חבלה, ג'יוס פאלמיה, כפר ג'מאל ג'וברה (כפריאת) יום ג' 15.11.11, בוקר

Habla

07:05

opening of the CP

There are not many workmen here – it's a rainy day which is also the Palestinian Independence day.

The crew acts quietly and the queue becomes shorter at an acceptable rate

07:20

A tractor of a known resident who passes every day is checked and he isn't allowed to pass because of some freight item. After long minutes of discussion he leaves his papers, turns back and returns ten minutes later. Finally he passes at

07:35. 

07:40

For a few moments there was havoc, a kind of congestion of vehicles and carts on both sides because there was a hold up in the middle of the road of people who were checked and delayed. A few minutes later it was dispersed. On principle those who come from the Israeli side wait superfluous time as they get less attention and they have to be alerted. The soldier posted there doesn't do it. Today there is no transportation of pupils because of the holiday. 

07:50

We set out in the direction of Azoun.

Ja'ayus

08:10

N. from the taxi station tells us that at night the army again visited the village, entered the houses and loitered outside (perhaps because of the importance of the day for the Palestinians). In the village there is no holiday commotion, there are no studies, the streets are empty and most of the shops are closed.

Palamiya

08:20

The CP is empty.

Kafr Jamal

The street begins to wake up. On the grocery H. turns to us. He couldn't finish the olive harvest. The interior gate was opened for one month only and then shut. An attempt to open it in order to finish the work caused punitive actions by the army. The authorizations of 7 people were taken from them and are already more than a week at the DCO. Each time one calls the DCO they are told "everything will be alright." In the summer too there were similar cases of arbitrary closing of the interior gate, which prevented the farmers from carrying out the required work.

We consulted Micky, as T. the crossings officer wasn't available. We were informed that he would arrive two hours later. And indeed at about 11:00 we were able to get to him, we gave him all the details and he promised to call the man and assist him.

09:10

We made another tour of the villages. It is pleasant to note that there is now a proper connecting road  (US aid) and more than that – good signposts, in part in Arabic and English only and in part in Hebrew too. Also there are traffic signs and delineation of the pavements. The change is blessed (even a voyage of 1000 miles begins with one little step).

On the way we reached A-Ras  "the children's gate" (Jabara) . There was no traffic. From this side there is no exit passage as in the past. On the road to Tul Karem we reached a relatively new exit passage. It is opened every day at 11:30 only!