Hebron, Sansana, South Hebron Hills, Tarqumiya, Tue 3.6.08, Morning
a visitor with many queries: Nir
Sansana-Meitar CP
07:00 – About a hundred workers are waiting in a queue that advances nowhere. Once we come on the scene the bottleneck widens miraculously and the queue diminishes rapidly. Shlomi the director of the checkpoint exchanges some pleasantries with us and resumes his business.
Highway 60
Relatively few Israeli vehicles (perhaps due to the early hour).
Durah al-Fawar is open.
The Sheep Junction is open to pedestrians and vehicles. About twenty settlers are holding something between a demonstration and a mass prayer in protest of the removal of the barrier and opening of the junction to traffic. In order not to cause unnecessary friction or an outcry at such an early hour of the morning we keep our distance and proceed nonchalantly.
Shuyuch – Hebron – The military jeep is not parked here today. People employ a back to back technique to cross the road.
Hebron
The Pharmacy Junction – We exchange some words with the soldiers on duty who seem bored though in good spirits (looking forward to their Shabbat and holiday break perhaps). The absence of the ISM volunteers in the area is apparent.
The illegal stronghold (an unfortunate choice of words in light of the patent unlawfulness of the entire settlement project) under the Hill of the Patriarchs has been rebuilt.
Tarpat Junction – A handful of people crossing.
Tel-Rumeida – As soon as they become aware of our presence the checking of the youth who cross through the meganometer and their documents becomes a show of intent on the part of the soldiers. The constable in the blue police jeep checks our identity cards, tells us off lightly and warns us not to go up. So long as we're there all identity cards of those crossing are checked as well as by the military by the constables. The surrealism intensifies when our car fails to start and the local youths push it into igniting (real co-existence in the shadow of the border police jeeps).
New cameras have been placed on the road to the Cave of the Patriarchs – technology in the service of ideology.
Cave of the Patriarchs Checkpoint – No detainees.
The Disputed House – Our valiant soldiers shelter from the heat in the house appropriated by the Jewish family and enjoy full Jewish hospitality (Hagit comments cynically that "the symbiosis lives on"). Needless to say, we don't enjoy the same attentions. Disappointed we leave.
Highway 35
Al-Juwarrah – is open with more Palestinian vehicles than usual.
Tarqumiya is almost entirely empty. It is 09:15 but the bus ferrying the prisoners' families has not yet departed.
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
Michal TsadikJun-03-2008Hebron - Ata's grandchildren are enjoying the umbrellas we brought
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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
Daphna JungMar-16-2025Simia: Farhan and his wife
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Tarqumiya CP
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The Tarqumiya Checkpoint is one of the largest and busiest checkpoints where people and goods cross into Israel. It is located on the Separation Barrier close to the Green Line, on Road 35 (connecting Beer Sheva and Hebron). It is run by the Israel Defense Ministry’s Crossings Administration with civilian secuirty companies running the day to day operations. The checkpoint is indeed open to vehicles in both directions 24/7, but Palestinians are prevented from crossing in vehicles, except in special cases. MachsomWatch activists visit the checkpoint as it opens at 3:45 am, in order to observe the daily passage of nearly 10,000 Palestinian workers. The workers arrive from throughout the Southern West Bank. Our activists report on the tremendous overcrowding at this checkpoint; they have observed young men climbing and scrambling on the fences and roofs of the ‘access cages’. This is how the work day begins for those who ‘build the land of Israel’. updated November 2019
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