Afternoon

We started at 2:30, and were suprised to find a completely active checkpoint, with no evidence of any Purim closure. Pedestrians were not checked going north, and were checked by 3 older volunteers going south. The lines were very long, so the wait was 15-20 minutes, but the actual processing was polite and swift with almost everyone allowed to go, regardless of ID color. The initiator of the volunteer program (Kav Ha'Tefer) came along, and chatted a bit with us. He took credit for the improved conditions (the roof, the lanes, the politeness). Transits of all license plate colors were parked real close to the checkpoint with no harrassment. Driving to Jaba'a, we enountered no checkpoint, and no Tora Bora roundups, but concrete barricade blocks were place on the two sides of the raod east to Jaba, preventing cars from parking near the checkpoint. We headed back to E-Ram. The line of southbound cars was fairly short, but we noticed half a dozen transits and trucks parked on the sidewalk just north of the checkpoint, but not trying to get past it. The drivers were alerted that "blue police" were stopping transits south of the checkpoint for (routine checks), and giving out traffic reports at the drop of a hat, so they were simply waiting till the police went away.