Jaba (Lil), Mon 13.7.09, Afternoon

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Observers:

Yael I and Ilana D. (reporting

Jul-13-2009

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Afternoon

From 2:30 till 500 PM

Givat Zeev CP, Qalandia, Leel and Anata

The construction of the improved Givat Zeev CP looks almost finished. An
ormoous crane was fixing the roof. A car exited the building site of the
wall nearing completion next to it and its woman driver asked us about ‘our'
rights. The commander of the CP came out to chat with us and is convinced
the wall and the CP's are a necessity for our security. Despite the fact
that he claims all Palestinians, including the Israelis are dangerous he has
not voted for Lieberman, whom he called an extremist. So far (the CP is not
finished yet) only serves pedestrians who have to pass through long cages,
and only those Palestinians who work in the construction of Givat Zeev -
there must be huge plans for its extension if there is a special CP only for
them.

We continued to Qalandia and found the CP near the entrance to Atarot not
manned. There was a big crowd (more than fifty people) waiting to get out of
the CP into Jerusalem - the turnstiles (after the completion of all
investigations) apparently were stuck. People, many with small kids and
babies, waited patiently - there was no shoving or pushing. After about ten
minutes the gates info-icon moved again and all left one by one.

A man who asked for Netanya greeted us on the other side. There was a long
line, but when we arrived a special line was opened for holders of blue Id' - we joined that line. Our Id's were scrutinized extremely carefully, it was not clear exactly why, but it was a little embarrassing, because we felt we were holding up the queue. Nobody complained.

We were not checked when we exited with the car, but at the roundabout we
saw a big graffiti sign on a concrete slab telling us that Israelis could
not use the road to reach Adam and Beit El - we ignored it. At Leel a
soldier (sitting down and resting - it was a hot day) watched the cars
approaching from the opposite side - our side was not manned. We drove along
the road to Mishor Adumim hoping to find the Bedouin school built of used
car tires on which Amira Hass had written that day, but we couldn't find it
among the shacks built in the wadi near the quarry. We returned and drove
via Hizme to reach Anata. There is still major construction going on South
of the CP. A long line of vehicles entered unchecked. Again our Id's were
checked meticulously when we exited.

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Location Description

Jaba (Lil)

See all reports for this place

In fact, the Jaba checkpoint is east of the Qalandiya checkpoint. Its declared purpose is the prevention of Israeli citizens from entering Area A.
A road checkpoint for vehicles, located on Road 65, borders the southern fence of Kfar Jaba, about three kilometers east of the Qalandiya checkpoint, on the road leading to the settlement of Adam on Road 60.
Archaeological excavations within the village found the remains of a cloth house from the First Temple period. The events that led to the construction of the checkpoint are precisely here: on the day of the abduction of Gilad Shalit and before the outbreak of the Second Lebanon War, a 17-year-old man from one of the settlements was abducted by a Palestinian cell.
His body was found several days later at the entrances to Ramallah. A military investigation revealed that his abductors had taken him along this route. The checkpoint was set up to prevent future kidnappings and to warn settlers from traveling to Ramallah and entering Area A (which is forbidden for Israelis).
The checkpoint that operates around the clock. Usually only vehicles traveling in the direction of Ramallah are inspected.
(November 2016): Every morning, when the settlers en masse travel to Jerusalem on Route 60 and every afternoon they return from Jerusalem on Route 60, the army initiates a traffic jam at the entrance to the Jaba checkpoint and stops the movement of Palestinians traveling toward Route 60.
(February 2020): In the last two years the checkpoint has not always been manned. Sometimes the soldiers come and just stand, sometimes they come and stop and check those who enter the village, sometimes they patrol the alleys of the village, sometimes they fire stun grenades and gas and sometimes they invade houses and stop young people, say those passing through the Hazma checkpoint.
(Updated February 2020)