Translation:  Suzanne O. 

During our shift we came across humane roadblock commanders who want to make things easier for the Palestinians, however, a roadblock is a roadblock and the suffering exists – perhaps it is being made a little easier. 

Za’atra

7:20 a.m. 
There are 20 cars at the west-east roadblock.Two buses are being checked at the northern roadblock.We drive in the direction of Huwwara but find that there are 80 vehicles in the queue.  Due to this we return to Za’atra.

A settler comes towards us, his friends ask him why.  His reply:  I want to have a closer look at these idiots (meaning us of course).

 At the roadblock the commander is 2^nd lieutenant A., we go over to her.  She asks how she can be of assistance to us.  We report the number of vehicles in the queue.  She says that she is aware of them and we perceive that she inspects and passes the vehicles quickly and promptly.  A settler follows us.  She also asks him how she can help.  He replies that he is there just as a counterweight (to us of course). 

7:25 a.m.
A driver at the front of the queue whom we approach tells us that he has been waiting for an hour. 

7:30 a.m.
A driver who has come from the west and is parked in the car park where the buses are being inspected says that he has been waiting here for 20 minutes.  The two buses which were with him have been released and he does not understand why the passengers’ I.D. cards have been left at the western roadblock and are not being returned.  We decided to go to the roadblock, but just then a soldier came running to the northern position with the documents.  The commander inspects the documents quickly, but it took another ten minutes until they were returned to their owners – we understood that there simply had not been a soldier available to do it.
The officer, who seems to use her discretion, passes most of the vehicles without inspecting them.  When we point this out approvingly, she responds by saying that although she is a settler she is not prepared to let people be held up for hours on their way to work.We leave the roadblock.  On our way we count eight vehicles queuing. 

Huwwara

7:45 a.m. 
There are about 20 people at the turnstiles.  There are two checkpoints and the x-ray machine is in place. 

9:15 a.m.
We observe that there is some unrest at the roadblock; about 15 people who were waiting at the turnstiles (apart from the humanitarian queue) are pushed back.  After a few minutes they return to the roadblock.  We ask a Palestinian who comes through the turnstile what happened and he says nothing.  We go over to the commander, 2^nd lieutenant A., who reports that it was an exercise.  The commander, a humane guy with a pleasant appearance, is prepared to talk to us. 

9:45 a.m.
A Palestinian approaches us.  He had a magnetic card and permission to enter Israel, it expired, and when he tried to renew it at the DCO they refused.  We contacted Sylvia P., who agreed to deal with the matter.

We left the roadblock.