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Hebron, Sansana (Meitar Crossing), South Hebron Hills, Sun 16.6.13, Morning

Observers: Lea Shakdiel, D. (a very frequent guest), Yael Agmon (reporting)
Jun-16-2013
| Morning

 

Translator:  Charles K.

 

06:00  Meitar-Sansana crossing

A long line of cars at the entrance wait to transport workers to their jobs, and many people without Israeli work permits run down the slopes to the vehicles. The owners of the stalls and the ecumenicals both tell us that the checkpoint opened at 03:45 today, to everyone’s joy.   Rumor had it that “the boss” is at the checkpoint and everyone’s trying to please him.  Later we learned it was only a rumor.

06:16  I telephone the checkpoint manager and must have caught him at home.  On the Palestinian side we meet a man who, on Thursday, 13.6.13, lost all his documents on the Israeli side and now, since he has no documents, can’t cross to search for them, must less go through.  I talk to the checkpoint manager while standing alongside the man.  And though it’s not his shift, he promises to check whether the documents might have been found.  And, as he promised, he calls back in a few minutes.  Unfortunately, they’re not there, but he promises that when he comes later in the day he’ll also check the video cameras.  He asks for more information, the time the man returned that day, and asks me to keep the person’s contact information so he can be located if the documents are found.  At the end of the conversation he asks me whether the lines at Tarqumiyya are really so long and the situation as bad as Amira Hass described in her article.  All I  could do was confirm what she wrote, and that’d we be glad if he taught his counterpart at Tarqumiyya how to work and treat people.

How the bureaucracy operates:  A young man who had been released on bail approached us; he has to serve time in Israel but can’t enter because his documents remained in Israel and according to the computer he’s forbidden to enter.

We left after giving two people the phone numbers of Chaya Ofek and Sylvia.

 

Southern Hebron Hills

Ma’on junction – a military vehicle provides security for people at the bus stop.

Construction continues at Eshtamoa; a large group of guests is getting some kind of explanation next to the new construction.

 

Hebron

Two military jeeps block the section of the worshippers route leading up to Kiryat Arba.  No detainees.

Nobody even looks at us at the entrance to the Cave of the Patriarchs.  A short trip through Hebron, there’s no school and the soldiers appear to be unemployed.

  • Hebron

    See all reports for this place
    • 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:

       

      1. Bet Hameriva CP- manned with a pillbox
      2. Kapisha quarter CP (the northern side of Zion axis) - manned with a pillbox
      3. The 160 turn CP (the southern side of Zion axis) - manned with a pillbox
      4. Avraham Avinu quarter - watch station
      5. The pharmacy CP - checking inside a caravan with a magnometer
      6. Tarpat (1929) CP - checking inside a caravan with a magnometer
      7. Tel Rumeida CP - guarding station
      8. Beit Hadassah CP - guarding station

      Three checkpoints around the Tomb of the Patriarchs

      חברון: שלט מפרסם נדלן מפתה
      Leah Shakdiel
      Apr-8-2025
      Hebron: A sign advertising a tempting real estate
  • Meitar checkpoint / Sansana

    See all reports for this place
    • 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
  • South Hebron Hills

    See all reports for this place
    • 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

       

       

      סוסיא - אצל אחמד וחלימה נוואג'עה
      Muhammad D.
      May-13-2025
      Susiya - at Ahmad and Halima Nawaja'a
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