'Anabta, Ar-Ras, Irtah, Jubara (Kafriat), Qalqiliya, Thu 1.1.09, Morning
7.00
Irtach – Lots of workers
are waiting all around. Some of them say that today the passage through
is all right, while others complain that 10 people at the time are gathered
in the room, and that the inspection takes a very long time.
7.30
Jubara
– A Coca-Cola truck has to present its permit. The load is being
checked. The rest of the cars pass through after a short inspection
or without any inspection at all. One cab enters Jubara and another
leaves. It appears that they have entrance permits. (They are from A-Ras)
At the A-Ras roadblock
one soldier tells another: treat them politely and just get on with the job.
A Palestinian car with broken
windows and damage inside it is standing at the roadblock. According
to the soldiers the Palestinians tried to pass through without presenting
their permit, and so they were arrested. They add that the damage to
the car was done before their unit arrived at the roadblock.
8.00
Anabta – There are no
cars waiting. The passage through is quick. The soldiers send us to
stand quite close to the roadblock – it’s quite convenient. We can
use a cement block as a desk to write on. In the orchard anemones are
blooming – quite a pastoral view so close to the roadblock. One cab
is detained. Its permit is being checked, and after five minutes it
drives on. On the whole it’s quiet. Few cars are passing through.
8.30
Shavei Shomron
– Road 60 – The soldiers check every car – permits and baggage.
There is a line of about 5 cars from the south and dozens from the north.
Everybody is annoyed, of course. We call the IDF Humanitarian Center
and we are told that there has been a suspicious object. We ask them
to urge the soldiers to speed up, since the object has been removed
already. One of the soldiers, a real talker, lectures everybody passing
through and causes the delay. Even the passers-by are being lectured,
this causing an additional delay. The passage from the north takes about
30 minutes.
10.20
Azzun – is open
Nabi-Eliyas – Everything
is closed and nobody is out in the street. We ask the soldier standing
on the side, and he tells us that there is a curfew because of a Molotov
bomb that was thrown yesterday.
Qalqiliya – The cars
are passing through without delay. There are no lines.