Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za'tara (Tapuah), Wed 26.12.07, Afternoon
Natanya translating.
14.32 Za'tara/Tapuach
A long line of more than 40 cars from the direction of Huwwara.
14.40 Huwwara.
3 checking posts and the lines are orderly and not overlong. The soldiers are polite and efficient.
No detainees
.
14.55 A woman who has come through the checkpoint but her parcels which are on a cart have not comes to us with a worried face. Her village is far away and she is scared she will not get there before dark. We ask the soldiers who go to the cart, check quickly and let them go on their way.
15.20 Beit Furik.
Here the position is very bad.
An enormous line of which we cannot see the end. The soldiers in the sentry tower informs the commander uncomfortably a few times about the long line and says that he will come down to help with the checking.
The commander refuses and makes the checking even more pedantic.
Each driver stops 10 metres away, after he has already been sent back with shouts, gets out and does the ritual dance and then his IDs are checked and those of his passengers and the contents of the cars and all this takes a long time and added to that is the fact that the same soldiers have to check in both directions. So every time one line is held up while another takes precedence.
We ask the commander why he does not speed up the process because of the long lines and he opens with a monologue that soldiers whom he knew were killed at the checkpoints and that his soldiers have just come from Gaza and are used to making careful checking. He says he is from Ariel and tries to emphasize that it is not because he is a settler that the checking has been made so strict.
16.00 - 17.00 Huwwara.
The lines are still fairly short and go through quickly even though it is Wednesday when there is pressure.
We go home.