Luban e-Sharkiya

Luban E-Sharkiyah: As we had in the past, we went straight to our friend, Amnah, in her mini-market. The meeting, after a long break because of the Coronavirus, was emotional. We hugged each other. It was lovely to meet again.

The first problem: She first spoke about the problems that the schoolboys have. The high school is on the main road [road 60] across the road from the village. But the IDF does not allow the boys to go out to the road, so they have to walk a long way around. This is because of the new road being built for the settlers. There is a flying checkpoint every day from 6:00 in the morning. In the afternoon and evening every worker coming back home to the village is checked.

She told us of a 14 year old boy who has psychological problems. Two soldiers stationed themselves behind his house. When they saw him he had a stone in his hand. He had not done anything wrong, but they arrested him and he was in prison for a long time. Ten days before our visit he came home. Amnah was very sorry for him. "He's not a normal boy," she said.

We asked about problems with the water supply and electricity. She said that there are no real problems in those areas.

The Israeli settlers who are neighbors to the village have not given them problems lately. The real problems come from the IDF. Many men have permits to work in Israel, but Amnah's husband has been refused a permit over and over, although no reason has been given to him. He has never been accused of a crime or even a misdemeanor.

Amnah served us a yogurt drink made in Palestine. We walked around the mini-market and bought some things. We enjoyed our visit with Amnah very much and she implored us to come again soon.