Tapuach Junction and Hawwara, Sunday 17\7\05 PMObservers: Noa P., Jehudit C., Galit., Noami L. (took notes)Resume: collective punishment at the Tapuach junction, which the army terms as “segregation”: a sweeping prevention of EVERYBODY to move southward (especially Ramallah and Jerusalem), including taxi drivers, old people, sick people, families, children, babies, people returning from work, from a wedding… a terrible feeling that there is nobody one can talk to! 15:00 – We arrived at the Tapuach junction prepared, the morning shift had reported on a severe prevention of traffic for those wishing to go southward. Indeed the sights are difficult: one checkpoint before the junction and the second at the junction itself. EVERYBODY is detained: old women, one of which is sick and cannot walk. The soldier orders the taxi to turn around and go in the opposite direction: “my grandmother is sick too “, he says, “the problem is that your girlfriends [we] make me even more nervous”, “yalla, go on” he scolds the driver. When the Palestinians ask why they are being detained he says “because there was a terrorist attack in Netanya, believe me, if it would depend on me I would do some other things” – them and to us he means, and finishes off by “according to the instructions we are not supposed to exchange one single word with you” (he also hinted that a friends of his had been killed in a terrorist attack, which turned out to be the truth, as the next days’ morning shift found out). More than half of the vehicles that arrived at the junction were turned back. The soldiers were not always sure to which villages the traffice was allowed, and the result were arguments with the drivers.A driver of a pick-up truck loaded with trees and plants insists on passing and argues with the soldiers. The value of the merchandise is 4000 shekel and they have to reach Jericho.The driver says “I won’t return to Kilkilya”. Once they had a big gardening nursery at the Fruit Junction, which the army destroyed completely. He wishes to reach Yassuf (which is round the corner) but he is not allowed to go there too, although he has all the authorizations. The next day he told that after we left the soldier let him pass, not before he told him that he had detained him only because we were present.Two women with small children who live in the villages are being detained. In the morning they went to Nablus to do shopping. Now they are going back home, sitting on the ground at the side of the road waiting that something should happen and that they would be able to pass. In their case the phone calls helped and they were released after a time. All the others were not as lucky and were forced to turn around and go back to where they came from. The most cruel aspect of the whole story is that they were forced to stand for two, three hours in queue in the scorching sun, and only when they arrived at its end were they told they had to turn round and go back.We talked for the first (and not last) time with Yoni, the spokesman of the brigade, and he promised to check. His answer was that the “segregation” came from the division, so that the responsibility on what is going on at the checkpoint is not their, they are only the brigade. But he will pass on the message. At that stage we still believed that there was somebody with whom we could talk. We continued to Hawwara, with the intention to go on making telephone calls from there.16:30- Hawwara – at the southern checkpoint the owner of a fruit stall tells us that the police is bothering them and is chasing them out of the place. Why does it disturb them, he asks, that I sell four kgs. of fruit for 10 sheke, what profit do I make? Whom does it hurt?Everybody is at the turnstiles – women, children and babies, there is no representative of the Liaison Administration, and no concessions are made to anybody. There are two active checking posts, the turnstiles get stuck and people are caught inside them. Luckily there isn’t a very large crowd, and the passage is relatively quick.A young man with his two small brother is waiting at the checking post and tells his astonishing story: about two months ago (19\5\05, 09:00) at the Zeita junction (near Ariel) an officer from the Liaison Administration called I. B.O. took away his identity card, because of a suspicion that something was not “in order”. Instead he was given a note, signed by him, with his personal number and mobile phone number, and the officer promised to return the identity card to him, after checking and ascertaining that it was in order. Since then he has no identity card, he presents a Jordanian passport which he luckily carries with him, and the note from I. B.O. At the Liaison Administration he was told to go to the Palestinian Liaison Administration. Because the identity card was not actually lost he is unable to take out a new one at the Palestinian Liaison Administration. But each time he passes through the checkpoint he has to present the passport and the note and to tell his story, after which immediately the suspicion arises that something is fishy, and he is being detained. Thus he spends his time at the checkpoints, road blocks, rolling checkpoints and wherever he is asked to present his identity card. In the meantime I. B.O. from the Liaison Administration is still checking…Next day, at the army center they promised to look for the identity card, and until noon they haven’t found it, although they were given the name, personal number and mobile phone number of the officer.At the Hawwara junction the passage was acceptable, there were no accumulations at the queues and the soldiers were matter of fact.We phoned the Liaison Administration regarding the Tapuach Junction, at the brigade they were all at a meeting, there was nobody one could talk to, S. the army spokesman for the central command (of the major general’s office) checked and said that for reasons he was unable to bring to our knowledge there is a segregation between the north and southern part of west bank, but that the instruction had been changed, and after “more thorough” checks it would be possible for people living in Ramallah to reach their homes. We drove to Hawwara to see whether the soldiers had heard about these changes in the instructions or whether only we were the privileged ones who knew about them.18:00- At the Tapuach Junction 25 cars heading south. So it turned out to be a great secret, the soldiers had not been informed about the change in the instructions. Women with children in their arms despaired and began marching on foot (it is now allowed to walk). They climb up the road in the heavy heat, carrying parcels, dragging the bigger children behind them. Luckily they don’t live too far away. We returned to S.the major general’s spokesman, who promised to check again. We called the army center, Carmela Menasheh the journalist, Adi the Machsomwatch spokeswoman, who sent a beeper to all the correspondents, to Amira Hass who was not available, to Dan Goldenblatt who promised to do his best. Again to the major battalion, they are still in a meeting. To Yoni, the battalion’s spokesmen who again promised to check. There was nobody we could talk to!A man who has a house in Tul Karem and in Ramallah too, is not allowed to return to Ramallah. He hands his mobile phone over to the detaining soldier, entreats him “here, talk to my wife, my daughter, ask them where I live…” the soldier suggests that he should change the address in the identity card. But then they will not let him go to Tul Karem he says in desperation.Dreivers report on a waiting time of over two hours in the queue, some even of three hours. Some of the drivers are not waiting for the “segregation decree”, give up and go back.A bus of the Tanib company transports people who return from a wedding celebration in Tul Karem, most of the grown up men and women, all citizens of Ramallah. At 16:30 they left the Jabbara checkpoint, passed the Jit checkpoint, had their complete share of waiting time at Tapuach, and now they are not allowed to continue. S. the spokesman of the major general’s office, asks to talk to the checkpoint commander on our phone, the commander refuses to give his name or to talk on the phone. At 18:30 the driver gives up, turns around and goes in the direction of Nablus. People are going to their homes contrary to the direction of their route, the change in the instructions about which we were informed more than an hour ago, has not yet reached checkpoint.At the Liaison Administration we are told that today B. is standing in for R., but that he is just now in the dining room. A girl soldier says “I don’t think that it is possible to send now a representative of the Liaison Administration to the checkpoint”. In the end we succeed to reach A. who promises to send an officer.In the meantime the procedure at the checkpoint is as follows: one single soldier collects and checks the papers, opens doors, interrogates the passengers: “where do you come from, where are you going”. A scond soldier is busy ordering a tray of pizza, asks everybody what side dish they want, what drink, shouts to the soldier in the observation post: “you miser, you, you won’t get anything “, 8 shekel for each. A third soldier stands all the time with his back turned to the people, doing nothing. The fourth, who is supposed to secure the checkpoint from a distance, and doesn’t therefore check, is whispering with a young settler girl, (who has parked her car, decorated with orange ribbons, at the side of the road, inside the checkpoint). A settler with orange bracelets is a familiar figure at the checkpoint, exchanges handshakes, converses with the soldiers, at the tapuach checkpoint there is love, and this love is victorious!In our anguish we call Hanna who tries from her home to talk to everybody concerned, but in the end had to tell us what we already knew: there was nobody one could turn to.An elderly man tells us that it is forbidden for quite some time to pass from Aqraba to Ramallah, but that they go around, on dirt-tracks, thus prolonging each morning the time of getting to work, the soldiers know, but this is not their problem , they are only concerned that they should not pass at the Tapuach Junction!The passage of cars, when it takes place at all, proceeds at an incredibly slow pace.18:40- Finally A. from the Liaison Administration arrives and releases immediately some of the detainess, including a doctor who travels with his family, the soldiers told him you go, leave your family behind. He has just arrived and already there is a small queue of people with a little hope, perhaps he will agree and let them pass. We asked, when one “segregates”, why isn’t there a representative of the liaison administration at the tapuach junction from morning hourse on, for traffic going in both directions? The soldiers explain something about manpower shortage…19:20- the “security guard” of the checkpoint takes leave of the girl settler, all this time he didn’t even throw one single look on the area he is responsible for. The main thing was that there were cream cakes and orange juice.When darkness fell the queue was still as long as it was at the beginning of the shift. The pizza has not yet arrived, and the Palestinians were still waiting. The checking process was done at a slow pace by one diligent soldier, the others explained that security wise it was better to check the cars slowly, one by one. There is thought and logic behind everything. It’s not arbitrary.Is it true that exactly one week ago Spiegel said that he didn’t know that there was a checkpoint at the Tapuach Junction? What a shame…We felt like crying.