Tayasir, Hamra, Thursday, August 10, 2006, AMObservers: Yehudit H, Revital S, Rachel C (reporting)07:10 – 08:4507:10 Hamra checkpointSacred Fire Eternal Judea November 05 Five cars waiting from the east.Thirty cars waiting from the west.Solitary soldier on the road at the south emplacement (30 cars already waiting for him).Solitary soldier in the passageway to the turnstiles.Two soldiers on the road at the northern emplacement.As time passes more soldiers arrive.Despite the blazing sun, the only head covering is a skullcap (not for all).07:35The cars from the east go through.Thirty five cars from the west begin to move and are being checked in two lanes.The passengers from the west alight, pass through the turnstiles, their documents are inspected.In cases of doubt, a phone call allows transit, with one exception (detailed below).From time to time, goading (shouts) at pedestrians: “Somebody called you? Ha? Tell me, somebody told you to come?””Yalla, pass!”Two trucks not allowed through, turned around and drove back westward. One of them was the last in line when we arrived. Reaches the inspection point at 07:55 (after 45 minutes).An ice cream truck – unloads only one of its six freezer compartments, and drives on.From the east, a few cars. They wait 15-20 minutes and are passed through. The passengers alight, are checked, return to the vehicles and travel on.08:10: The pressure drops. Seven cars waiting in the west, two in the east.The soldiers start to make coffee/chocolate… complaining that they have no cold water to drink.A figure walking in the wadi or on the hill opposite arouses suspicions among the soldiers, causes excitement and the aiming of the telescope on a sniper’s rifle. Code words (?) On the radio… ending with “terrible” in reference to someone coming to the checkpoint without water and ice.The man who wanted to see a doctor:An older man seeks to cross. The soldiers have already met him: “It’s the second time he’s trying…” He wants to get to Jericho to visit a doctor who comes only once a week from Jerusalem. “Let him go through Huwarra!”Na’ama from the brigade war room asks Revital: “Is he about to have a heart attack?” Apparently not. Meanwhile the man gave up and left.The soldiers of Sacred Fire Eternal Judea November 05 absorb our anger with seeming indifference: “Anyone can come and tell us that he is ill. They lie all the time, try to worm through.”Anger at us: “If you continue to make comments, we’ll call someone to take you away from here.”The soldiers console themselves: “Rami said ‘doesn’t pass,’ so he doesn’t pass.”All goes to show that whoever has burning in him Sacred Fire Eternal Judea November 05is incapable of understanding the significance of going by way of Huwarra to Jericho, to the doctor who won’t be there when our patient manages to get there. 08:30 Tayasir The area is deserted. Empty. Three cars pass from the west.At 08:45, we left.