Marda, and Kifl Harith. Dozens of square kilometers were also confiscated for paving road no. 5 as well as road 505 and their buffer zones, and the Israeli electricity company’s power station. Over the years the village has suffered harassment by sometimes-armed settler-colonists, even casualties. In 1968 the army’s rabbinate ruled the maqam site Nabi Yanoun (sanctified grave of the Prophet Yanoun) is in fact the tomb of Joshua, Son of Nun. Another structure in the village, named Nabi Tul Kifl by the Palestinians, has been identified by the Israeli authorities as to the tomb of Caleb, Son of Yefuneh. These sites are located in the heart of the village, near the mosque, and at times of Jewish religious festivities and pilgrimages, the center of the village is illuminated by projectors and thousands of Jews arrive, protected by hundreds of Israeli soldiers. During such a period, a night curfew is imposed on the village and the villagers are forced to stay shut inside their homes.
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Qira
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Qira
This village is located in the Salfit district of the northern West Bank, 19 kilometers south-west of Nablus. The village population numbered 1,387 as of 2016. 97.6% of the village lands are categorized as Area B, whereas the 2.3% remaining are in Area C. The Separation Fence erected around the settler-colony city of Ariel separates Qira from its local town Salfit, and necessitates a detour of about 20 kilometers.
In 2010-2015, the women’s center in the village held meetings and workshops shared by the village women and children with members of MachsomWatch.
For further information: http://vprofile.arij.org/salfit/pdfs/vprofile/Qira_vp_en.pdf
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Shomron Crossing
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Shomron Crossing The Shomron checkpoint for vehicles. is located east of Rosh HaAyin and Kafr Qassem, on Road 5 (Trans-Samaria) leading to Ariel and the Za'atara junction. It is intended for blue ID cardholders, foreign guests or diplomats, and international organizations only. In 2009 the management was entrusted to a civil security company.
Nava EisenNov-9-2008Shomron crossing checkpoint 23.10.08
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