Far'ata, Beir Amin

At Far'ata there was a meeting with the coordinators of the club. It was decided that the activity with the women and with the children with learning disabilities would be resumed.

At Beit Amin there was a ray of light: the flow of sewage from the Sha'arey Tiqva settlement into the village and into the swamp in the nearby Wadi, which blocked the access of the Palestinians to gate 1447, was stopped.

At the Nofim settlement the building proceeds.

The route: Road No. 55 to Far'ata, back to Azzun and from there to the agricultural gate Oranit 1447 on the Palestinian side, to Beit Amin, to road no. 505 Siniriya, Bidiya, Harea, to road no.5 and home.

11.40 We are on our way to Far'ata, the road is quiet and there are no special events, on road no. 55 there is a military command car at the entrance to Azzun, putting in an appearance.

At Far'ata: We meet R., the coordinator of the Local Youth Cultural Centre, and H. who hosts us in her home. The women of Far'ata asked that the meeting of Hebrew (or English) teaching and Yoga, be resumed. They asked whether the field of handicraft could also be developed. We fixed Thursday in a fortnight as a beginning point. Considering that Chaya, who participated in tour for the first time, is an occupational therapist, with a specialization in learning, the women asked whether she could help those children of the village who have difficulties in reading and writing. Some ideas on the theme were brought up, and "homework" will be done regarding the possibility that she would arrive once a week. The problem is to find somebody who could drive her or with her to the village.

13.30 From Far'ata, by way of Kafr Thulth and Izbat Salman in the direction of Beit Amin. All is quiet, the villages on the way are sleepy and the heavy haze obscured the sky and isolated the villages. We were heading towards the Agricultural Gate 1447, The Oranit gate, which serves the Palestinian villages from Siniriya to Jalud, whose plots are near Kafr Kasem.

Beit Amin: We talked with M., an acquaintance of ours from the village who reported that the gate was opened between 8.00 and 8.30, at 13.00 and at 16.00. He said that usually the gate was opened at the appointed times, or a bit later.

The inhabitants of Beit Amin have no passage problems. He told us that sometimes the inhabitants of other villages who are not allowed to pass by this gate, open gaps in the fence in order to reach their plots and this sometimes causes collision with the army. We asked about the change we saw regarding the sewage. At our last visit the sewage flew from Sha'arey Tiqva into Beit Amin near the school, near the electricity station and in the wadi adjacent to  Gate 1447.  Not long ago the sewage block the way of the workers to the gate, so that they were forced to skip on tubes in order to cross the swamp that had formed. When we arrived we found the place dry. M. explained that those who solved the problem were the authorities in the Sha'arey Tiqva settlement. The inhabitants of Beit Amin approached them in the matter and they saw to it that the flow of sewage be stopped. Then and now too M. pointed out to us that the neighbourly relation with Sha'arey Tiqva were excellent.

From there we continued on road 505; When we reached Siniriya we stopped at the vegetable shop, we talked with the greengrocer who said that all was, as usual, calm, perhaps because of the haze the inhabitants didn't leave their homes and the roads were nearly empty.

At the Nofim settlement there is new construction near the road.

At road no.5: The sewerage from Barkan continues to flow energetically and without hindrance under road no. 5 straight to Brukin.