JUBARA, Tuesday 29 June 2004 AM Observers: Ruthie C., Maya M., Ayala R-S., Elinoar (reporting), Sivan (a guest from abroad) colour=red>06:15 — Irtah, Gate 700The gate opened at 06:00, people who came through were satisfied, a few thanked us as if it were our doing. It was both touching and embarrassing. At Jubara checkpoint people came in and out freely, except those who crossed over to Jubara or to Israel. We decided to drive out again and check what was going on in the surrounding villages.The barriers blocking access to the villages were still there, of course, including the one near Ramin which the IDF Spokesman claimed had been remove, and so is the settlers’ garbage mound near Saffarin, now partially burnt by the villagers themselves. We met people who complained, though rather resignedly. At Beit Iba we met an an-Najah student, carrying an academic cap and gown, and complaining that the soldiers wouldn’t let him in to his graduation ceremony. We convinced the lieutenant to call the District Co-ordinating Office (DCO) and find out if he (and a few other students) could go through . He did, and told us there was no ceremony today. We tried calling Nablus DCO ourselves, but there was no answer. [The DCO is the army section that handles civilian matters; it often has representatives at the checkpoints, ostensibly to alleviate the lot of the Palestinians.] Being gatecrashers here, not versed in the local procedures, we gave up. The men let off steam, a little at us and mostly at the “situation”.Back in Jubara, we drove around the village. At the checkpoint, a woman complained that they wouldn’t let her visit friends in Jubara. She didn’t invent a dead brother or a sick mother. She just wanted to visit friends. If I let her, said the soldier, this donkey will also want to pass. “I believe in peace,” she said in fluent Hebrew, “but things are becoming worse and worse”. Suddenly she pushed the soldier, who seemed embarrassed and pushed her back, but not too hard. “Why?” she yelled, “Why? Why? Why?” Indeed, why?