Huwwara, Tue 22.6.10, Afternoon

Village tour:  Hars, Kifl Hars, Qira, Jama’in, Inabous, Huwwara, 22.6.10, afternoon

Observers:  Yehudit Katz, Bruria Rozenwachs (reporting)

We drove along our usual route, met very few people and most of the shops were closed.  The heat wave must have made people stay home.

In Hars we spoke to the owners of a grocery who complained that villagers are refused building permits, so people aren’t able to marry and raise a family.  The village is in Area C, and people aren’t even allowed to dig a cistern in their own yard to collect rainwater.  Many of the younger villagers work in Barkan or Ariel and aren’t allowed to work in Israel.  That, they say, encourages them to throw stones.

In Kifl Hars we met a man who was slightly more optimistic, and thought that peace between Jews and Arabs will come eventually; he believes that the religious leaders on both sides are undermining peace efforts.  A large structure is being built next to his home; he says it will be a shopping center.

In Inabous we wanted to visit our acquaintance, whom we stop to see every time we come through and try to help him, but his shop was also closed.

At the Huwwara checkpoint, entering vehicles aren’t inspected; those leaving are checked randomly.