Tarqumiya

Tarqumiya, Tuesday 22.02 05, PMObservers: Orit B. Susan S.Arrived at 16.00 and left at 17.30 during which time approx. 400 workers passed. A major proportion of workers passed with no one even looking at their papers.There was one soldier who every now and than checked the papers so thoroughly that minutes passed (as well as many other workers without control) till he returned the worker his permit. No idea why.Same soldier was very curious to know what our wages for standing at the crossing, and had trouble (if at all) to believe that we were volunteers.Towards the end of our stay, a jeep arrived with a young man, who identified himself as I. (checkpoint commander) we were unable to see his rank (as he wore a jacket over his uniform). He demanded that we leave the area near the crossing claiming that this was closed military area. (As there were no signs of any kind we wondered where the limits of the closed military area ended) As he was very adamant "have I not made myself clear enough?" we moved down to a point that seemed to satisfy him. For a minute we thought we were one of his soldiers.But this just makes it more important that we should be carrying with us some permission from higher up, so unless we misbehave they can not just order us around.