'Awarta, Beit Furik, Eliyahu Crossing, Huwwara, Za'tara (Tapuah), Thu 28.5.09, Afternoon

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Observers: 
Michal S. Yehudit L. (reporting and photographing); Natanya translating.
May-28-2009
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Afternoon

13.40 At the industrial area of Ariel on the top of the hill a building is being enlarged.

13.55 Zeita is blocked at the entrance as usual.

14.00 Under the settlement of Tapuah the ground is being deforested.

14.03 Checkpoint of Za'tara... from the west a bus waits to be checked.

From the north (from Nablus and Huwwara) 33 cars wait to be checked superficially at one checking post. If the checking can be done more quickly why are so many cars waiting? Because the soldiers are slow. We informed S. at the centre.

14.10 2 army jeeps on the north side of the road of Huwwara. Not far from the checkpoint of Burin-Yizhar.

14.13 Awarta. 9 cars in the direction of Nablus waiting to be checked. Salem as seen from Beit Furik

14.15 Beit Furik. Good to see the checkpoint dismantled. We get out to photograph the checkpoint where so many people had been stopped for no reason in days gone past.

The commander of the post signs us with his finger to come to him but has to get to us (  to try ) to stop us photographing.  He says that he is the one who decides here.

14.25 Awarta. We stop at the checkpoint next to the apartheid road. It seems that our arrival hastens the passage of the cars and the line shortens.

14.30 Huwwara. A detainee in isolation. A Palestinian who had intended to entger Nablus in an Israeli car, the driver is a Canadian.  N. , the DCO representative, says he is detained because the commander asked him for his ID. The man refused and attacked him. There is no possibility of speaking to the man and in the end the commander commands the DCO representative not to speak to us!? From now on we cannot make contact with him at the checkpoint. There are not many pedestrians in the shed. No university studies at this time.

The pedestrians have to pass an x-ray device, to take off anything metal, show the ID and the contents of their bags before the soldier in the armoured booth  and then to bend down to take the ID.

In the humanitarian line there is an innovation... there is a car x-ray which was used previously to check the baggage of those in cars. It is in place of the soldier who checked things by hand.

There are many pedestrians entering Nablus as is usual at 50m.

Cars entering Nablus are not checked. When we came to look at the route of cars leaving Nablus we were surprised to see for the first time that there was no line. But soon there would be.

15.30 The dog trainer arrived and a soldier photographs her in action. The drivers stand at a distance.

We phoned the DCO about the detainee and were told that he would be freed when the amount of time of his detention had elapsed. We met members of the church. They said that 3 more people had been detained.

The porters say it is hard to make a living. Before they made 80 shekel a day and now only 30.

16.15 An army jeep goes to the side road to the Yizhar checkpoint.

16.17 An army jeep enters Yizhar.

16.21 South of the Gilad farm there is fire in the fields.

16. We phoned the centre where S. said that if he had not been freed he would be freed soon.

16.45 The Eliyahu pass. About 30 detaineesinfo-icon are coming back from work in Israel and were waiting to have IDs checked. Not clear how long this would take and they wanted to get home.