Ar-Ras, Anabta, Jubara – Wednesday AM, April 12, 2006 Watchers: Rina Ts., Inbal R. (reporting)Ar-Ras, 07:30 – 08:15 Large concrete cubes indicate that what had been a rolling [temporary] checkpoint at the junction is now a permanent one. Passage from Tulkarm southwards is not permitted to people [males?] aged 16-30. About 15 vehicles and a group of pedestrians are waiting for inspection. The line is not particularly long, and this is the reason why at first we don’t believe the passengers who claim they have been waiting in line since 03:30 or 04:00 a.m., but too many people keep saying they have been waiting since night. It turns out that these days, when all the main roads are blocked, most of the traffic from the north-western part of the West Bank towards Jordan goes via this junction. Since going to Jordan one leaves early, the road is supposed to open early. According to the Palestinians, the inspection started at 06:30, but the checkpoint commander claims it started at 04:30. We stayed here for a long time and we left when we saw that the line got shorter and the cars had only a 30 minute wait. Most of the time, the checkpoint commander checked all the traffic of pedestrians and vehicles by himself. According to him, the entry to Tulkarm from the south is free, without age limitations, after a routine inspection. However, there is a group of soldiers here, probably orthodox Nahal* members, who by using clever methods, succeed in creating a backup. For instance, they stop a bus full of 8-year-old children who are on an outing at Ein Bidan springs, contact the brigade headquarters to check if a teacher is permitted to accompany the children. We wonder whether to complain to the CP commander and come to the conclusion that there is no use doing it. He works alone, and checking the situation on the neglected side can just stop the passage on the busy side.Anabta, 08:45 Exiting Tulkarm – there is no line because the closure of the city continues. Leaving is prohibited to [male] residents of the Tulkarm and Jenin regions aged 16-30. Leaving the city on foot or by car is permitted only to residents of the neighbouring villages: Safrin, Beit Lid and Shofa. In humanitarian cases,** leaving is permitted and the CP commander interprets the instruction to include also teachers, policemen and clergymen. Merchandise cannot leave and the drivers are sent to Irtah checkpoint — without telling them that the checkpoint there is closed until after Israeli Independence Day (over a week away) and which is in any case not destined for transporting merchandise into the West Bank.The entry to Tulkarm is free after a routine inspection. The line is not long. Merchandise enters.Jubara, 11:20 The huge checkpoint is as usual deserted today, because the traffic was diverted to a road under the tunnel leading to Ar-Ras junction. There is no exit from Tulkarm, except for residents of Shofa and those holding entrance permits to Jubara.* Nahal is a pioneering combatant youth corps whose soldiers integrate agricultural work with military service. ** Medical and special needs cases.