Haris, Shomron Crossing, Za'tara (Tapuah), Sun 17.3.13, Morning

09:50: We entered the territories through the Shomron Gate.  Everything seemed quiet and ordinary there.

10:00: Haris. We entered Haris where everything seemed quiet. As we drove through the main street we were waved to a stop by a young man who knows Nadim, Saher Sultan. He is from Kfil Hares; he has a small grocery shop in Haris. His story: On Friday (15.3) at 05:00, the military entered Haris and arrested 10 minors (15-16 year olds). On Sunday, 17.3, at 03:00 the military arrested 4 more boys. These arrests are connected with the car accident on the road in which a very young girl was seriously injured. The mother, who was driving the car, claimed that it was caused by having been hit by rocks thrown at the car. The families of the boys do not know where they are being held, do not know what they are being charged with, have not been allowed to see them, nor do they know if the boys are being represented by someone. (All of this is in contradiction to the law for minors.)

Haris is a small village. Many of the doors to what may have been workshops or shops are closed and locked. There is almost no economic activity in the village. The villagers work and shop in Nablus. Some of them work There is a jeep and 3 soldiers at the entrance to Kfil Harith. At Za'atra, (Tapuach Junction) there are 2 soldiers at the checkpoint on the road coming from Nablus, but the vehicles are going through smoothly. There is a jeep parked on that road.

At the Huwarra checkpoint there is no sign of soldiers. The work on the traffic circle at the junction of the road to Bracha has been completed. It's quite lovely with 2 arches and 2 olive trees. Isn't that nice? There is a jeep on the road to Qedumim.

11:40: We left through the Eliyahu Gate. The young woman at the gate demanded to see our ID cards and asked what we had been doing in the territories. We said we were just driving around. (That's true, except for the stop for felafel in Huwarra. Very tasty.)