Hamra (Beqaot), Tayasir

13:40  Bezek 

We crossed at the checkpoint. The valley was blooming, the views were beautiful.

14:10  Picture at Tiasir Checkpoint: Observing the checkpoint. There is a line of waiting cars.

We met Daphna, Ofra and a guest from Belgium who was taking pictures. There were many soldiers (more than usual) at the check post and near the tower (8 soldiers and an officer). The soldiers were not hostile this time. They were happy to answer our questions (with their guns pulled just in case…). The people crossing were mostly laborers returning home after a day's work which had started at this checkpoint at 4 o'clock in the morning. A private car with an Israeli number which was driving east was resolutely sent to cross at another checkpoint, since at Tiasir only Palestinian cars are let through.

14:30  In another car, driving west, an ID card required a phone check. After a 20-minute phone call, during which a line of 8 westbound cars has formed (considered a long line at Tiasir), the detained car was directed to the side of the road so the waiting vehicles could pass through. 

14:55 The ID card was ok’ed and the car with its passengers was allowed to drive on. There were 8 cars going west and 4 going east. One of the waiting drivers said that the soldiers were new at the checkpoint and that was why the crossing was slower than usual. We left at 15:00.

Alon Road/Route 578 

The occupation continues. Nothing has changed. The landscape is beautiful, but the occupation and the settlementsare just as ugly andoppressive as ever.

15:30  Hamra

The flags of the Kfir regiment were new and clean and so was the flag of the military police hoisted at the checkpoint. A soldier posted on the road approached us to ask what we were doing. He hadn't heard about MachsomWatch. He told us that they were new, from the Lavee regiment, and therefore all the flags were new.

Many cars and laborers arrived and the crossing was quick. Only the northern lane was open, and people passed through in both directions. The two additional lanes were blocked, one by red plastic blocks and the other with traffic spikes. Evidently ee the spikes weren’t visible from a distance since a taxi coming from the east kept on driving. Two soldiers called the driver to stop. They checked the tires together and it seemed no damage had been caused. They checked the driver's ID card before he drove on. He had time to tell us that he was from Bethlehem and that he didn't know the rules at the checkpoint. The soldiers put a flashing light next to the traffic spikes. Meanwhile 15 cars from the east had lined up. When we left at 16:00 nobody was waiting.

16:10  We crossed at the Bezek checkpoint.