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Hebron, Sansana (Meitar Crossing), South Hebron Hills, Sun 5.8.12, Morning

Observers: Judy A., Yehudit K.
Aug-05-2012
| Morning

 

We left Beer Sheva at 9.30. The Meitar terminal was empty. Route 60 was relatively lively. It seems that driving is one way to pass the long hours of the fast for the Palestinians, but as for our friends the Israelis, goodness knows what their goal is as they whizz past us on the no-passing lines at top speed.  We didn’t encounter any soldiers or army vehicles on the way to Hebron. Hebron itself is also quiet. Near Jewish Tel-Romeida, alongside the graffiti wall, a soldier tries to stop a small boy with a spade.  The child evades him and goes home through a slit in the graffiti barricade. Here he indulges in an act of terror on an unsuspecting shrub that has squatted illegally over a window.  The soldier grumbles 'don't want him wandering round with that thing (the spade)’ and returns to his watchtower with suspicion written all over him.  All the other checkpoints (Tarpat, 160 etc) are quiet.  A TIPH car stopped and the commander of TIPH told us Hebron had been quiet for the last couple of weeks, mostly likely because of Ramadan. A large sign posted by the Efrat organization that objects to abortions informs us that the birth rate is the answer to survival or some such.  We return via Route 317 which is also livelier than its usual total desolation. At the crossroads between Routes 317/60 a large sign demands 'Israeli sovereignty over all Judea and Samaria.'  Quite superfluous for, as Natan Alterman said in 1967: 'The thing about this victory is the fact that it erases the difference between the State of Israel and Eretz Israel.  The traveler in the hills of South Hebron will surely concur. 

 

…Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world..

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and every where

The ceremony of innocence is drowned.

The best lack all conviction while the worst are full of passionate intensity…

From Second Coming  W B Yeats

  • 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 - יוסרי ג'אבר וחלק ממשפחתו
      Raya Yeor
      Dec-18-2025
      Hebron - Yusri Jaber and part of his family
  • 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
  • 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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