Huwwara, Za'tara (Tapuah), Sun 13.6.10, Afternoon

We were pleasantly surprised to see the access road to Zeita village open at long last, the dirt barrier removed after years of blockage. On our way back, however, the inevitable police van was parked there instead...

Tapuach Junction Checkpoint 15:00

Traffic flowing, no detainees.

At the entrance to Huwwara village, a Hummer lies in wait at the side of the main road.

Huwwara Checkpoint 15:30

The soldiers check mainly Palestinian taxi vans exiting Nablus.

No sniffer dog nor detainees seen during our stay.

And the usual ritual – checkpoint commander (?) approaches us to ask what we’re doing here. He does know Machsomwatch but – are there no other problems in the world?

Is this what we’re bothering ourselves with??

We made our way back to Israel via bumpy Palestinian-used roads from the Barkan industrial zone to and through the two beautiful villages of Burkin and A-Dik. Many houses appear to be in various stages of construction and renovation. We did not see many adults outdoors – still a sleepy afternoon hour – one bunch of kids and youth welcomed us noisily and merrily in A-Dik along with their music teacher who told us it’s rather quiet around there now, which is nice, but no employment.

At 17:00 we left for home.