Awarta, Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za'tara (Tapuah), Thu 29.11.07, Morning

6:28 Marda was open.

6:28 Zeita was blocked with cement bricks.
 

6:34 Za'atara
There were 7 vehicles from Ariel to Ramala.
From the direction of Huwwara to Ramala were three lines of vehicles that stood one after another almost touching each other, we couldn't make out how many cars were there because our view ended before the end of the lines.
According to the drivers they waited the four 3 hours. The soldiers seemed very pleased with the situation. They were part of new regiment and it was their first time in the checkpoints so they were trying to do everything by the book (this expression from now on has a new meaning). There were no notifications on possible attacks, no segregations and no age restrictions. From time to time a new lane was opened. 

The problem with the additional lanes was that every time a soldier so much as sneezed, the lane was closed due to "lack of man power", therefore, even if the soldiers had good intentions and wanted to let the cars pass, the "book" said "no!". When we arrived at the checkpoint we saw at the parking lot a car that was suspected to be stolen. They sent a request to the police that they check this suspicion. The driver, a young teacher, started worrying that he might not make it to school on time. 
At one point the checkpoint commander decided to call her commander, who arrived there at 7:15, and 10 minutes afterwards the traffic was flowing. It appeared that the "book" was put back into the drawer for about 10 minutes, and the mess had disappeared. We left but the young teacher was still sitting in his car. We promised him that we would look for him on our way back. He wasn't the only one in the parking lot. There were other poor people that had the "book" tossed on them. There is no doubt that this was the great day of the Israeli bureaucrat who worked hard in order of inventing new rules and regulations for the checkpoint. When we left the parking lot we saw a car of a settler heading inside. He probably wanted to explain to the soldiers what was expected of them.
 

7:30- Yitzhar and Burin were open.
 
The streets in Huwwara village were filled with children carrying bags. There were no problems at the checkpoint at Huwwara. The place was quiet.
 

8:00 Beit Furik-
The soldier that sent us to stand behind the white line did it very courteously. To say the truth there weren't many pedestrians or vehicles passing.

8:15- Awarta- the checkpoint commander wanted to see the Machsom Watch tags that hung on our necks. He said he never saw such a tag. When he had finished asking questions he turned his back to us and quietly whispered a curs, he then went and stood beneath the shade the fell from the green flags that the settlers hung over his booth. Awarta still isn't as busy as it was during its "heydays", but it was a little bit more crowded then it was during August and September, and the soldiers weren't thorough with the car inspections. However they had to wait several minutes between inspecting one car and the other, that way they were able to create a very long line of trucks. There were only two cars that stood in the back to back system. An ambulance and a carthat both had the logo of the Red Crescent on them, were detained for several minutes, which seemed to the passengers in the car to be a very long time, they were probably in a great hurry. They looked at us with angry looks.

8:55 yitzhar-Burin was open.

9:00 Za'atara- 27 vehicles were in line heading from Huwwara to Ramala. 20 vehicles were waiting in line from Ariel to Ramala.

9:05- Zeita was still blocked. Marda was open.