Beit Iba, Mon 3.11.08, Afternoon

15:30  Much traffic on the road to the checkpoint, mostly trucks.  No traffic jam at the checkpoint itself.

Porters go through with loaded carts.

Pedestrians going to Nablus are also being checked.  The men are asked to show ID cards that are compared to a list of numbers.  Women and children go through without being checked.  From time to time there’s a wave of laborers returning home from a workday.  The soldier in the booth checks ID cards and the contents of plastic bags and passes people through quickly.  An MP sergeant walks among the booths and tells those going through to move back and wait for their turn beyond the red line painted on the wall.

A few young men leaving Nablus come through the turnstile holding their belts in their hands.  Women with children go through the line off to the side, female students and elderly men.  Their ID cards are also compared with a sheet of numbers held by the soldier.