Tapuach Huwwara and Beit Furik, Saturday 11.2.06 AMObservers: Hava H., Vivi Z., Hanna B. (reporting) and two guestsTranslation: Hanna K.General: The horrible routine, which becomes gradually fixated, is the terrible, insufferable story. Again and again, day after day, year after hear, crimes are being committed in the occupied territories, and at times it seems that everybody not only got used to the atrociousness but even supports it – there are no Palestinians, so there are no terrorist attacks – and all the while thousands and tens of thousands are suffocating and groaning. We must go on watching – this horror has to be stopped!!!Tapuach (Za’atara): many cars in all directions. Thos leaving Kilkilya, for instance, already passed, on their route to Zaatara, three checkpoints. Since they left their homes in the darkness of night many hours have gone by, and Ramallah their goal still is not to be seen on the horizon. As regards the differentiation – it seems that everything depends on the soldiers mood. We noticed that people who descended from cars and tried to pass from the west to the south on foot, were detained and were asked to mount again to the bus or the car – walking was forbidden. A car with cows – on their last route – waited for about a quarter of an hour and passed. But it seems cows are favored, because human beings had to wait a very long time. When one soldier checks the identity card numbers of fifty bus passengesr, even if he is very quick, it takes a very long time.After we have stayed at the place for an hour, suddenly a state of emergency was announced and a complete stoppage of the passage from all the directions. “Why?” – “A hot alert” – another working day wasted!!! In the meantime of cars of the settlers appeared. They, naturally, passed quickly – they even made an ambulance free the way for them. They are hurrying to a memorial service (on the Sabath? The Sabath??) at Eyn Gedi, and they have no time!!!! In the end the checkpoints were opened a quarter of an hour later, two more officers appeared and a few border policemen, and the matter begins to proceed at a quicker pace – but in the meantime it is already 10:00 in the morning, and the working day, if not entirely wasted, in any case was shortened by half.Beit Furik: The checkpoint is almost empty. The taxi drivers beg us to help them in the matter of the passage of 15-30 year olds young men. We told them what we have already done, and what we shall continue to try – although it seems that our efforts are futile and we are powerless. This collective punishment, which continually repeats itself, is a crime – and we have to go on protesting, even if there is no immediate success.Huwwara: According to the Palestinians there is no differentiation. We checked the time it took at bus to pass – 25 minutes. But at the Yizhar Junction there is another checkpoint, and on the way to Ramallah we saw a few other checkpoints, so that these 25 minutes are only the opening of the journey of hardships. There are many pedestrians. There is a humanitarian queue (what is so humanitarian here?) Detainees:1. A young man in whose identity card there is a photograph of himself with weapons. To our question he answers that he has forgotten the photo in the card – although we get the feeling that this was done intentionally. An hour later he is investigated by soldiers who came in a jeep, enabled him to talk on the phone, and he was returned to Nablus.2. One of the passengers of the bus is being detained very rudely and is being led to the detainees’ shed. It turns out that all this is “due to a small cigarette”. When we ask to get an explanation we are told that the young man appeared in the list of “the second plan (a troupe of wolves) and that the matter is being investigated, but later they admitted to us that the man went to smoke behind the humanitarian point (which, as is know, is a virtual point) and there the soldiers put their belongings – “and who can vouch that he doesn’t put a bomb there”. This seems a bit far fetched, as the man had nothing in his hands, wore tight jeans and a shirts – but….he smoked and refused to surrender to this strange prohibition.We left as about 12:00. At Za’atara there is a signpost on which is written by hand “the hope of us all”, and in black letters enter in peace and leave in peace. The soldiers on the spot claims that he has heard that the writing on the signpost reads come in peace and leave in a dream.