Tarqumiya

Tarqumiya,Tuesday morning, 7 December 2004Observers: Mor A., Yael Z. (reporting)Arrived at the CP at 5.20. On the way there is a movable CP of the Border Police checking the vehicles that had passed Tarqumiya. 7 cars full of workers heading to work in Israel pass by.The soldiers at the CP are efficient and polite. Each group of persons coming from a car is called to the checking stand at the soldiers' post and released quickly.At 6.40 the Red Cross car arrived escorting 2 buses and a minibus [with families going to visit prisoners and detainees in Israeli prisons] all going to Megiddo prison [in northern Israel].The police escort arrives on time but the Israeli buses [for the part of the route within Israel] are delayed. At 7.10 the buses arrived and the checking of families is done smoothly and quickly.We left at 7.30 when no more workers arrived and a heavy traffic of trucks was passing towards the Palestinian areas. There were altogether about 200 workers who had passed the CP that morning