Beit Iba, Sun 26.10.08, Morning

6.45
Irtach.  Many workers wait in a long lane and in the parking lot are tens of cars of employers that are also waiting. The latter say that the workers
of the terminal have declared a slow down strike because of the refusal
of the company to raise their salaries and of 15 checking posts only
one is working. Added to that the employees have started to demand that
people take off their shoes and parts of their clothing which slows
this down even more. Many workers just had to go back because their
employers had decided not to wait for them.

7.05 The checkpoint of Jubara. Many soldiers and little movement, The passage is free.

7.24 Anabta, Completely empty and there are no students. Maybe it is too early. No delays from the direction of Tulkarm.

7.45 Beit Iba. On the post of two soldiers is the following announcement (I have a camera).

Thank you to the women of Machsomwatch.

For their help in our struggle

The activists of the terrorist groups.

We
asked the soldiers to take it down because of its political nature but
they refused emphatically and said that it is not their responsibility
and that the woman in blue and white are good women who bring them Cola
and Bamba and so there is no reason to take it down. We asked to speak
to the commander and argued with him and the soldiers and explained our
position. In the end he told the soldiers to remove it.  The traffic
was hardly checked (from Tulkarm) and without delays. From the opposite
direction, Nablus, the checking is careful. Belts and shoes are taken
off. At this hour the students are only beginning to arrive from
Tulkarm. We asked if there had been any problems and were told not.
There was no line of cars.

8.15 We left.