'Azzun 'Atma, Thu 19.11.09, Morning

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‘Azzun ‘Atma

 A new army unit, new, stricter rules. 06:20 There is a longer line than usual recently in the fenced passage where the laborers wait to exit ‘Azzun ‘Atma. Two soldiers manning the checkpoint stand on the side under the awning that has been re-erected and leave the inspections to the female MP’s seated in the cube. They tell us they’re a new unit, Kfir, I think, and those are their instructions.  Only the MP at the computer terminal checks the ID’s, and they provide security.  The fact that the fenced passage is crowded with people waiting doesn’t bother them at all.  They’re very worried that a Palestinian who isn’t permitted to enter Israel, who’s been flagged by the computer, might get by them. The fact that until a few months ago there wasn’t even a checkpoint here, or that in the previous unit which had been on duty here all the soldiers took part in the inspections – has nothing to do with them.  Those are their orders. One of the laborers exiting the fenced passage told us that it’s more crowded in the evening, and that it might take as long as three hours to go through because the soldiers wait until the MP’s ascertain that the person returning is in fact the one who left in the morning. 

In the morning we telephoned DCO Qalqilya (Efraim) and the humanitarian office, but to no avail.  They said those are the orders that the soldiers received from the commanders of the new unit.  They said the DCO has no influence over inspection policy.