Hamra, Tayasir, Tuesday, August 15, 2006, PMObservers: Daphna B, Yehudit L (reporting)14:30 HamraWestbound (Nablus and Tubas) there are 13 vehicles (a bus, trucks, a minibus, private cars) waiting in line. Two soldiers are checking vehicles. Perhaps 20 workers returning from jobs in the settlements are waiting for ID inspection. They descended from the vehicle that brought them from Almog, but the driver does not have a permit to cross into the West Bank. In any case, according to them, the crossing is much faster on foot than by vehicle.A soldier who was standing by a jeep now starts checking after a reprimand from the checkpoint commander – because Daphna asked why the workers aren’t being checked. They get in line and start to move.A worker says that in the morning the traffic is faster, especially if a soldier named Ilan is there, since his function seems to be to ensure that they get to work in the settlements on time. In the afternoon there is no such awareness. There is no District Coordination Office representation.At 14:45, we leave: there are six vehicles waiting in line. From the west there is no line,15:15 Tayasir Movement restrictions: according to the DCO representative on the spot, it is permissible for Israeli Arabs to pass westward with goods for Jenin. This needs to be checked. All the other restrictions are as in Maaleh Ephraim.Seven cars are westbound. Two soldiers are checking. The inspection is done as a soldier whistles in the direction of the waiting vehicles (standing about 50 meters from the checking station); a vehicle advances, stops some 20 meters away, the driver or somebody in his place alights with the documents of all the passengers, who get out of the vehicle and stand in line. The one who brings the IDs stands at a short distance from the checking station, while the soldiers allow the passengers to get back into the vehicle and their IDs are returned to the “messenger.”The soldiers check one line at a time till it is finished, and then turn to the line on the other side.The soldiers push us back and we retreat 15 meters, then they demand that we move behind the concrete blocks where the vehicles are standing. We refuse.While the workers from a bus are being checked, there is a sudden gust of wind and the IDs and passes are blown upward. Some are caught in the air, others fly farther away. The Palestinians start to chase after their so-valuable papers, but in vain. We see them floating upward farther and farther away till they are out of sight. The following day we learn that Bedouin and other travelers on the road found the lost papers and returned them to their rightful owners.16:30 – the line of vehicles is finished and we leave.