Beit Iba, Jit, Thu 28.2.08, Morning
08.50 Beit Iba is quiet with few cars and a swift passage. The dog trainer and dog are present. An old couple passes through, the woman drags her feet and it looks as if she has no feet as they are covered by pieces of skin (see the photo). They walk the whole distance on foot. Who has the money to go through the checkpoint?
At the checkpoint a man tells us that at the crossroads of Jit at 04.45 a soldier took his ID and also his work permit and went off. He waited there for two hours but the soldier did not give it back to him because it was forbidden for him to go from Sara to Jit. Eventually he came to Beit Iba to ask for help. Now he has been here for more than two hours waiting for the affair to be cleared up. At 09.30 we were told that the ID was on the way and it would get there within 15 minutes. 40 minutes later it was still on the way. The man works in Kfar Saba, lives in Qalqiliya during the week, went to his home at Sara to take part in a celebration for his daughter of 6 who had excelled at school. Now he will lose a day of work. Anyone living in Sara who wants to leave in the direction of Qalqiliya early in the morning has to take a special taxi which costs 70 shekel.
10.00 A taxi with 4 women and a man arrive, evidently the blue whites, they park the car in the military area and go in and
out of the posts of the soldiers ….does this not disturb their duty. They give coffee and cake. We went to the café.
10.50 A swift passage and a short line at the entrance.