Irtah, Jubara, Anabta, Sunday AM, 12 March 2006 Watchers: Racheli M., Zvia S. (reporting)07:10 IrtahClosure [i.e., blanket restriction on passage] in effect today, for Purim, a Jewish national holiday. Everything quiet, nobody, only one truck waiting. The driver says it has been announced that they would open the gate at 07:30.07:20 JubaraEverything still. No cars and no people. Three soldiers at the checkpoint.07:30 AnabtaOnly two soldiers and an “ungodly uproar.”Scores of people from the direction of Tulkarm milling around the checkpoint. The checkpoint commander (won’t identify himself) tries to be polite, but all that comes out is “Irjah, irjah!” [Arabic: “Move back!” — one of the few Arabic phrases used by the soldiers.] Noise, shouting, people waving to us to do something, speed it up… late for work, screaming that there are small children…The commander says: “I have no possibility of speeding up the passage because I must check everybody.”Forty cars are waiting to pass in the direction of Tulkarm. One of the trucks is loaded with sheep and has been seven hours on the road from Bethlehem. The driver says the animals are thirsty. We try to speed up his passage…07:35 – a phone call to Tulkarm war room, requesting soldiers for otherwise something bad is going to happen.07:45 – a third soldier appears, heavy Russian accent and a fixed stare, informs us not to pester him and he doesn’t care about these people. The important thing is that his commander shouldn’t be killed by a bomb here. We don’t understand the connection…07:50 – another call to Liat, our liaison person at the situation room in Tulkarm. We explain nicely to her that the chaos here is horrific. Liat: “I have already told my commander, and there is nothing to be done.”08:00 – no change; the line of vehicles is very long.08:15 – phone call to Liat: she tells us that she has spoken to the commander of the team at the checkpoint, and he says that they are managing and do not need assistance. I ask the soldiers why they don’t request help – they tell me not to interfere.08:20 – my patience is at an end. I shout at Liat and tell her about the situation loud enough for the soldiers to hear, then I shout at them. Seems that they were shaken by my shouting. The commander (who still won’t identify himself): “Now we’ll pass people and cars without a check.”08:30 – the truck with sheep is finally through.08:40 – the soldiers are allowing fast passage and the line of vehicles is getting shorter, as is the queue of pedestrians. We start to breathe easier, and drive on to Beit Iba… [See separate report under Nablus].