South Hebron

Election Day, 9.1.05, AMObservers : Leah Y., Rachel N. Ella A., Anat Sh., Mira B., Laka Z., Nurit S., Ruth S., Elena L., Mor A., Hagit B., Yael Z., Leah Sh., Nomi Sh., Susan S., Orit B.Time: 0900- 1600Summary: A fine day. Palestinians can use the main roads : 317, 356, 60 and 35 ( the apartheid routes) today until 1900 hours. Despite the permission there not much traffic was to be seen. Very few military vehicles were about. The house above Hahul bridge which had been requisitioned by the army was returned to its owners last Wednesday. Miloitary vehicles were stationed under the pillboxes at Dura al Fawwar and on Halhul bridge. In general very few pedestrians were observed. Dura –al FawwarObservers: Ruth K Nurit S (reporting)We got to the Dura al-Fawwar junction at about 9:00. There we met H' –a wonderful guy – This young man ( 28 next week ) is a real mensch. He thinks and behaves in an admirable manner. Ruthy called him "an officer and a gentleman". We saw him with Palestinians , journalists and TV crews, with other soldiers and with us and he was always pleasant , friendly and modest – above all he was always ready to help everyone as best he could.In our presence a Palestinian complained to Hadi about the fact that in his village the construction of a school had been halted. H' at once asked if the construction was illegal. The Palestinian replied that it was – no permit had been received to build the school. H' encouraged him to bring him the necessary documentation in order to have a proper building permit issued which would prevent any problems in the future. There was no hostility in his attitude and he represents us to the Palestinians – and yesterday also to the world press, in the best possible way.When I complimented him on his behvaiour, he replied that that was how he had been brought up at home.As for the rest there were quite a few Palestinian cars on route 60. There was a holiday atmosphere. Whole families arrived to vote –bringing their kids with them. There was an optimistic feeling that things had taken a turn for the better.At one point the soldiers from the pillbox appeared in order to throw their weight about in front of the Palestinians. Hadi put them in their place very firmly. In addition he phoned the regimental or battalion CO and asked him to get rid of them. At all events he saw to it that they did not impede the passage of the Palestinians. - .Shiyukh- Sair –The girls' schoolWatchers: Ella A., Anat Sh (Hagit reporting)Today is a holiday. There is almost no military traffic- One should bear in mind that in Shiyukh's municipal elections the Islamic Movement won a majority and this may be the reason that there are almost no pedestrians and voters about. The taxis that usually wait for customers who make the crossing there are also absent. Every thing is very, very quiet.Ras al Jura CP, the Humanitarian CP at the junction of Routes 35 and 60Observers Nomi Sh., YAel Z., Leah Sh., Hagit B (reporting)The soldiers from the pillbox were checking the the cars going into Hebron. We met there mainly international observers who were going to Hebron. They included representatives from South Africa and from the EU. Some of the cars going to Hebron were from Jerusalem and some were Palestinian.Halhul-Hebron BridgeObservers Mor A (reporting in Hebrew) Elena L ( in English) We stood on the bridge, There was a lot of traffic , including a Palestinian police car and cars carrying international observers. A military jeep, with 4-5 soldiers under the command of a lieutenant, was stationed on the bridge near the pillbox. The gate blocking the ascent to the bridge from route 35 was closed as usual. When a military vehicle wanted to get to route 35 from the bridge it was opened and then almost immediately afterwards, a car carrying EU observers wanted to go down as well. They were on their way to Yatta and were allowed through by the lieutenant only because –so he said- the gate happened to have been opened for the military vehicle. But for that, it would have have remained closed and the EU observers would have had to go the long way round "like everyone else" . The officer ordered us not to go into the glass factory adjacent to the bridge (he said he feared we would be kidnapped) but when Hagit arrived with 3 more MWers and said he had right to forbid us to go and that our numbers now precluded any likelihood of kidnapping, he allowed us to go. Nonetheless the jeep came and parked outside the factory while we were there, just in case…Idhna CPObservers: Sisan S., Orit B (reporting)Free movement of traffic between Idhna and Tarqumiya. A car with international ovservers goes by. Pleasant conversations with the Border policemen stationed there. One BP who wasn’t hungry gave his lunch to a a Palestinian boy who had been detatined there because of a suspicion that he had been in a stolen car. .HebronObservers: Yael Z, Nomi Sh., Leah Sh., Hagit B (reporting)The CPS around the Jewish quarter and the Machpela Cave are still there. Nor has the picture of the armed soldiers patrolling Shuhada street changed- the same look of a ghost town, The Paletinian inhabitants smile at us from the third floor. The soldiers said that today there had been a little more traffic than usual-we didn’t notice it. The guard at the entrance to Kiryat Arba announced to us : Arabs are not allowed to enter K. Arba – an Israeli ID is irrelevant. We wouldn’t accept this and after some arguing the problem was solved, and we got through all right.Sheep JunctionObservers: Rachel N.(Hebrew)Leah Y.(English)8:45 We left Shoqet Junction; to someone unfamiliar withthis area, the roads look quiet,empty of Palestinian cars. Though the weather is sunny, we see no local residents on the road nor in the fields;the entrances to Route 60 from Palestinian villages are blocked by earth mounds along the sides of the road up to Shepherd's Junction. There are no name signs for the small villages - these are invisible to Israeli eyes.9:15 Sheep Junction:no IDF;Palestinians walk on thedifficult path to cross the main road into Hebron;On rainy days,the mud makes this extremely hard. An ambulance passes by,lights flashing. Today, there is a steady flow of pedestrians who greet us with"Good morning"and shake hands;several stop for a talk. Ahmed,Otman and others speak Hebrew; we exchange views on what will happen and when they will be able to live in normal conditions. 10:45 Several army and police cars drive by very fast. Otman sends us some bananas and mandarins from his fruit stand. A car with two British Parliament Members and someone from the Consulate in Jerusalem,stops beside us; they greet us and introduce themselves as members of the 'British-Palestine All Party'group,on their way to Yatta. We talk about Machsomwatch, politics and so forth. On the whole,we felt welcomed by the local residents and there were no special events. At 11:30 we left and returned to Tel Shoqet.Hirbat Taiwany Laika and Mira.We met 4 international peace activists -- 2 Italian women from Operational Dove,and two men from England and US, from CPT. They told us about the problems ofgetting to-from Um Tuba to Taiwany: There are 3 ways. 1. The shortest -- thru the forest were the fanatic illegal Maon settlers -- possible for vehicles, but too dangerous, because of the settlers. 2. Around that forest. possible for vehicles. Still dangerous. 3. The longest. Only by foot and now extremely muddy. The road starts clearly withing the area of Taiwany.They check this road twice a week.They are much aware of MachsomWatch and its activities. They are very nterested in pursuing their connectins with us, possibly on a personal basis with the outhern group. I have their phones.The people from Taiwany (some speak Hebrew, Engllish and Arabic) told us about the problems that they have with adapting the school yard for children, and fixing the above muddy long road. The school yard is full of big boulders that are dangerous as a children playground. The Taiwany people wish to move the boulders to the muddy road, and this way to achieve both goals.The Minhal people (Tarek) do not allow them, claiming that the road lies in a military fire zone. However, at list the very muddy beginning of the road lies within the village, and clearly cannot be a fire zone (?? we hope!).We suggested to call the military Budozer and ask the army to use the boulders for blocking the roads :-) . This way at least the school yard can be fixed.S' suggested that we drive on the 2nd road (mid one) to bring voters from Um Tuba. But, it became late and we had to leave.