Tarqumiya, Thu 21.2.08, Morning

Tarquimiya Checkpost

We arrived at the checkpost at 5:45 A.M. and were pleasantly surprised to see that there were very few workers waiting in line. Groups of workers kept arriving and passing through the checkpost in about 5 minutes.  We attempted to analyze the reason for the difference (the soldiers were uncommunicative this morning).
 We came to the conclusion that a simple change in the checking procedure seemed to be making all the difference: instead of having the workers put their papers into the slot in the concrete checkpost, they were allowed to pass their papers directly through the open windows. This allowed the soldiers inside the checkpost to examine the papers without having to leaf through looking for the correct page.  There were only two soldiers inside the checkpost and another outside checking the workers’ bags.

The workers were in a good mood but asked us to have observers at the checkpost on Sunday mornings, since this is the most difficult day for them.