On our way we passed the entrance to Jawarish (about half a kilometer south-east of Nablus) and were surprised to see the gate open and much vehicular traffic streaming in and out. We drove to se whether the entrance gate to nearby Qusra is open as well, perhaps by some miracle it was opened too after being closed since war broke out on October 7, 2023. But it is still locked. For over a year now Qusra villagers are prisoners in their own home village, as are Palestinians in many other villages.

We began with the eye hospital at Turmus Ayya, making an appointment for Maryam from Fasail, who is a diabetes patient and blind. We bring her there for shots in her eyes, have been doing it for the past 3 years. The place was humming, but the nurse called us immediately and made an appointment for January. The clerk next to her recognized me immediately and greeted me heartily. Undoubtedly, many of the patient wondered what two blind stranger women were doing there…

We continued to the Fasail springs, to check whether the colonists are still vandalizing the water sources of the village. No. Everything was open and the water gushed in the channels to the pipe that brings Fasail water.

We continued to the northern Palestinian Jordan Valley. Now, with winter around the corner, the shepherds need new nylon coverings for their sheep pens. The old ones have been worn down and torn in the winds, rains, and seething sun. Thanks to a donation we received from Women in Black, we decided to subsidize the purchase of nylons and bring them to the needy families for half their price. Later we realized that many communities had already bought nylon coverings at their full price and even managed to put them up over the sheep pens as well as their own tents.

We reached the Samara community, to see how much nylon they want. The father just came back from Tubbas with his children who live there with relatives during their school term. Burhan of Khallet Makhoul also sends his children (when they reach 5 years of age) with their older sisters to study at Tammun. The level of studies in Area A (fully controlled by the PA) is considered better since the teachers there are good and available, they do not get stuck in checkpoints for hours. Last year the children pf Farisiya learned over half the time with Zoom, as five children of different ages in one family fight over the use of their parents’ single phone. Unfortunately studies in Area A take place only 4 days a week, for the Palestinian Authority cannot afford paying its teachers more. The parents, who are no longer allowed to work in Israel, have no money to pay the teachers. So on Wednesday all the children come home.

The father used this ride to bring food from Tubbas which he bought there and is not available in their area. Many fruits and vegetables – which his wife immediately began peeling for us, bananas and apples, in spite of our protests. We didn’t want to hurt their supply and anyway, how many bananas can one eat? Nothing doing. We had to cooperate until we quickly got up to leave. Since I was 4-years-old I wasn’t forced to eat so much…

Their generosity, under the harsh conditions of their life, is really heart wresting.

We heard from them how every day and night colonists from the Umm Zuka outpost reach the center of their community, take a wild and dangerous round and at times even enter residential tents. The Palestinians live in terror and fear that those cruel colonists, armed, will hurt them and their flocks.

We also visited Humsa, whose inhabitants were chased away and deserted the valley where they had lived all their lives. At least here their fear of demolition was assuaged. We visited Zuba’s family. Soon the strawberries – so popular in the West Bank for their quality – will ripen. We feasted our eyes on the herb garden (with white zuta, sweet basil, marjoram, aloe vera and other plants) grown with much talent by the daughter who suffers from Down’s syndrome.

At 11:15 a.m. and again at 3:30 p.m. we crossed the Hamra (Beqa’ot) Checkpoint. There were no waiting lines in the morning, but about 15 cars waited on each side in the afternoon.

11:30 a.m. – the water checkpoint opposite Roi colony, through which all the inhabitants of the northern Palestinian Jordan Valley bring their water in tankers from Area B (Atuf village) was open. It also serves workers of the fields and vineyards of the colonies. We stood far, and immediately two armed soldiers leaped at us and instructed us to scram, threatening they would not let a single car through as long as we stand there, as “it disturbs our work”. From afar we saw the checkpoint closed, and when every worker-laden car drives close to the soldier, the driver hands him all the IDs of his passengers, and when the soldiers approve, the driver disembarks, walks over to the gate and opens it, then goes back to the car, crosses the checkpoint, disembarks again and closes it. The entire process is tiresome and greatly slows down the crossing of people who have worked in the sun in the colonies’ fields since 5 a.m., and are dying to get home. The checkpoint is opened for only half an hour, and we saw not a single water tanker waiting. Half an hour is certainly not enough for them to get to Atuf, fill up with water and drive back. Do they use another track?