Hebron, Sansana (Meitar Crossing), South Hebron Hills, Mon 14.5.12, Morning
Translator: Charles K.
08:30-12:00
Meitar crossing – empty at this hour. One bus with relatives of prisoners is waiting. They cross.
Highway 60
It’s quiet all along Highway 60 and Highway 317. The varied fields of grain fill our view.
The ripening oats are tall and lovely. People everywhere are reaping by hand with sickles as they did in the past. It’s not at all romantic – it’s hard work.
But most fellaheen can’t afford modern equipment, although they’re now allowed to drive on the road.
Only in one field, not far from the fence at the slopes of the Teneh Omarim settlement, was I glad to see a combine and piles of straw separate from the heaps of grain.
Wheat is still half-green and isn’t yet being harvested. If only we could “flee” a little to this pastoral atmosphere – which isn’t really pastoral – but it’s impossible, because we now reach a-Tawwani.
At-Tuwani
We learned that once again, for the thousandth time, settlers from Havvat Ma’on came down to their neighbors’ olive groves and simply broke the limbs of 20 trees.
We came to see. The area is very far away and not easily accessible to us, so we looked from afar. We spoke to a family member who’s also busy harvesting.
He told us that the police and also the army had been there.
So what?! It’s clear who the vandals are, so what?! No one will be caught, no one will be punished.
The fellah said they could do the same thing to the settlers, but that’s not how they want to behave. Umm Jum’ah said she knows the army is on the side of the settlers and nothing will help.
We know it also. So, other than getting mad, being ashamed and telling them how sorry we are – we can’t do a thing.
So we repeat our eyewitness testimony again and again, and record it so it reaches everyone who wants to know, and also those who aren’t fully aware of the occupation and its injustices.
The authorities have to know we’re still here, seeing and reporting. Perhaps someone hasn’t completely forgotten the word shame. Justice, morality, human rights – they’ve long been erased from our “Zionist” lexicon.
Hebron
What luck – nothing out of the ordinary occurred. Everything’s the same.
The city continues to be a magnet: tourist buses with youths from Gush Etzion, coming to the Cave of the Patriarchs. More guests getting off a bus on Shuhada Street, next to Beit Hadassah.
Their t-shirts identify them as students in some pre-army preparatory course. They’ve come to hear the “story.”
I hope that they, at least, will have a chance to hear the non-Jewish residents of the city.
Hebron
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According to Wye Plantation Accords (1997), Hebron is divided in two: H1 is under Palestinian Authority control, H2 is under Israeli control. In Hebron there are 170,000 Palestinian citizens, 60,000 of them in H2. Between the two areas are permanent checkpoints, manned at all hours, preventing Palestinian movement between them and controlling passage of permit holders such as teachers and schoolchildren. Some 800 Jews live in Avraham Avinu Quarter and Tel Rumeida, on Givat HaAvot and in the wholesale market.
Checkpoints observed in H2:
- Bet Hameriva CP- manned with a pillbox
- Kapisha quarter CP (the northern side of Zion axis) - manned with a pillbox
- The 160 turn CP (the southern side of Zion axis) - manned with a pillbox
- Avraham Avinu quarter - watch station
- The pharmacy CP - checking inside a caravan with a magnometer
- Tarpat (1929) CP - checking inside a caravan with a magnometer
- Tel Rumeida CP - guarding station
- Beit Hadassah CP - guarding station
Three checkpoints around the Tomb of the Patriarchs
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Meitar checkpoint / Sansana
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Meitar Checkpoint / Sansana The checkpoint is located on the Green Line and serves as a border crossing between Israel and the West Bank. It is managed by the Border Crossing Authority of the Defense Ministry. It is comprised of sections for the transfer of goods as well as a vehicle checkpoint (intended for holders of blue identity cards, foreign nationals or diplomats and international organizations). Passing of Palestinians is prohibited, except for those with entry permits to Israel. Palestinians are permitted to cross on foot only. The crossing has a DCO / DCL / DCL / DCL (District Coordination Office), a customs unit, supervision, and a police unit. In the last year, a breach has been opened in the fence, not far from the crossing. This breach is known to all, including the army. There does not appear to be any interest in blocking it, probably as it permits needed Palestinian workers without the bureaucratic permits to get to work in Israel. Food stalls and a parking area economy have been created, but incidents of violent abuse by border police have also been recorded. Updated April 2022
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South Hebron Hills
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South Hebron Hills
South Hebron Hills is a large area in the West Bank's southern part.
Yatta is a major city in this area: right in the border zone between the fertile region of Hebron and its surroundings and the desert of the Hebron Hills. Yatta has about 64,000 inhabitants.
The surrounding villages are called Masafer Yatta (Yatta's daughter villages). Their inhabitants subsist on livestock and agriculture. Agriculture is possible only in small plots, especially near streams. Most of the area consists of rocky terraces.Since the beginning of the 1980s, many settlements have been established on the agricultural land cultivated by the Palestinians in the South Hebron Hills region: Carmel, Maon, Susia, Masadot Yehuda, Othniel, and more. Since the settlements were established and Palestinians cultivation areas have been reduced; the residents of the South Hebron Hills have been suffering from harassment by the settlers. Attempts to evict and demolish houses have continued, along with withholding water and electricity. The military and police usually refrain from intervening in violent incidents between settlers and Palestinians do not enforce the law when it comes to the investigation of extensive violent Jewish settlers. The harassment in the South Hebron Hills includes attacking and attempting to burn residential tents, harassing dogs, harming herds, and preventing access to pastures.
There are several checkpoints in the South Hebron Hills, on Routes 317 and 60. In most of them, no military presence is apparent, but rather an array of pillboxes monitor the villages. Roadblocks are frequently set up according to the settlers and the army's needs. These are located at the Zif Junction, the Dura-al Fawwar crossing, and the Sheep Junction at the southern entrance to Hebron.
Updated April 2022
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