Za'tara (Tapuah), Sat 22.3.08, Morning

Translation:  Suzanne O.

We left Jerusalem at 6:00 a.m. to get to Huwwara on time - during the early morning when there are many people crossing into Nablus.  On the way we noticed that there was a lot of traffic of Palestinian cars but we did not see one Israeli car.

When we reached Za'atra (Tapuach) we were stopped by two polite soldiers, one male and one female, who informed us that today the way north from Za'atra is forbidden for Israelis.  We could not believe our ears, forbidden for Israelis?

It turns out that the Palestinian police had taken control of Huwwara and the surrounding area with very large forces, apparently searching for criminals.  We tried to find out how long the ‘closure' would last and were told that the situation would continue until the evening.  Saturday was chosen because there are usually no settlers driving around on that day.

The army offered to escort us - when a number of cars built up (this does not normally happen on a Saturday).  This arrangement did not appeal to us and after we had observed at Za'atra for about an hour we returned home.

A group of reservists is stationed at Za'atra, there is no queue and the traffic flows.  One bus was checked while we were present - the inspection of a completely full bus with not one spare seat took 8 minutes.  8 minutes too long but quicker than usual.  The soldiers behaved respectfully both to the Palestinians and to us.