Jubara, Anabta, Tuesday afternoon, 31.1.06 Watchers: Rachel BA, Fatchia A, Horit HP, Chana C.Guests: Osnat, Gali 14:30 – Jubara: Lieutenant N. asked to sum up with us prior to his completing his stint of service. He presented a “balance sheet”: our success is in that we contributed to improving the situation at the checkpoints, for example, computers – but, offsetting that, the soldiers despise us. We stand on the side, taking notes, photographing. And he asks: “Why don’t you occasionally bring the soldiers a cake?” Obviously, whoever looks like the “aunties from the Soldiers’ Welfare Committee” should behave accordingly…The information that we got from the commander; following a high alert about a possible suicide bomber from Tulkarm who intends to start out, nobody leaves Tulkarm other than residents of Shufa with a work permit in hand, coordinated with the DCO [District Coordination Office of the IDF Civil Authority, that issues passage permits]. Waiting time at the checkpoint – about half an hour.14: 45 – Anabta: a huge line of cars, the like of which we have not seen for a long time (only photographable with video or bird’s eye). The waiting time, we are told, is an hour and a half for cars and about 30 minutes for pedestrians. According to the Palestinians, this is an improvement since yesterday the delay was two hours. The prohibition on exit applies to Jenin, Atil, Saida and Iltar – the others are okay. An elderly Palestinian, leaning on a cane, intends to make the long, slow walk from the checkpoint to the taxi rank. One of the Palestinians who understood that the mission was beyond the old man’s abilities, improvised a seat on a rock that had been towed to the pathway, so that the man could sit while waiting for salvation. Since no taxi was allowed to approach the checkpoint from the direction of Tulkarm, the soldiers allowed Nadim (our driver) to approach by bypassing the line and to transport the old man to the distant taxi stand.A taxi driver complained that a soldier riding in a Humvee, at Einav junction at 04:00, had taken his keys and ID – and had not yet returned them. The Humanitarian Centre promised to help. When we arrived at Beit Iba, the driver appeared and said that he had been promised the return of his property at Anabta. He got there – in vain. He was asked to come there again…We noted the following graphic displays:a). the notice at the entrance to the checkpoint warns “You Are Entering Territory Under The Control of The Palestinian Authority.” [Apparently] the autonomous control by the Palestinian Authority is implemented by the IDF with soldiers and military vehicles.b). on the IDF concrete block at the entrance to Tulkarm a scrawled “Caution: Tulkarm” with a drawing of a skull. The lyrics and artwork are a public relations effort for the humane attitude of the army to the local population…