'Azzun

We were supposed to go out this morning to the agricultural gates.  We even co-ordinated this with A., he knew we were coming and was pleased.  At 04:30 it started to rain hard in Ramat HaSharon and the shift was cancelled.  It turned out that in the West Bank it didn't rain at all!

Instead, we went in the afternoon to the area of Azun.  At the exit from the village, or rather at the entrance to the village, at 18:30, there was a military jeep standing and a number of soldiers stopped the traffic and checked the passengers in the private cars.

In order to confirm what had been recorded in the morning by G. Levy, we stood at the side of the road and watched with amazement what was going on.  2 soldiers approached us and asked what we were doing.  We explained what to them and asked why they cared.  They said that they were checking documents and, in this way, look for suspicious people and others who are listed in their information as being wanted for questioning.  We continued to watch what was happening.  There was a long line of cars piling up.  One of the passengers was asked to get out of the car and undergo a more thorough inspection.  They passed along his information to some superior, and he had to wait for the answer.  

Another jeep arrived in the area and let out 3 soldiers.  They went by foot to the road, and disappeared from sight.  The same soldiers as previously asked us to stand in a different place so as not to disturb the traffic.  We asked what had happened to the youth.  They said he was still undergoing inspection.  We saw the soldiers take aim with their rifles toward people and cars.  Two young men crossed the lane by foot and it was obvious that they were frightened by the soldiers, but they did not stop.  

We stayed another few minutes and the young man was still not released.   We continued on our way and wondered what happened to him, where he would be spending the night.