morning

Qalqiliya, Tuesday morning, December 30, 2003 Observers: Maya, Lirona, Uri, Elinor Eight a.m. at the Qalqiliya checkpoint. No pedestrians. Cars (incoming) are checked thoroughly, which includes some of the passengers having to get out. When we questioned the soldier performing the search, he said they are looking for a suspect. The soldiers at this checkpoint are still standing behind barricades, rifles at the ready. Not a pleasant sight, to say the least. From there to Jubara. Tulkarm has been under closure for some days. A long line, mostly students and lecturers - the only people allowed across. They’ve been waiting for hours. A phone call to the DCO elicits that the matter will be checked. It’s the first day of the reserve soldier who’s in charge of the pedestrians checkpoint, and his uncertainty is clear. Appalled, we watch the courteous hazing. Every exercise-book is checked, every textbook, lectures are asked for their students’ names, the subjects they teach etc. Finally, everyone goes through. Left behind are Tulkarm residents who are totally forbidden to cross through (the soldier phones to check every matter that cropped up)., A man accompanying two old people, one with a severe eye infection and another who’s suddenly lost his sight in his one good eye, tells us that for three days they haven’t been allowed to bring them a doctor. We phone Physicians for Human Rights and are told the matter will be looked into. A short time later, a local ambulance arrives, it’s not clear whether this is related to our phone-call, and the old people go into Tulkarm. A new, short line forms. A woman holding a baby suffering from an eye inflammation fails to get across. A quiet word with the reserve soldier and an appeal to his humanitarian side does the trick, and the woman crosses through with her baby and her other children.