TULKARM, Monday 26 April 2004 PMObservers: Orly P., Riva B., Dina G., Tami K. (reporting) colour = red>We reached the checkpoint at 12:30 on Memorial Day [for those who have fallen in the creation and defence of the State of Israel]. Traffic from and to Tulkarm was slow with most vehicles allowedto pass, while some were turned back. Some pedestrians too were denied passage. For “security reasons” presumably. We couldn’t figure out the system. The representative of the District Coordinating Office (DCO) [the section of the army that deals with civilian matters] was courteous, but after a while he disappeared, and there was no replacement. Some soldiers were rude, others more polite. It was a hot day, the sun was scorching and the construction work [for a new checkpoint] raised thick clouds of dust. A young couple with a child arrived from Jayyus ; the woman had no ID card ( she had left it at home). After a long altercation, the commander ordered the man to return home (with the child) to fetch the ID. The man left his own document with the commander and set off, to return later with his wife’s Id card, whereupon he reclaimed his own and then they all continued on their way.A woman whose ID card testifies that she lives in Jayyus claimed that she has been married to a Tulkarm resident for several years, and that’s where her home is. But the soldiers refused to let her enter Tulkarm. After a long discussion and an appeal to the DCO, we let the woman use our phone so that she could call her brother-in-law to come and testify for her. Only when he arrived was she allowed to continue. We have said this before, but it bears repetition : the soldiers are exhausted andtherefore impatient.We left the checkpoint at 14:30, trying to pass by the Tulkarm gate to see if it was still closed. Twice we were stopped by soldiers in army vehicles who claimed that there was a warning about an explosive charge near the gate.