Huwwara, Beit Furiq, Sarra 28/2/2004 Watchers: Hannah B., Hava H., Neta E., Amalia W., Victoria B. (reporting) Sarra, around 8AM, was surrealistically deserted. No transits at the bottom of the hill (I think that they were chased away after the CP was closed for everybody except for local villages). But we saw no pedestrian locals either. The iron gate was open, so we drove up to the CP. Several soldiers showed up on the hill top. They were reasonably friendly and willing to talk. Claimed free passage for pedestrians, and for vehicles with permit. Claimed to be surprised like us by the emptiness. Hannah walked towards the house that used to be occupied by the army, did not see a living soul in that direction as well. We saw some people far away among trees, working(?). On the way downhill we were overtaken by a jeep (#6170817). They locked the iron gate, contradicting the claim that Palestinian vehicles can pass. Of the jeep appeared a most Unfriendly young officer (second lieutenant), and without saying a word made a deliberate show of video-taping us all with great diligence, including our driver. Neta was filming him and he was filming us, so it was quite surrealistic. Huwwara. On the South side, there was an officer in charge, named Baruch, from Kdumim. Reasonably civil, but quite inflexible. The number of passers-by was moderate (a fewtens), the operation of the CP fairly orderly. The officer facilitated passage of women and of men aged 45+. Men aged 16-34 were not allowed to pass, including pupils. People in the “wrong” age range tried desperately to talk their way through the CP, quite unsuccessfully. Only An-Najah University students were let through, though they had a high chance to be subjected to ID check-ups by the GSS. More generally, younger men appearing at the CP were stopped now and then for ID checkups, which seemed to last some 1-2 hours. We saw some angry people being subjected to checkups, and then turned back, among them students of other institutions. One student would not leave, kept telling us that his school exam today is really important. A small number of humanitarian cases (a Jordanian citizen with a child in need of check-ups, two obviously sick men, some blue ID holders) were passed through. On the North side, soldiers appeared to be at a loss as to what are the rules, but Elad from the DCO handled the situation. Beit Furiq. The place was covered by concrete blocks, and some heavy construction machines were parked nearby (Construction at the CP is forthcoming “for the convenience of the Palestinians”.) On a concrete block, we saw a graffiti: “Zeevey Zaam” (“Wolves of Rage”). But the soldiers at the CP seemed to make an effort to be decent, and let through everybody who arrived while we were there. A local from Beit Furiq said that this new batch of soldiers arrived 3 days ago, and praised them. Neta spoke to Elad who showed up atthe CP; Elad listed the names of villages allowed to use Sarra: Funduk, Til, Sarra, Jit. Tapuah junction. When we first arrived, around 8AM, the checkpoint was unmanned. When we returned, around 11:30, the checkpoint was “fully operational”, manned by BP and blue police. The car queue was especially long in the direction of Nablus: 3 buses, 16 smaller vehicles, mostly yellow taxis. A man was being checked (“Lift the coat, open the bags”,) but we had to return so did not stop to investigate further.