Jubara, Anabta, Monday afternoon, 23.1.2006 Watchers: Niva D., Michal A., Ziona S., Yonah A. (reporting) We read joyfully, on the Web page, that the “quarantine” [segregation of populations] was over. We heard on this morning’s news about easing of conditions for the Palestinians coming up to the elections, and we went out in the hope of seeing these things with our own eyes. 14:05 – We arrived at the Jubara Checkpoint.Two young men are detained – no documents. The two soldiers on the checkpoint say that they put the youngster’s details on the computer, and are waiting for an answer. The porters, who speak Hebrew, praise the soldiers.On the way to the vehicle checkpoint, a soldier greets us, says that today everything is tranquil, with no special problems. 14:10 – an ambulance driver stops by us and says that, on the way from Tulkarm to Qalqiliya, on the sunken road, there is a checkpoint and vehicles are being held up for a long time.At the northern checkpoint, a line of nine pedestrians and three cars. A single soldier checks the pedestrians while the cars wait.14:20 – the two detainees are released and have reached the north checkpoint. They are checked again and are asked to answer many questions before being sent on their way.A woman with baby in arms and two toddlers descends from a taxi. An older man approaches from the other side of the checkpoint. He wants to help. The soldier, who has remained alone at the checking station, won’t let him approach. The taxi driver gets out and helps the woman carry to the checkpoint a large, heavy jerrycan. With measured steps from both directions, they finally succeed in crossing the checkpoint and move away up the road.14:30 – the line of cars is getting longer, but so far not one has passed.More and more women with small children are arriving. Some have blue [Israeli] IDs. The soldiers examine methodically each bag and the sacks with diapers and children’s clothes. After a few bags, the soldier relents and passes a group of five women, five small children and a youth. 14:45 – the soldier are joined by a first sergeant who begins to examine and pass the cars that have been waiting at least half an hour.We continue to Anabta14:55 – eleven taxis wait for pedestrians coming out of Anabta. The taxi drivers are “unemployed.” Few pedestrians come out. A few of the taxis are multi-passenger intercity vans (picking up passengers on the way), while others are single fare sedans, but neither have work. One of the drivers says that his daily take is 24 shekels ($5). 15:00 – cars waiting to pass the checkpoint on the way to Anabta. The cars are standing – no movement. A driver tells us: “You approach the checkpoint, the soldiers will get confused and will close completely.” A troupe of singers from Ramallah have already been waiting two hours in their car. They have already been through three checkpoints on the way. 15:05 – we approach the checkpoint. Two soldiers are checking the many pedestrians in the direction of Tulkarm, while one stands guard. They don’t know who we are, but one of the soldiers recognizes the badges and tells the others: “It’s okay, they’re WATCH.” A soldier from the top of the watchtower is shouting orders Progress is slow. They are passing cars and pedestrians alternately, but only in one direction from south to north. 15:20 – checking stops. Change of shifts. The soldier from the watchtower relieves one of the others. People coming from the north begin to be irritated. The soldier on guard soothes them: “It’s okay, it’s okay, wait a while, everything will be all right.” An older woman, heavily built and having difficulty standing, approaches and asks the soldiers to check the people coming from the north as well. The sergeant turns around and tells the guard to make sure that everyone moves back.15:25 – a woman with a crying baby approaches. The soldier stops her, asks questions, asks for her ID and sends her on her way.The soldier tells the passengers in each car that they will not be able to return with the cars. For vehicles, again, there is no permission to come out of Tulkarm.15:35 – after we commented, the soldiers rethink and begin to pass people from the north side.15:45 – the first car since we arrived is allowed to pass from north to south, and then the others.People from Tulkarm are not allowed to pass in the direction of Nablus.15:50 – we start to walk back to the car. A young man comes out of a taxi in the endless line and tells us that he has come from Saudi Arabia through Jordan. He wanted to visit his sick father, and meanwhile has heard that the man has died an hour and a half ago, and if he has to wait he will miss the funeral. Ziona goes over to the soldier who is checking and tells him about the case. The soldier permits the young man to pass. He goes back to the taxi, takes his small bag and goes through.16:00 – on the road from Anabta, at the entrance to Beit Lid, we saw a car stuck on a dirt track. A few Palestinians were standing on the road. We stopped and found out that there was an injured man there. We were asked to call an ambulance. We had the new list of job holders in the Territories, which had been published yesterday on the Internet. We started to phone in order down the list. We tried Gil – got a recorded announcement to leave a message. Dahlia Bassa didn’t answer. Nablus DCO [District Coordination Office of the IDF Civil Authority, that oversees passage permits] – no answer. From the brigade’s situation room, got a woman soldier who, hearing we were from MachsomWatch, shouted to a colleague to ask whether she was allowed to talk to us. The answer was negative. I explained that what we wanted was a phone number to get an ambulance. I was given the number of DCO Ephraim who told me to phone DCO Tulkarm – and then, an ambulance arrived.