SARRA, Saturday 5 March 2005 AM Observers: Naomi R, Vivi Z. (reporting) colour=red>08:30 – 10:00 There was a unit of reservists at Sarra. They were aware of the length of the wait for the Palestinians and coordinated the movement of pedestrians and vehicles in such a way that passage was very rapid. There was a list of people and cars permitted to go through, irrespective of age, and a list of about 30 people who were barred. None of the latter had apparently turned up. The reservists did not know why the checkpoint had been placed here and displayed no curiosity on the subject despite their “dovish” views.We, for our part, feel sure that the checkpoint is there to protect the settlers and everything pertaining to the occupation.When residents of the villages of Sarra, Till and Iraq Burin arrived at the checkpoint .they got out of their vehicles, were checked and either got back into the vehicles or transferred to some other vehicle, depending on whether the vehicle they’d arrived in had a permit. We lingered to talk to people and find out what was going on in the villages but had little success because they were all in a hurry to catch transport to Beit Iba or back homeAbout 200 people went through while we were there. One man we talked to told us the situation in Sarra was very bad. Since the checkpoints had been installed, he said, the infrastructure and fabric of village life had been “destroyed in every possible way”—from the economic, social and security point of view alike. The medical services in the village were very basic. The checkpoint is routinely closed at 17.30, he told us; thus even having to deal with the most common medical emergency, such as a woman in labor, involves villagers in the need to contact the District Coordinating Office (DCO) to arrange for a special passage permit, and the DCO officers always arrived late [the DCO is the army section that handles civilian matters; it generally has representatives at the checkpoints ostensibly to alleviate the lot of the Palestinians] . In the mornings, he added, there was a long wait to go through the checkpoint, particularly for those arriving before 06:00. Short journeys were very costly, and much precious time was wasted – all in order to go to and from Beit Iba [i.e. from one Arab area to another] which, as we all know, is a different story.