Deir Sharaf, Wed 2.12.09, Morning

09:25 – Dir Sharaf Checkpoint: When we arrived the road was empty and traffic was flowing freely.  The soldiers at the checkpoint were reservists.  The major arrived and explained to me with pride that a Palestinian truck ran into the ditch and the driver who was injured was taken care of by an army doctor (he shows us from far away) and a Palestinian ambulance arrived to take him to the hospital.

Suddenly an order comes in and meticulous checks begin at the entrance to Nablus.  All men’s I.D.s are checked against a list containing three numbers (wanted men?) .  After several minutes a line of cars begins to form.  One of the inspectors is suspicious and the longer the check takes the longer the line of cars grows.  All efforts to move the soldiers are in vain.  A phone call to the Humanitarian Hotline does not help at all.  We left at 10:25 and counted 105 cars waiting in line!  The line continues beyond the entrance to the road leading to the checkpoint.