'Azzun 'Atma, Thu 20.8.09, Afternoon
‘Azzun ‘Atma We arrived at the southern checkpoint at 16:15.Laborers get out of cars with yellow (Israeli) license plates, returning from their workday and immediately lining up at the entrance to the checkpoint. They wait for instructions from the checkpoint commander who’s standing near the tent. He motions to them to approach the building. There they pass their ID’s through a slot to a soldier visible through a window.
On the other side of the road, under the fig tree, sit a group of children. When a vehicle stops, two of them run over and try to sell figs and sabras. Sometimes they also run into the street, carelessly. From time to time, randomly, the checkpoint commander stops one of the Palestinians and asks whom he works for, and where he lives, and similar questions.
A boy enters the village without being checked. One of the soldiers asks only his name and motions him through. A few minutes later the boy leaves the village after buying things at the grocer’s. Now the soldiers want to see his documents and ask him questions, like: does he fast during Ramadan? For their general information…
A boy with a bicycle is sent to the building where people are inspected, shows documents and enters the village (the photo on the left).The laborers keep arriving, and we leave at 16:30.