I took these photos yesterday, Friday, April 17, 2009, at the village of ‘Azzun ‘Atma.
‘Azzun ‘Atma is locked within the separation wall between the settlements Oranit, Elkana and Sha’arei Tikva, and has practically become a prison compound. Any communication of the villagers with the outside world requires the permission of soldiers and passing through a roadblock/checkpoint. The ten households of the village that remained on the other side of the wall have to go through a checkpoint on their way to the groceries. They are restricted with a quota of groceries (see here), out of fear that they will sell the goods in Israel proper on the western side of the wall. Terrorists have never come out of this village. All this is done solely to keep the three settlements mentioned on the western side of the border.
Top: 3 boys, age 14, were detained for suspicion that they tried to climb over the wall that surrounds the village (two of the three are in the photo).
Bottom: Father and son, members of one of the households outside the wall, request to bring more tomatoes into the village. The officer of the checkpoint denied the request. I tried to ask for an explanation. I didn’t get one.
Click here for a Hebrew version of this post.
