Anabta, Monday PM, May 8, 2006Observers: Niva D., Tsyiona Sh. (reporting)Summary: The press reports that the limitations in Samaria have been eased. However, in reality, it is hardly felt. The limitations on [male] Palestinians aged 15-30 are still effective and so is the apartness.Deprivation of livelihood – Taxis from Tulkarm and Jenin are not permitted to enter Nablus, and taxis from the Nablus region are barred from entering Tulkarm. The result is that it is impossible for them to make a living. The money they earn from short trips (3 Shekels per passenger) doesn’t even cover gasoline costs.Deprivation of Education – West Bank Students who study at the American University in Jenin are unable to get to school.Physical abuse – Described in story No. 3 (below). Nevertheless, as far as the conduct at the checkpoint is concerned, certain alleviation can be felt, compared to that in the last months. People entering Tulkarm and Nablus are hardly inspected and neither are trucks with merchandise that enter Anabta. As a result, in addition to the fact that taxis from other regions are barred from entering, there are no lines at the entrance to Tulkarm.14:00 – Not far from Enav, on the hill, a new road going north-west is being built. The only other settlement in the area is Avnei Hefetz, but here nobody has heard of the convergence plan.14:30 – Taxi drivers say that tens of vehicles have been stuck for hours at Jit junction. They are telling us incidents they themselves have experienced in the last days: 1. Yesterday, a student from Ramallah, who studies at the American University in Nablus, was made to get out of the taxi, his documents taken from him, and he was told to pay IS 3,000.00 bail, warning him not to return there. 2. Another driver tells us that yesterday he was not permitted to leave Tulkarm. Asking which way he could leave, he got the answer that he could take the eastern road (the only one leading from Jenin southwards). However, on the way, next to the wood, he was stopped, his certificate was taken from him, and he had to wait 12 hours in the wood until it was returned to him. 3. Another driver tells us what happened to him. On Atarah Bridge, near Ramallah, he was caught by a Bedouin officer of the Border Police, who told him to lift his arms and also his legs, beat him, and for “dessert”, took the strawberry box he had and dumped it.One of the drivers sums up with the sentence: “We feel we don’t live in our land but rather in some prison”.14:35 – At the checkpoint, at the entrance to Anabta, vehicles and pedestrians are hardly inspected, neither is merchandise, unless there is some suspicion. For [male] Palestinians aged 15-30, prohibition on leaving Tulkarm continues.14:45 – A driver arrives, intending to bring merchandise to Tulkarm. Since he cannot enter by car [i.e. the car can’t cross the CP], he carries huge packs of clothes on his back.At the pedestrian checkpoint, it’s the daily “routine”: not too crowded, people are waiting, holding their documents at a distance of 20 meters from the soldier who keeps telling them to step back. They are trained and disciplined. Is it not part of the “prison routine” (as reality was defined by one of the taxi drivers)?