'Anabta, Ar-Ras, Azzun, Jubara (Kafriat), Thu 13.12.07, Afternoon
Limitations of movement.
The road from Al Finduq to the village of Kadum (through Haja) is still blocked by rocks. The villagers have open a bypass in their fields.
The exit from the village of Jinspot to road 55 is still blocked. The residents exit through a dirt road to the road which comes out at the crossroads in a southerly direction. This is plain and simply a collective punishment. Two other exits are a distance of 100 metres one from the other.
The dirt barrier to the roads exiting from the olive groves next to Kfar Lakief opposite the entrance to Karnei Shomron is still there.
12.30 At Ras-Atiah ( the gate between the area of the envelope at Alfei Menashe and Habla)
There are few people. There is a police car at the checkpoint. There are some people there and a truck to which the driver returns immediately as he is known and goes through without the truck being checked.
12.50 We go to Azzun through Izbet Tabib and Hirbet Aslah and go south on road 446 so as to get to Azzun-Atma and to the checkpoint of Hablah. The rains of the last month have caused much damage to the roads and it is hard to drive.
13.20 Zaun Atma are 3-4 cars waiting to get to a village on the Israeli side. Two are waiting to leave and there are two detainees
. One from Qalqiliya whom the soldiers claim forged his ID and added Azzun Atmah to his place of residence. The soldiers summoned the police but say that if they do not come they will free him. A private car with a boy and two school-age girls wait and the soldier checks and sends the two little girls to be checek. I say that children do not have to be checked by the x-ray machine and he says they can be checked by hand. They tried to go in but no one opens the turnstiles for them and so they go to sit with their friends who are selling coffee. Reservists man the checkpoint.
13.40 Habla. One car is there when we arrive. The soldiers do not let us pass though this is area C. The commander phoned for orders and returned to tell us that the answer was negative. We turned around and went back all the way to Azzun.
14.00 Azzun. The main entrance to raod 55 is open but the old way to Izbet Tabib is closed since May 2007. We do not know if the road for the farmers to the north is open.
14.20 Al Funduq. We go to see if the roads are still blocked and see that the road from Kadum through Haja is still as it was on Mondya. The barrier is composed of large stones and the villagers have made a bypass in the field and that some stones have also been moved. At Al Funduq they are busy fixing the damage done by the bulldozer to the pipes. The villagers say the damage was caused by the army.
The tents on the illegal outpost of Shvut Ami are still there. The owners of the houses which the settlers took over two months ago have an army jeep in front of them. (The question to be asked is if the rocks and cement blocks which the army uses are not enough to stop the illegal ascent?) The army can take the blocks from the village to stop the settlers.
16.05 Anabta.
Reservists who pass the cars through quickly and only now and again stop cars for checking. Usually Israeli cars. This is the first time in ages that we have not seen a long line of cars leaving Tulkarm and there are only 4. From speaking to the soldiers we get the impression that they do there best that there should be no such lines.
16.20 Jubara.
At gate 753 a group of workers who did not have work permits for Israel. They say they have been there half an hour. We ask the soldiers to free them soon and when we leave they are already on their way.
16.20 A-Ras.
5 cars from the south and those from the north are not checked. Reserve soldiers man the checkpoint. (As a result of the previous report we stated obstinately that we always go on the road to Azzun and the commander phoned and receives the OK. We went on road 574 to Azzun and found no checkpoints along the way but the roads are very bad because of the rains.