'Anabta, Ar-Ras, Azzun, Qalqiliya, Mon 5.11.07, Morning

שתפו:
Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Email
מקום או מחסום: 
צופות ומדווחות: 
Roni S., Osnat R. (reporting)
05/11/2007
|
בוקר

06:35 Qalqilya checkpoint

10 cars at the entrance.  After saying hello and Roni's "innocent" question to the border patrol soldier at the checkpoint, he begins to let the cars through at a more reasonable pace.  Most of them pass through without any inspection whatsoever.  They inspect whether vehicles with Israeli license plates have an entrance permit for Qalqilya.  Every once in a while they stop a taxicab, take all the IDs, and copy down the numbers in a folder, a pretty quick process this time; and within 10 minutes they release a minibus cab, loaded with passengers.

There are almost no queues at the exit during the whole time we're there. A seam-line volunteer inspects the vehicles.  Most of them pass through without inspection; in some cases both IDs and car trunk are inspected.

 

07:00 we leave.

 

Azzun 07:10

The way is blocked again.  There's a military Hummer at the entrance, and a group of reserve-duty soldiers tell us that the block is because of stones that were thrown.  A reserve-duty soldier whose opinions are similar to ours calls the situation "childish games."  Pedestrians are not prevented from crossing.

 

10:25  we drove to Azzun on the way back from Ar-Ras, since we weren't sure whether the way is completely blocked.  Under the bridge at the entrance to Azzun, large rocks testify to the fact that the road is blocked there as well now and then.

 

Entrance to Azzun by road 55 – indeed, the way is completely blocked.  Apparently, pedestrians are not allowed to cross either.  The many soldiers who are there, belonging to the Efraim brigade for which this is the limit of its zone, claim that they only "just now" blocked the entrance, because stones were thrown "just now."  And no, where did we get the idea that it was blocked in the morning. . . Since these are soldiers who weren't here in the morning, perhaps they really believed that they have just blocked Azun.  In any case, they are waiting for the "heads" in order to begin an operation inside Azun and they asked us to leave the place. And so we did.

 

Anabta 09:15

There are no queues and almost no inspections.

 

Ar-Ras 09:45 

3-4 cars.  Most of them pass through without inspection; sometimes they are asked where they are going and from where…

A "battalion" of  "blue and white" women arrives at the checkpoint: 2 cars, 4 women, and in addition 2 men, cameras, and many picnic coolers.  They were quiet and didn't approach us, probably because of the number of people.