'Anabta, Ar-Ras, Qalqiliya, Mon 11.2.08, Morning

Overall
"Apartness" for residents of Jenin aged 18-35 in effect. [Apartness is a ban that stops residents of a particular West Bank area from traveling to another.] Long lines at Anabta early in the morning.

"Closure" on Qalqiliya during the night. [Closure is a blanket restriction of passage regardless of permits.]

Eliyahu Passage
07:05 – Only few workers are waiting, perhaps on account of the closure at night/

Qalqiliya
07:10 – The checkpoint is open. The closure had been lifted some 20 minutes before we arrived and there is, therefore, a long line of vehicles at the exit from Qalqiliya.
A lot of pedestrians, workers, for the most part, are on the way out of the city and they are not too happy to be waiting in line. Pedestrians don't undergo any inspection.

There is no line at the entrance. Entry permits of Israeli vehicles are checked. The soldiers here are reservists and the inspections of those who leave is matter-of-fact and relatively brief, about 10 minutes for 25 cars.

The checkpoint commander tells us that on Wednesday the conscript soldiers will be back at the checkpoint.

07:30 – The line is still long but its end can already be seen.

07:40 – We leave.

Anabta
09:40 – There are now no long lines at the exit from Tulkarm. It seems that Tami's scores of phone calls have helped or, maybe, it is just the result of the time that has passed.

On the other hand, the line at the entrance is very long and it gets as far as the junction. When we come closer, we realize that the reason is the soldiers' indifference who just work very slowly because, actually, there are almost no inspections. However, when we come closer, they start speeding up the checks and the line gets shorter and shorter.

10:05 – There are no lines in both directions.

Ar-Ras
10:45 – No lines. Here, too, apartness is in effect. There is one detainee at the checkpoint, a taxi driver whose entry permit to Jubara has expired. According to the soldiers, they have to wait for the company commander because he is the only one authorized to confiscate the permit.

Inspections are carried out only at the exit. ID cards and cargo are checked. A woman dog trainer is here, but we haven't seen the dog in action, not even when the vehicle is checked thoroughly.