Nuaman AM 20.6.06Observers: Netah, A., Tamar, A. (reporting) 8:00-9:00 On the way from Um Tubah to Nueman, we didn’t see a soul, since this was the hour that all the workers have already gone to work. The entrance gate to the village, from Jerusalem, was closed. We came mainly to accompany two young girls from Nueman to their matriculation exam in El Haras, on the other side of the separation fence. They were worried that the Border Patrol police, stationed at the gate, will detain them and that they will be late for the exam. On the other days of the exams, the Ecumenical and other activists from Taayush, accompanied them. We drove in a car with three other villagers from Nueman, on their way to work in the West Bank, and we descended near the gate. The car, with its passengers, passed through without being detained or being checked by the police, who were sitting in the shade of the damaged tank which has been behind the gate for a long time when a woman with two children came from the direction of Haras, and asked to continue to Nueman. One of the police officers asked her where she lives, and when she told him she is a resident of Nueman, he let her through without even looking at her documents. Usually , when we arrive, everything looks calm. However, yesterday afternoon Y. called us and reported that a new soldier, standing at the gate, asked each person who wanted to go through the gate, to open it himself and close it afterward. For children and women this is difficult, and for drivers – it means they have to get out of the car, pass through, and get out again in order to close the gate. The Commander, with whom we spoke about this over the phone, said that this is not acceptable and gave orders to the field officers not to continue with this procedure. We hope that this will help. The amount of garbage in the village, shows that the garbage truck from the West Bank has difficulty entering – since this is a vehicle that has Palestinian license plates and is not allowed to enter Israel. Even if the village is on the municipal border of Jerusalem, if the residents are Palestinians, there is no through traffic to vehicles whose destination is Jerusalem or other parts of Israel. The checkpoint is being built, with beautiful Jerusalem stone. To the small building that was built in front of the gate, a generator was added.