'Awarta, Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za'tara (Tapuah), Thu 30.10.08, Morning

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Observers: 
Birya L., Rachel A-T (reporting)
Oct-30-2008
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Morning

Translator:  Charles K.

6:45  Many police and giant trucks at the Shomron Gate/Qasem.  Two loaded trucks wait parked on the side.  More trailer-trucks on the road.  Is there accelerated building on the West Bank?

7:00  Marda is open.

Piles of earth and stones across the entire road at the entrance to Zeita, instead of the gate and concrete cubes that used to be there.  An army command car is parked next to the piles and no cars are waiting on the other side.  Do they also intend to prevent people on foot from using the road?

7:05  Za'tara -
4 buses waiting from the west.  Two have written on them, in English, "Cairo-Amman Tours."  They go through quickly, without being checked carefully.

One bus waiting off to the side with its passengers aboard leaves ten minutes after we arrive.

Three lanes are open coming from Nablus, the inspection is quick and superficial, but  there are fifty cars on line nevertheless.

7:30  Huwwara -
The shed is full.  It looks like about 100 people are waiting.  Two lanes open and the humanitarian lane moves slowly.  We see many soldiers near the humanitarian lane, but from where we're standing we can't see the reason for the delay.  Many people at the entrance to Nablus.

Cars leaving Nablus are inspected carefully.  A female soldier with a metal detector examines the undercarriage of some of the cars.  One man has to take the car's spare tire to the x-ray machine, and another is asked to lift up his shirt and his pants cuffs before re-entering the taxi.


8:30  Awarta -
10 cars on line from Nablus.  No line entering Nablus.  A large truck transfers electrical appliances, back-to-back.

8:50  Beit Furik -
No line at all of cars entering Nablus.  Abu Salah, from the coffee shop, says that this morning the checkpoint was closed to people leaving Nablus for more than an hour.  He called Miki.  An officer arrived (the DCO representative?), opened the checkpoint and let those waiting go through quickly, some of them teachers who were late getting to school. 

Now the checkpoint is empty.  Despite the large place assigned to us, the commander doesn't move us away.  He explains that the "bingo" lists (the GSS list) didn't arrive that morning, so he couldn't let people through the checkpoint.

Did someone not wake up this morning, and life stopped?