Tarqumiya

Tarqumiya, Monday November 29, 2004 – Morning ShiftWatchers: Gillie PO., Linda G. (reporting)We reached the CP at 5:25. We saw three Transits and a tow truck with 2 brand new taxis waiting in line for the Licensing Bureau. A soldier sitting next to the base wanted us to sit with him for a few minutes. He told us that the workers had not yet arrived. We saw people coming through, so we decided to refuse his hospitality and we passed through the roadblock to the other side. There were at least 20 workers waiting to pass through. We understood that there was a problem with the permits and that not everyone was allowed to pass, despite the fact that they were holding supposedly valid permits. We called the humanitarian office of the army. A., of the humanitarian office, told us that workers with permits issued after November 11, 2004 can pass, as well as any agricultural workers with permits issued before this date, if they are valid. We also called Moiyin (the commander of the CP) and he said he would check this matter and get back with us and the soldiers at the CP.We saw that the soldiers had not passed another group of workers, and then they called them back again. Apparently they had received a call from Moiyin about what to do. He told them that anyone with a permit issued after November 11, 2004 could pass, but not to pass agricultural workers with permits issued before November 11, 2004 (the opposite to what we had been told by the humanitarian office).Afterwards a group of 4 workers with allegedly identical permits arrived. They work in agriculture in Kiryat Gat. Three of the workers were turned back and one was let through. We did not understand why only one had been allowed to pass through. The Palestinians thought that it was because the soldier that had let him through was more lenient.The operations commander came up to speak to us and tell us what Moiyin had said and explain the permits policy. He did not explain to us why there was a distinction from November 11, 2004 – he claimed that it was not connected to Arafat’s death. In the meantime, workers continued to pass. Some of them were sent home because of invalid permits. A soldier came in our direction and began to explain to all the workers that if they are agricultural workers and their permits were issued before November 11, 2004 they cannot pass. Some of the workers said that they had been to the Etzion DCO office and they had been told that their permits were valid. We understood that the orders from the Etzion and the Yehuda DCO offices were conflicting. We called the Etzion DCO office and spoke with A. He said that agricultural workers with permits issued before November 11, 2004 could pass. We explained that these orders were contradictory to those coming from the Yehuda DCO. He said that he would check this matter.In our opinion it is extremely serious if the DCO offices are issuing contradictory orders. The workers suffer because they are unable to get to work, although they have permits which on the face of it seem to be valid. Because the orders are contradictory, the soldiers do as they please, which also adversely affects the Palestinians. About 60 workers passed through the CP while we were there, although we saw about 25 people turned back. We noted together with one of the soldiers that the people with the new permits seemed to be much older and the soldier noted that maybe the army is returning to its old policy from the beginning of the Intifada of only issuing permits to older people.We left the CP at 6:30. 2 minutes down the road we saw that a border police jeep had stopped a transit that had just left the CP and the soldiers were again checking the permits of the workers, as if anything could have happened in the two minutes since leaving the CP!!!