Tayasir, Tue 22.2.11, Morning

Translation: Bracha B.A.

Bezek Checkpoint 08:40

There is nothing more beautiful than the desert after the rain.  We suggest that you come quickly because it will soon be covered with concrete – the bulldozers are working on the newest rows of houses in the settlement of Maskiot, about to spill down into the riverbed.

A few kilometers before Hamra Checkpoint, west of the road, new earth mounds are blocking the main road which has already been paved to Talpiot.

09:15 – At Hamra Checkpoint

Some people are waiting for their car, which has already been meticulously checked during the past half hour. One of them has worked for 18 years in Haifa, so despite the fact that we don't speak Arabic we were able to converse. He is married to a Jordanian woman and lives in Jordan.  His three children were born there.  He has come to register his three daughters in his green ID card before they turn five so that if they want to return and visit their home here in Jenin they will be able to come.  He works "under the counter" in Jordan as he did here despite the fact that his wife is Jordanian.

The green route is working.

The red and blue flag from last week's report is no longer there.  Perhaps someone was reminded that you should not boast prematurely, and decided that waiving the flag, with its message of "No terrorist attacks from the crossings," should wait until the end of the occupation. 

There was a sense of more than the usual amount of traffic of vehicles with yellow license plates.  One entered Area A without being stopped.  A non-military white jeep and two armed men, not in uniform, stopped to meet with a commandcar.  They drove west and departed.

We left a little after 10:00 after hearing that you can study veterinary science at A-Najakh.

At 10:35 we heard the soldiers at the Tayasir Checkpoint telling each other that we had arrived.

On the way up to the checkpoint tents on the slope were testimony to military field operations.

There was very little traffic, mostly trucks and taxis.

We left a little after 11:00.