Tayasir, Hamra, Thursday, 19.1.06 PM Observers and reporters: Anina K, Yehudit H, Revital S14:00 – 16:00 Hamra We started this time in Hamra and came in the afternoon according to the recommendation of the DCO representative two weeks ago. He was right. There is far more traffic at this hour – the workers are returning from work in the settlements.The checkpoint commander was very willing to explain and happy to talk. The regular conversations: He “it will soon be much better, an improved checkpoint, turnstiles.” We “a good checkpoint is a non-existent one.” He “??”He: “You see there is almost no line. Write! Write that the checkpoint functions excellently.”We: “Sure it works excellently. A checkpoint is made to block – so it blocks…”He: “??”Everyone coming to the checkpoint has the appropriate permit and goes through with no special delays.Apart from the workers, residents of the Jordan Valley who are returning home, a delegation from the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture passed through on their way to check sick chickens in one of the settlements. They calmed us by saying that it is not fowl flu. Their passage had been coordinated in advance. Tayasir We arrived to find heavy pressure in the direction from Mechola to Tubas – some 15 vehicles waiting, and five in the opposite direction. There were three detainees.The encounter started on the wrong foot, when a soldier announced that we are interfering with his work and he will shut down the checkpoint until we leave. Without any option, we backed off but we did talk to the commander on the spot, a deputy company commander who was much more pleasant than his men, and he confirmed that we did have the right to stand where we had been – and the soldier had no right to stop the check for any reason without his commander’s permission.When we arrived, they were beginning to pass vehicles full of workers, some of whom had been waiting, so they said, for an hour or more. The contractors, who worry in the morning that the transit should be smooth, care far less for the workers on the way home, when they spend a lot of time at checkpoints.We were not allowed to talk to the detainees, and our attempts to find out why they were detained produced the following story: last night stones were thrown on Route 90 near Hamra checkpoint, and the three were arrested in the morning “The tracks led to them.”It seemed farfetched to us, but we were promised “if the Shabak says, the Shabak knows.” That was all we could get.The police were supposed to come to the checkpoint to collect them at 14:00. At 16:00, when we left, they were still sitting there. But perhaps it’s more pleasant than Kishon Remand Centre.