'Anin, Mon 10.12.07, Afternoon

15:15 - 17:00This morning at 07:00 we learned that the soldiers refused to let 30 residents of A'anin with permits go through to their lands. They claimed that the A'anin people came late to the CP (until 06:30) and therefore, even though the CP was still open, they could not go through! At 06:40 the CP closed and they were forced to give up a day's work. What name can you give to this - arbitrariness? Closed minds? I think that no concept has been invented to describe this kind of behavior. We phoned the DCO and the Humanitarian Center. On the other side of the line they repeated the claim that the passage is possible only during half an hour. They also claimed that perhaps after all they will open the gate and suggested that the residents wait nearby. At about 08:00 we were told by somebody at the DCO that the soldiers were busy with military activity, and the Palestinians should "wait". (What else do embittered Palestinians have to do with their time? Let them wait.) At 09:00 the people went back home. Perhaps because of the cold, perhaps because they had learned that it is impossible to rely on promises. Perhaps because they were simply fed up. 15:15 A'anin CPThere are different soldiers and they organize the passage of those returning to the village courteously. Three young people about whose documents there was some doubt returned to their homes in the end.