Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za'tara (Tapuah), Tue 15.4.08, Morning

Translation: Hanna K.

07:40 Za'tara/Tapuah Junction:
There are 11 cars coming from the direction of Huwwara

08:05 Berit Furik
There are about 12 cars waiting
The cars pass over slowly - one from each direction.
There is a permanent stream of people entering. The waiting time  is not longer than 5-10 minutes.
The soldiers behave themselves in a reasonable manner. They say that they are going to open another passage for cars.
08:30 There are about 7 cars waiting.

Huwwara
The DCO officer A. comes up to us to greet us. There are few people leaving and the queue is not long:10-20 people.
Most of the time there is one checking station and a humanitarian station.
Many busses with students enter. It's a school hiking day.
2 busses and one minibus are detained. It seems their license has expired. The schoolteachers alight and plead to be allowed to pass.
The DCO officer says it is not his concern: the CP commander should decide. Twenty minutes later is transpires that he has decided that they should not pass. The students are confined in the busses that have no air-conditioning.
When we enquire he explains that all they have to do is to go to the civil-administration and to have a license issued to them. Very simple....the drivers seems to think that it is not as simple as that.
The busses turn around and drive back. The girl students, much to our surprise, burst into song. Maybe they are glad that they are moving.
The CP commander P. seems not to feel completely at ease but - as usual - acts according to the instructions...
That's it.
An ordinary day, all quiet at the CP. Happy holiday.