Translation: Bracha B.A.

Meitar Sansana Crossing

At 07:00 the crossing is filled with people and cars with Palestinian license plates.  The crossing into Israel takes place quickly.  A bus with prisoners' families stops and unloads its human cargo next to the shed.  The families cross immediately in groups and there was no delay.
While we were observing people on the Palestinian side of the border, Paula met an old acquaintance selling sesame bagels from a small crate.  His name is Musa Samon Taimani (Phone 02211343).  He hitched a ride from Hebron because the Israeli authorities confiscated his car a year ago, which he used to make a living for himself and his family.  He has no money to redeem the confiscated vehicle, which would coast NIS 3,500 plus a fee for a lawyer.  He has given up and we had little to offer him besides purchasing his bagels and taking his picture.  "Maybe that will help," says Musa.  .  

Route 60

We continued driving on Route 60.  There was a lot of traffic near Dahariya.  The sheep market is open today.  Mohammed says that it is less expensive to buy mutton here in Lakiya.   A lot of children are walking along the side of the road on their way to school.  The fields are turning green, the weather is pleasant – idyllic.  

Hebron

We entered Kiryat Arba and saw the illegal settlement of Avihai on our right – one of many illegal settlements that has been uprooted again and again, but is now a full-fledged neighborhood!  There are nine wooden houses and a storeroom.  A large sukkah has been erected next to Goldstein's grave and another one is standing next to the "tent" synagogue at the entrance to Hebron.   From the car Hebron appears to be asleep.  A man with a camera is standing next to the Tarpat Junction next to the Hebron one.  Everything appears quiet but earlier that morning teachers from the Kordova School were not allowed to cross at the regular crossing without an X-ray machine and there was a quarrel with the soldiers who were guarding there.  We only read about this the next day.  . We drank fresh hot tea at Abed's store and while we were drinking two 17-year-old settler youths pedaled by on bicycles.   When they saw Abed pouring tea they shouted curses and continued on their way.  Abed said quietly, "They're trash."       

Route 317

We continued on to Route 317.  Mohammed showed us the "discovery" made yesterday –  dirt mounds in the form of roadblocks along the road.   It is very quiet.  This is an extremely poor rural area.  It is good to see that new wells are being dug and there are three or four new fields being tilled, but that's all.  That's all that is there.  Near the settlement of Avigail there is a sign inviting people to join the new agricultural settlement. The entrance to the settlement has been widened and renovated and there is a new asphalt road at the entrance to Assael.