Beit Furik, Huwwara, Shomron Crossing, Za'tara (Tapuah), Thu 2.4.09, Morning
Translation: Hanna K.
The DCO chief and the head of the Civil Administration
whom we met are very pleased about the relief at the CPs.
At the Azzun Athma CP they are less pleased and very worried, and at Huwwara too the owners of the stalls do not feel any particular relief.
Samaria gate - there are 3 police cars and many policemen.
Marda - open, Zeita - closed.
07:45 Za'tara -
There are no cars coming from the west.
From the direction of Nablus one doesn't see the end of the queue. There is only one lane open and the commander comes to find out who we are. According to him he heard bad things about us, but he meets us for the first time and wants to find out what we are doing and why. It is not clear whether he closed a lane for the purpose of his talk with us, but when I ask why there is only one lane open he says that there aren't enough people, he returns to the CP and opens another lane. The checking is at random and from time to time they direct cars to the side until they check the IDs.
At 08:00 a reinforcement arrives and they open a third lane. The traffic begins to flow quicker. At the parking lot there are Fares, the head of the DCO and other soldiers. He comes to us and asks whether we have heard about the meeting he has had with our representatives. According to him he very much appreciates our reports and praises especially the facilitations and improvements he introduced at the CPs.
The stalls at Huwwara were removed for hygienic reasons and because responsibility for the cleanliness was not assumed. He allows to put up stands in cars only. The problem is that the poorest people don't have cars.
The head of the Civil Administration arrives and joins in the self-satisfaction.
08:30 Huwwara. In the village we saw three army jeeps standing.
Huwwara CP
At the pedestrians' passage there are 10 people waiting. There are open two lanes, as well as a humanitarian one.
At the cars passage there are 10 cars waiting. There are two lanes open, and the luggage trunk of each car is opened. We measured a waiting period of 13 minutes for each car.
At the square opposite the parking lot, between the concrete blocks, stands a soldier. It seems he doesn't know exactly what is expected of him.
09:15 - Awarta.
8 cars are waiting. We measure a waiting period of 15 minutes. The commander wants to know what we are doing, and prevents a hostile soldier from talking to us.
09:30 - Beit Furik.
We saw that cars were being checked more than in the last weeks. According to them the checking is done at random. While we were there the papers of each car entering Nablus were checked.
09:45 - A Border Police jeep opposite the entrance to Beita, and a taxi which is being checked.
A Border Policeman stops cars at random, both taxis and commercial and private cars. Some he releases immediately (we saw that in them were either an elderly man alone, or a family with children). Others are retained for 3-4 minutes for the checking of papers and the trunk.
10:00 - the Border Policemen leave and so do we.