'Awarta, 'Azzun 'Atma, Beit Furik, Huwwara, Jama'in, Shomron Crossing, Za'tara (Tapuah), Sun 31.3.13, Morning

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Observers: 
Ana S., Aliyah S. (reporting)
Mar-31-2013
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Morning
09:20  We drove first to Azzun 'Atma.  Four men were waiting there, perhaps for rides to work. One said that the workers had gone to work that day as there was no closureinfo-icon. But they were not permitted to take their food - sandwiches in plastic bags - with them. They had to leave the food at the gate. (As if there isn't any non-pesadich food in all of Israel!) (Harassment for the sake of harassment.)
At Za'tara (Tapuah Junction)  there was a regular police car in the center compound. Two Border Police soldiers were by the checkpoint on the road from Nablus, but the traffic was flowing smoothly. A military Jeep was opposite the entrance to Beita, but the soldiers were not in sight.
We drove past the Awarta checkpoint which was empty, as usual, and on to the Beit Furik checkpoint. We stopped and talked to a taxi driver right under the watchtower, but we saw no one in the tower. A military jeep was parked on the road to Beit Dajan.
We stopped at the side of the road to enjoy the scene of a valley of green fields. Although it was beautiful, Nadim explained that the grain growing there was not high enough because it had probably been sown late and the heavy rains had been in December and January. Then February and March were very dry. The grain was for feeding the animals. We enjoyed the view, the pleasant air and the wild flowers growing by the roadside. The thistles in bloom were lovely.
There were military jeeps on the road to Beit Furik and to Itamar. We noted a lovely wooded area opposite the DCO base. Since the base had been a Jordanian army base before 1967, the wooded area had probably been planted for their pleasure.
At the Huwwara checkpoint where we stopped for a minute or two, we saw one soldier coming from the watchtower and another soldier going toward him. They were changing the guard. One soldier came up to the car and asked who we were and what we wanted there. We showed him our tags and said Machsom Watch. He nodded and went on.
We drove through Einabus and Jama'in. Everything seemed quiet and ordinary. We left through the Shomron Gate at 11:30.