Jubara and Anabta, Wednesday AM, February 8, 2006 Watchers: Inbal R., Elisheva E. (reporting)Summary:Agricultural workers from the Qalqilya area, who’ve been working until recently in the Jubara greenhouses, were granted a permit, according to the “Ein Bidan precedent” [Ed. note: wherein all the residents of a certain location are required to pass through one particular checkpoint, not the nearest one on their route, and entailing a considerable delay and expense] — they can pass only through Gate 910 (?). The roadblock that used to be in the underpass (?) is now on the eastern side of the gate, about a kilometer before Ar-Ras, and winding northwards where cars arrive from Tulkarm. Taxis are forbidden to enter Shufa through the northern checkpoint in Jubara and they must make a large detour through Anabta.[MachsomWatchers note: It’d be worthwhile to check with taxi drivers in the next days whether this is a standing order or a one-time punishment.] There was no roadblock at the intersection of Hwys. 57/60. The sophisticated barbed wire fence at the entrance to the Anabta checkpoint was removed!In Jubara we saw a soldier photograph two detained illegal workers and send them back home!!6:45, Jubara –At the entrance to the village the gate is open. Only we and the soldiers are around. The Farmworkers and Schoolchildren Gate is in operation; Greenhouse owners from Jubara are there waiting for four workers whose entrance from the east is not made possible. It turns out that they live in the Qalqilya area and up till now didn’t have a problem. Recently they got a permit to exit only through the gate in their area of residence. It’s unclear how they are to get from there to work in Jubara. A request, to let them in today to cover the greenhouses before the rain, went unheeded, and at the DCO [District Coordination Office of the IDF Civil Administration] there was no one to talk to at that hour. Jubara residents would like to make a living off their land! This is an infringement!7:15–The buses with the children go in. A conversation with the driver reveals, once again, that opening hours vary with soldiers. He asked us to act to have the gate remain open until 14:00 at noontime. We didn’t give him much hope. . .On the eastern side of the gate, around a kilometer before Ar-Ras, a roadblock is visible. Later it turns out that it was moved northwards, and this is probably the roadblock that up until now was on the underpass.7:40 Anabta–Soldiers let pedestrians and vehicles pass through with efficiency. There’s no line or crowdedness. We also didn’t see a command to expose the body [for visual inspection under clothing].A taxi driver who, until today, entered the Shufa village at the outskirts of Tulkarm through the northern checkpoint in Jubara, was required today to get there through the Anabta checkpoint. Shades of Ein Bidan!Later, in a conversation with the brigade, it turns out that this is indeed the order from now on. The Jubara checkpoint commander explains that the village residents were required to provide one central list with their names and ID numbers and they haven’t done so, and hence the order. It’s unclear whether this is a one-time punishment or a permanent one.Drivers tell us that yesterday they got traffic tickets of 250 and 500 shekels when they were standing at the exit of the Ramine road (for stopping on the side of the road?). The state needs to pay for its investments in the territories!8:15 –There’s no roadblock at the 57/60 intersection.9:35 –On our way back from Beit Iba we could count from the road around ten cars to the south of the checkpoint at the exit from the underpass. We couldn’t see the exit- from-Tulkarm side. We are all waiting for a permit from the brigade commander to go there soon.