Falamiya, Habla, Wed 6.11.13, Morning

10:00 We arrived at the Nabi Elias club.  Three women awaited us; soon seven more showed up.  The coordinator, a pregnant young woman, had been hospitalized this morning.

Rivka began teaching the women to make furniture from carton (small pieces at first), using materials she’d brought with her.  The women enjoyed themselves very much and devoted themselves willingly to the task.  They’ll continue next week.

The group of young women didn’t come this week either but they asked to begin learning English.  We arranged to start next week.

Saraleh joined Rivka to help her; Dafna and Dvorka took a short tour with Nadim.

11:00 Falamya.  The gate is open, the soldiers relaxed, maybe even bored; they politely allow a Palestinian in a car to cross.

13:05  Habla.  After finishing in Nabi Elias we drove to the Habla checkpoint.  The gate was open when we arrived (in accordance with the new hours).  People crossed in both directions without delays or difficulty.  The soldiers behaved toward the Palestinians and to us very differently from the way they had behaved last week. It’s clear there’d been a reshuffle; I wonder whether anyone follows up on these changes…