Azzun, Habla - We went out on duty filled with packages for delivery

Each time the car fills to the roof with bags of clothing, parcels of kitchen utensils and everything you bring us for our friend Z., we know it’s time for us to set out on another shift.

So we left for ‘Azzun.  There’s not even a single military vehicle on the way, even at the entrance to ‘Azzun.  We saw no soldier until we reached the Habla checkpoint.  I wonder why?  Did they finish harassing the Palestinians and break for a siesta?

Z. isn’t home.  He’s running errands.  He and his son are currently blacklisted, after soldiers broke into their home one night, upended everything and took K., his eldest son, to jail.  Why?  For no reason, there was never a reason, so they released him after a while.  But now he’s blacklisted, and his father also, lest he seek revenge.  That’s how the system works.

We give all the parcels to his good-natured sons, say hello to his wife and continue on our way.

Traffic at the Habla checkpoint is unhurried.  Afternoon.  The female soldiers skip one part of the inspections; A. says they do so only in the afternoon.  It’s hot outside.  Not many vehicles, and very few people on foot.  An elderly woman approaches us for help getting to a hospital in Israel for an operation.  She says she worked twelve years for a flower grower in Ra’anana where she fell and injured her leg.  She has permits, documents, papers, everything she needs to have an operation.  We ask, why don’t you go to a hospital in Nablus?  And with an embarrassed smile she admits that she’s scared…

A., at the plant nursery, updates us about what’s happening in the area.  Palestinians are currently focused on crossing through gaps in the fence to Tel Aviv and the sea.  A. says the authorities usually ignore these crossings but occasionally stop someone and send them back to the West Bank.  That happened to his nephew’s family.  Nevertheless, you can see many Palestinians on the beach, and it’s a happy sight.