12:30 Hamra
When we arrived, there was the usual ritual - at a distance of about 100 meters, we heard the guard on the watch tower warn his peers about us. The CP commander begins to walk toward us and we meet him at about 40 meters from the CP. He banishes us as expected to the concrete huts. About 80 meters from there. Last week his brigade commander agreed that we could stand exactly there, near the water tank, but he refuses to ask the brigade commander again.
The soldiers leave the CP despite the fact that there are many cars waiting; they go to have a meal. After 5 minutes the commander announces that the CP will remain closed because of us. (We are the enemy and the IDF will do everything in order to get us away from the CP. It is worthy of mention that we did not initiate any conversation with the soldiers and we did not ask anything of them.)

There is a queue of 9 cars going from west to east and on the other side there are 3 cars and 2 buses full of laborers who are returning from their day's work in the fields of settlements.

It is very hot and the Palestinians are fasting.

Out of consideration for those poor people, we go back to the place that the soldier insisted on. Before that I approached to see if there is anybody in the internment pen and went back immediately. Then the CP was opened to traffic.

It turns out that the soldiers did not waste time during their pause for food. At 13:10 a police car arrives; two policemen (and a soldier accompanying them) talk to the soldiers. 13:40 - after some time, one of the policemen approaches us and explains to us that we are detained because we are "interfering with a public official". I asked him if, when he arrived, or at any time at all, he saw me interfere, and he said, "no, but maybe you interfered earlier..."
We asked to file a counter-complaint on interference with volunteers from an organization for human rights, who want to carry out their tasks. While they were taking my testimony, there was news of a fatal auto accident and the policemen were required to get to the location of the accident. They did not rush especially - not before they finished with our case which was undoubtedly the most difficult and the most urgent. Since we are more considerate than they, Shula decided not to continue testifying so that the forces could be freed to save lives.

In the meantime, the queue on both sides of the CP is shorter, but the rhythm is very slow.

14:00 We leave. 7 cars coming from the west are waiting.

On the way to Tayasir c/p we visited the new-old residence of the Hadida family, who reported to us that despite the fact that they have left what the army defined as a "military area", their two water tanks were not returned to them. Despair is tangible everywhere. Tomorrow they can take away the third and last tank. What will happen then? Now they are living in a place that has an abolition decree of the administration in charge of planning "for tents and sheep pens" (quotation from the decree).

15:25 Tayassir
When we arrived there was only one truck waiting on the eastern side. The soldiers are settled comfortably in the air-conditioned hut and the truck waits in the heat for about 10 minutes, until they notice us and let the truck and another two cars through.
When we left and returned to the car, the soldiers went back to the hut and paid no attention to a truck and a taxi that were waiting. We returned and got out of our car and the soldiers came out and let them through.

16:00 We left.

Near Hamam el Maliech, a Palestinian acquaintance stopped us and told us the following story. An old Bedouin, about 75 years old was detained yesterday at 15:00 on the hills where he shepherded his sheep, not far from the Tyassir CP. He was taken to the CP and detained there for two hours, until the police arrived and took him away. After that he disappeared. When his family phoned the DCO they were told that he is in custody in the Maaleh Efraim police station.
I phoned the DCO and after some questioning, we were told that he is in custody in the Ariel police station, because of "stealing a cartidge of bullets" - meaning empty cartridges that were on the ground!!!
I phoned the Ariel police station and the detention officer notified me that the man is really in custody because he stole cartridges, spent the night in jail and was freed this morning at 8:00 a.m. I asked if they had asked him whether he knew the way home (about 150 kilometers from there) and if he had money for the trip (the man was taken from the field) and the answer was negative. An old man of 75, who had never been more than 20 or 30 kilometers from his camp, is walking around without money on the West Bank and he has no idea where he is!!!
I asked if he would send his grandfather away in that fashion, and the policeman had a pang of emarrassment, but claimed that it wasn't his fault, and they shouldn't have sent him (the Bedoui) to him, and it wasn't his job to take the old man by the hand and to bring him home! The family was frightened and I was reminded of how I would look for my grandfather when he got lost, and the terror, in the dark, of a man who is lost. After a difficult day of fasting, and with little strength and with no idea of where to go.
At 10:00 at night, the man reached his camp. He had been walking all day long, did not know where he was going, and slept at the roadside, until somebody brought him to the Jiftlik and from there, they brought him home. For this, not even a fast of a whole month can atone.

9:51 Anabta

Around 15 cars at the exit from Tulkarm; no cars at the entrance.  Apartness is in effect for Jews; this has no effect on the Palestinians.

10:15 Ar-Ras checkpoint

The checkpoint is empty and quiet.  A single car arrives and is quickly let through.

6:45 Border Police checkpoint at the entrance to Qalqiliya

The checkpoint is almost empty.  A taxicab is detained by the side of the road for the purpose of a thorough collective inspection.  When this one departs, after being delayed for more than 15 minutes, a second cab is pulled over in its place.

Generally speaking, traffic is flowing, except for the cars that were randomly picked for the thorough inspection.

A young Border Policewoman comes over to find out what we're doing here and why, and to have a discussion about it.  She listens, doesn't attack, and the conversation is carried on openly and pleasantly.  At the final analysis, unfortunately, the present situation appears to her "logical" because "this is how I was raised."  We received no other reasons.

From that policewoman we found out about a female squad commander from the same army base, who slapped a kid that cursed her at the checkpoint, and was caught in the act by the camera of an international photographer.  The squad commander was grounded to the base as punishment, her promotion will be postponed, and she will not become an officer.  The soldier we were speaking with gave this story as an example of the negative effects of human rights organizations – in her opinion, no red line was crossed, and the punishment was unjust.

Azzun – no checkpoint at the entrance to Azun on road 55.  

Translation: Hanna K.

Huwwara
A detainee in the detention cell, because of "insolence" towards the soldiers, - that's to say he asked the soldiers to speed matters up and enable people to pass quicker – we called the Center, he was released 40 minutes later.
It is difficult to observe the humiliation that the Palestinians have to undergo during their checking at the CP, which is accelerated by the soldiers' behavior:
gum chewing, a relaxed posture, a constant winding of the identity disk around the index finger pointed at the passing people, orders given by a glance of a short movement of the hand, the instruction to take off the belt and to roll the shirt up, often also the trouser down.
The waiting time is over half an hour (we followed with our eyes the last person who joined the queue, until he reached us).
15:35-17:00 -The waiting time increases to 45 minutes.
Shouts that were heard from the crowded queue of waiting people caused the checking process and the passage to stop for long minutes.
According to the CP commander there are no concessions in honor of the Ramadan.

Beit Furik
15:10-15:30 -A very sparse traffic. One car from each direction and people passing without having to wait.
According to the CP commander there are concessions in honor of the Ramaddan: the inhabitants of Salaam, Dir-El-Hatab and Azmut are allowed to pass to Beit Furiq without permits or without the presence of family members. The CP is active until midnight.
On the other hand, when we tried to corroborate the information one of the soldiers answered that "there are no concessions, an information that was confirmed by a Palestinian woman who left the CP and didn't know about the existence of concessions.
Seems like an ingenious invention – there are concessions that the commanders know about but the Palestinians don't (why should they know) and even the soldiers who are actually performing the checking don't know.

Today is the day they went up to "Homesh" [Homesh is a settlement that has been evacuated according to a government decision and subject to repeated, unauthorized attempts to resettle it]. Many soldiers and policemen were standing at all the checkpoints, all the junctions and also along the roads. We were not stopped at all of them. However, we didn't get to the checkpoints we wanted to.

The border checkpoint at Jubara

13:00 – The policeman showed us the command of brigadier-general Noam Tavor, who had determined the area a military zone from 31.9.07 to 3.10.07, 24:00. We were forbidden to go on in any direction although we explained again and again that there was no chance we would want to get to Homesh.

On our way back toward Tayibe we saw a bush fire close to an olive grove. We called the police and, to our surprise, the fire brigade responded immediately and asked for the exact location of the fire. The Shave Shomron fire brigade contacted us too.

13:50 – We managed to pass "Eliyahu" checkpoint. West of the village Funduq, policemen stopped a Palestinian whose car was standing across the road. We had no idea whether he had tried to make a turn and was held up because of that, but on our way back we saw him sitting handcuffed beside the road.

All along the road many police cars were standing and going out we were not stopped.

05:40, Bethlehem CP. Total closure for the whole week of Succoth holiday. The CP is almost empty accordingly; only the happy few who hold the right permits can go to work.  <p>

Leaving the CP, we see a group of about seven women held in a shed, just a few meters away from the entrance to Bethlehem CP, guarded by border police. They were apprehended while trying to sneak into Jerusalem, probably to work. No one of them holds the necessary documents, not even IDs. A polite officer explains that they are awaiting the police; he won’t let us speak with them, though. About forty minutes later we came back – one woman had been released after being identified; the police have not yet arrived.<p>

08:00, Ezyon DCL. The DCL, we are told, is functioning as usual. There are about six people.

Natanya translating.

12.50 Za'atra (Tapuach)
11 cars in either direction. The commanders says there are no limitations or alerts and that today he and his soldiers are leaving the checkpoint and it is well that this is so.
13.05 Checkpiont at Burin is empty.
13.10 Beit Furik
Little movement at the CP and the checking is in both directions which is unusual here. A van with a young Chabad arrives with a succah on it and loud music. One of them speaks to us very threateningly. "I will break your camera." They bring the 4 plants to the soldiers. The one shakes the Lulav and the movement at the checkpoint comes to a stop. The commander says it will only take a minute and the Chabad men say the soldiers have to because they are Jews but why should the Palestinians have to wait.
13.40 Huwwara.
Under the sentry tower are three cars which have driven on the apartheid road, Madison which leads to Eitemar and Elon Moreh. There is no sign forbidding this. One driver is a doctor who has to get to Ramallah to operate on a child who had been hurt badly in a road accident. . He has all the necessary documents. We speak to the soldier who are not impressed at the urgency of the matter. Then slowly the soldier climbs the sentry tower where he does something and then comes down to stand guard over the settlers. He passed the drivers without a word. We speak to the commander and eventually the man is freed after 40 minutes, the others at 15.30. One of them says "What is this that the road is not for me? My olive trees are there. They took my land and soon they will take my god too."
The centre claims that there was a sign there but the Palestinians took it down. But we know the area and know that there never was a sign there.
New soldiers are being given a briefing at the checkpoint and so the entrance to the city is closed for 10 minutes. 10 cars are waiting. 3 checking posts one of which has stopped working 15 minutes previously and the pedestrians wait in silence. 2 men say the wait is about an hour to an hour and a half. Women and older men go through the side path which takes about 45 minutes. The young men first go through just taking off their belts next to the x-ray but later they have to do the ritual dance as we are told that now there is more time to check carefully.
Ids and permits are checked at the entrance to Nablus and the passage is swift. At the exit there is the known check with the driver going forwards with the soldier signing him to do so and the passengers alighting and going through on foot while their ids are checked. The car is checked thoroughly sometimes also the engine.
15.07 -A young man is detained because the soldier demanded that he take off his belt while standing in line and he said he would do so when his turn came and has been detained for his cheek. The soldier demands also from others that they take off their belts in the line shouts rudely at the people.
And this is how an incident of stone throwing starts at the checkpoint. One soldier throws a stone. Another sees the stone and calls in the commander and his men who come at a rush.
An old woman greets the soldier with a smile and gets no reply. We meet a person from the Hawarra checkpoint whose family and their sad story we know. Also saw how a prisoner returning was greeted by his happy mother while the soldiers stand with their weapons pointed at them. And it is hard to describe the movement of the hand which the soldier uses to send the women out of the shed as he shouts to them to go outside.
16.00 -Tension as the fast nears its end and everyohne wanted to get home and the soldiers are also impatient. 10 minutes later we leave.
Burin
2 cars and Zaatra 41 cars in both directions at 16.35

06.35 Qalqiliya- There are no lines of cars entering and about 12 cars waiting to exit. There are random checks incoming and individual checks on outgoing vehicles. After the arrival of an officer the MP's perform more thorough checks but no serious delays in either direction.

We proceed in the direction of Azoun and are pleased to note that the blockades have disappeared.

07.30 Jit – the checkpost is not manned but we see 2 soldiers strolling across the road.

07.40 Beit Iba- We arrive at the new and improved checkpost. We notice the preparation for a "garden" between the humanitarian post (which never seems to be used) and the "jora" – the detainees area. An anomaly in this dusty and hateful place.

At first there are very few people crossing and the soldiers seem quite friendly. We see 2 detainees. We are informed by one of the soldiers that they tried to pass the checkpost without presenting their ID's and are "being punished".

At around 8.10 more Palestinians arrive at the checkpost and another checker is appointed to speed up the process. Women and the elderly pass without a check. The building of the new road continues on a small scale with 2 workmen adjusting cement blocks and the lorries and other vehicles kicking up piles of dust. We estimate the delay for cars from Nablus at about 10 minutes.

At 8.30 we approach the officer in charge and ask him why the detainees are still being held. At first he does not want to speak to us but we convince him. He maintains that they are undergoing "security checks". We ask him to allow us to speak to the detainees and he very reluctantly agrees. These are 2 university students from Nablus who have no idea why they are being held. They tell us they have an exam this morning at the university, which they will evidently miss.

There is a change of shift at the checkpost. The new officer in charge is now insisting on everyone being stopped for a check and we see women with babies and young children being made to stand in line and produce their ID's.

At 9.00 there is no change re the detainees and I try to make contact with the officer. He refuses to speak to me, turns his back and ignores me. This causes me to report the matter to the Moked and give them the ID of one of the detainees to find out why he is being held. The Moked promises to get back to me. 3 members of the Ecumenical Council arrive for a brief visit to the checkpost and tell us that the Ayal crossing is closed (?)

9.40 we leave the checkpost. At 10.30 I get a call from one of the detainees informing me that he has been released.