Jubara

06.45am. At Tulkarm, a big electronic
gate (at least 2.5 m, high and 4.m wide) seperates the checkpoint
from the area where we came from. 3 back to back big trucks loaded
with watermelons are queuing outside. No curfew today, say the
soldiers. A very thin flow of pedestrians is going out of the
Palestinian side. A truck with household gas containers to be
filled in a Taibeh gasoline station is let through without any
problem. No Israeli Arabs are allowed passage, unless it is family
reunion, but only to villages, not into Tulkarm. The officer in
charge is very cooperative and positive about two humanitarian
cases. The first was when he was on the verge of confiscating a
wooden cart from a boy about 10 years old. As soon as we
approached, he let him through with the cart. The second was a
young man who was not let back into Tulkarm, since he had
apparently walked out without a permit. Strictly speaking, the
officer explained, he should have been handed over to the police or
border police for being an illegal "resident", but he
relented and let him through after an hour waiting. The truck
drivers whom we approached complained about the long wait (they
were there from 5.30 am). When we left, the big gates were closed.
WHY? For how long?

07.50 Jubara - Busy, continuous smooth flow of Pedestrians (no age
limitations). Horse and donkey carts and vehicles on dirt roads
from all sides are moving under the usual procedures. At each side
of this triangle junction, stands one soldier who checks both
pedestrians and vehicles, and behind each soldier another one
stands with pointed gun. The southbound car queue cars is very
long. One driver said he had on that day already through 4
checkpoints since 3 am. There is no way to speed the flow at this
junction, as the road is very narrow and crooked, and two cars can
hardly go from both sides at the same time. C., limping from a
broken foot in a cast, had eggs he wanted to deliver to the
supermarket in Jubara. The soldier listened to us, but did not
relent. A woman with small household goods for sale was also
refused because she was not resident of Jubara. Our various phone
calls were to no avail. But they decided to wait for a change of
soldier shift, and try their luck again. We left them waiting in
the sun.