Afternoon

When we arrived, there were no soldiers at the gas station end of the wall, and people were climbing from side to side through a low point in the original, non-military wall walling the large field. Near the campus, there were a trio of soldiers, indifferently checking the occasional ID.Wadi Nar - border policemen there were friendly and talkative. They were letting everyone through in each direction, they said, but checking them first. The check was speedy, no line - but little traffic altogether. A group of men were standing facing away from the road. The commander explained that this is how he wanted it, since he had his own back to them. These men were taxi drivers who had been picking up passengers who had avoided the checkpoint, so they were rounded up for an ID check, admonished to pick up only passengers from the checkpoint, and sent on their way. When we left, two youngsters from Hebron were still waiting for their ID check. The commander said that it was done elsewhere, not at the checkpoint, and he could not speed it up. He seemed sincere, the boys seemed relaxed, and we left.