Jubara, Ar-Ras and Anabta, Sunday, 24/12/2006, pm Observing and reporting: Tami C., Raya Y., and Dalia G. (The interesting part is a tour/sightseeing trip we made to the village of Kur, on route from Ar-Ras to Beit Iba, beginning at 14:25). At 14:05 we arrived at the Jubara checkpoint. There isn’t a single car in the huge facility called “the figs checkpoint.” We continued on to Ar-Ras. At 14:15 we got to the checkpoint, exactly when the soldier’s shift was changed. 5-6 cars on the Tulkarm side were waiting patiently for the change of shifts. In the mean time, more cars arrived, but when the inspection process began they all went through without inspection, only with words exchanged. 14:25 we left Ar-Ras, but this time continued on that road (and didn’t turn back to Jubara) and headed to the village of Kur. We knew that there was a reconstruction of ancient palaces from the Mamluki era in that village, reconstruction made by the Europeans. The mountain road is charming. It’s as if there is no occupation, no settlements, and no abuse of nature. The view is pastoral; the residents are calm, some riding a donkey and some walking on foot. On the way we signaled a truck (aberrant in this landscape) and stopped by it to ascertain that we are driving in the right direction. The truck driver descended from the tall, huge truck, to give good directions (the embodiment of courtesy and humanity). 15:00 we arrived at the village on top of the mountain. We went in and stopped by the reconstructed ancient edifice. We were immediately approached by two young men, who didn’t know a word of Hebrew or English. With our embarrassingly scant knowledge of Arabic we managed to communicate. . . They brought keys and opened the palaces for us. The palaces were very beautiful and very exciting. And the view from the windows enhanced the beauty of nature. The human encounter was interesting. The village children emerged from every direction to watch the aliens who arrived unexpectedly. They were curious. When we approached them, smiling, they retreated with blank faces. They did not respond to our attempt to approach. On the other hand, a woman came over and shook our hands fondly. A man who passed by in a car stopped and offered his help. He said: if you need anything – I’m here. At the end of the tour Raya put 5 NIS in the hand of the boy who guided us. He blatantly refused. (And Raya isn’t one to give up. . .) finally he relented. We left thinking that we will surely come back to visit this wonderful place. We headed to Beit Iba (and about this in a separate report, as requested). We visited Anabta after Beit Iba, and the following is the report: 16:50 we reached Anabta. There is no car queue. There is some traffic, but it flows through with almost no stops. A soldier says that there is no warning in effect in this zone. 17:00 we head back home.