Irtah, Jubara, Ar-Ras, Anabta, Monday AM, 24 April 2006 Observers: Roni S., Naomi L. (reporting) Irtah06:40 – The giant commodities terminal – empty. More development works can be seen, additional light poles, two fully-grown olive trees have been planted, surrealistic landscape.The workers’ terminal is empty and deserted. New works can be seen here too – preparations for gardening – an unbelievable scene.Jubara06:50 – The parking lot on the approaches to Jubara has been blocked off by large concrete cubes. No traffic at the junction. The gate to the village is wide open. We go up. Two buses of children stand waiting for their last passengers. The drivers report “no problems.” We go on to the Schoolchildren’s Gate, # 22, and next to it # 753 [For agricultural day laborers]. A few laborers report that all movement is flowing… Three laborers arrive from Faroun and want to enter the village to cultivate a grove of olives. The checkpoint commander (Adib) explains that they must enter through the gate below. They claim that they have come from there. The commander phones the entry gate for Jubara, and promises them that they will be allowed to cross there. They leave. So do we on our way to the gate below. On our way to the Ar-Ras checkpoint, at the lower gate, we meet the same three and they have not been allowed through despite having a permit to work their land. While we are debating with the commander, and telling him that we heard that their entry would be allowed, a Hummer arrives from above with the commander who sent them here. In his words, the procedures have been changed, Faroun has been closed for a week, and how did they manage to get out? We couldn’t do anything. The general feeling is that procedures change within an hour or two, some of the soldiers are updated, others aren’t. The ignorance of the soldiers is noticeable when it comes to the terrain. Many of them have no idea where the villages are and the distances are between them.CP below Ar-Ras 08:40 – We travel to a checkpoint below Ar-Ras road. The road – apart from a few metres at the beginning – is unpaved. The number of potholes increases, and we bump from one to the next. We reach a long line of cars, park at the end of the line, and continue on foot up the slope to the checkpoint. On the way we encounter despairing drivers who say they have been waiting for more than an hour. We counted 22 cars. A sort of concrete cubicle with a plastic roof has been built for the soldiers. Inside the structure stands a soldier and calls over a loudspeaker to each car to approach. The soldier checks both the cars and pedestrians who have come this far in taxis. In one of the waiting cars are four senior officials of the Licensing Office in Qalqiliya. They say they have been waiting more than an hour. Yesterday they waited an hour and passed, but at the next checkpoint – Jayyus – they weren’t allowed through, and they were forced to return home with no reason given. The soldiers are doing their work seriously, but there is no way that a single soldier checking all comers can shorten the line. We phone the brigade commander – no response. We phone the HQ’s Situation Room and a woman soldier answers, saying that she has never heard of Ar-Ras checkpoint, but she promises (in a not very convincing tone) to pass the information on to whomever it concerns.08:50 – we leave, passing 30 cars waiting in line, some of whom we had encountered when we arrived. Their despair and our helplessness – are dispiriting.Anabta09:25 – Two soldiers checking, one the incoming, the other the outgoing. There is some lightening of the quarantine. Residents of Beit Lid, Safarin and Shufa are permitted to enter Anabta in vehicles. North, in the direction of Jenin, the entry is easier. Southwards, only students with IDs. Males ages 16 – 30: entry prohibited. The Ephraim brigade commander returns our call (unexpectedly). He hears from us about the long line at Ar-Ras, and promises to deal with it. The atmosphere in the lines at Anabta is more relaxed than Ar-Ras. Some sort of acceptance…10:10 – We leave. We do not continue to Beit Iba because of a conflicting commitment that could not be cancelled.