Bracha B.A.

This is the second day of Rosh Hashanah for the Jews and Eid el Fitr for the Moslems.

Bezek Checkpoint 10:10
We drove through and were unnoticed.  No one was pointing weapons towards the traffic because there was none.  We decided to begin observing at Hamra Checkpoint.

10:30 Hamra Checkpoint
There are one or two woman soldiers and three men.  There is a dismantled turnstile lying next to the shed.  The arms of the turnstile are lying next to another wall.  There are cars and a lot of taxis.  People are dressed up and there are many children.  Some have gone to a wedding and others are visiting because of the holiday.   Everyone is checked.  Even the young children have learned to undo their belts and put them back on after they go through.

The loudspeaker announces, "Come up, come up, five at a time."  Cars wait 2-3 minutes to go through.  To our surprise one transit with children goes through without having to get out and walk through.  People coming from Jenin on their way report that they drove through without any problems.  We left at 11:20.

11:45 – Tayasir
Happy New Year..
"I know those bitches."  (meaning us).  There is a greeting on the gate from Duhifat Battalion 94  known as the black dragons.  Obviously there is some sort of gathering.   There are a lot of empty bottles and cans on the ground around the garbage container.  Someone tried to burn the garbage and it is scattered around.  A soldier comes up to us from the watchtower  and asks what we are doing there.   He is followed by a first sergeant who demands to see our ID cards.  We point to our [Machsom Watch] tags but he is not satisfied, saying that this is his checkpoint and we have to show ID cards. He calls someone on the walkie-talkie but gets no answer.  We inquire as to his ownership of the checkpoint and he explains that he is the commander.   We continued to our usual observation point.  He continued to call on the walkie- talkie.

There are four soldiers present: one is at the observation point, one on the road, one at the pedestrian crossing and the commander.  The door to the restrooms swings and creaks.  Here, too, cars and taxis pass through with people in holiday dress, and children remove their belts and put them back on again when they go through.   A voice from the walkie-talkie reports "I know those bitches.  Just don't let them stand too close and get in the way."    The soldier at the pedestrian crossing is eating sunflower seeds and the soldier at the vehicle inspection point puts his cigarette aside before approaching the cars.  All passengers' documents are checked.

At 12:15 we begin to leave and the commander asks why we don't stay until the end of the shift at 14:00.

12:30 Bezek Checkpoint
People greet us as usual:  "How are you?"
"Great."