Sansana (Meitar Crossing), South Hebron Hills
At the Meitar checkpoint, everything is as usual, parking is full and traffic is flowing.
We left with a car loaded with clothes collected at the Sha’ar Ha’amakim on the way to Huda’s kindergaren.
The road is beautiful. After the rain falls, green patches of grass show in the the slopes of the ground and the plowed furrows and the sheep go out to pasture. There is no piece of land that is not.used, the donkeys reach every where.
On the way to Umm Daraj we stopped at the A-Tuwani grocery store to buy the children in the kindergarten some sweets, drinks and notebooks. The owner of the grocery store told us that demolition orders had arrived in A-tuwani and while we were talking, he received pictures of jeeps of the Civil Administration that had arrived at the scene.
On the way to Umm Daraj we see a water pipe lying on the ground on tires, a new use I have not seen before. They are usually on tin roofs to keep them from flying in the wind. Compared to this pipeline, work has been going on for several months on laying water lines for settlements. Of course this is wider piping and dug into the ground and inaccessible to any person.
In Huda’s kindergarden we were received with much pleasure. The educational activity was already over and the children were busy opening packages of clothes and toys that came to them. Some of the children were also kindergarten graduates. Apparently the garden has become a clothing distribution center.
On the way back we passed through the settlement of Carmel and Umm al Kheir. The comparison between the red roofs with solar water heaters versus the tin and stone roofs that keep them from the wind, and the water heaters, screams to the sky. This is because there is no plumbing that reaches the houses.
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
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