Hars, Kafel Harat, Kira 13 February 2013
Translation: Suzanne O.
Wonderful weather, the skies are blue, the sun is shining and the almond blossom is blooming all along the way.
Hars
9:55 a.m.
There are very few people around. Most of the shops are closed, only a few are open.
Kafel Harat
10:05 a.m.
The village is quiet. Most of the shops are closed but some are open. We saw a large, new, nice looking shop.
Kira
10:10 a.m.
The village is quiet and deserted. We drove straight to the women's club. We waited for a bit and finally 8 women arrived. They explained that some of them have a funeral today and said that next time more will come.
In view of the small numbers we decided not to divide them into two groups. Harriet started the English class (I joined in – she had prepared a nice game and we all played together). After about an hour we changed places and I did an hour of yoga with everyone.
Since there were also four children in the club Harriet gave them paper and crayons and gave them a drawing lesson while I taught yoga – the children enjoyed it very much.
12:10
We drove via Kafel Harat and Shomron Crossing to Kafr Kasem and home.
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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