Awarta, Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za'tara (Tapuah), יום א' 25.5.08, בוקר
Translator: Suzanne O.
Za'atra
7:40 a.m.
There are five vehicles in the queue from the west.
At the northern roadblock there are two inspection lanes and a humanitarian one. The soldiers are Air Force reservists. The inspections are quick and there are no detainees.
Even a bus crosses without its passengers being required to alight.
A few people form a group a few metres north of the checkpoint. The reason: they are waiting for a vehicle with some vacant seats so that they can board it, seeing that they are not allowed to cross the roadblock on foot.
On our way to Huwwara we count 35 vehicles.
Beit Furiq
8:10 a.m.
There are 10 vehicles in the queue. There is a trickle of pedestrians.
Awarta
8:30 a.m.
There are 5 vehicles queuing to leave the village and 5 waiting at the entrance.
There is an estate car and two taxis carrying chicks. They have permits to cross but not at this roadblock. The estate car reloads the chicks onto a local vehicle (back to back), the taxi drivers come over to us. Y. the roadblock commander, advised them to contact the DCO. If they give permission he will let them cross. They phoned - they drew a blank. Yonny suggested that they cross via Huwwara and, at our request; he called the roadblock to permit them to cross there.
8:50 a.m.
The taxis left for Huwwara. Logic requires that they turn right and drive the few tens of metres between Awarta and Huwwara roadblock. However, as logic does not work where Palestinians are concerned they are forced to make a detour via the town of Huwwara.
Huwwara
9:00 a.m.
There are just a few pedestrians. There is one inspection lane and a humanitarian one. The x-ray machine is present. The traffic towards Nablus is quite heavy but no queues build up. The soldiers: ultra orthodox Nachal.
9:05 a.m.
The taxis with the chicks arrived and were permitted to cross.
An Israeli coach carrying Christians from the Ukraine wants to enter Nablus. They are refused. They had only decided to visit Nablus that morning and had not bothered to get the appropriate permits. The roadblock commander, E., suggests that they cross the roadblock on foot up to the taxi rank. The coach driver tells us that he has a few elderly women in the coach who will not be able to walk that far.
10:10 a.m.
The coach is still here, the driver appears to be trying to find a way to get a permit to enter Nablus.
We leave.
Za'atra
11:00 a.m.
There are ten vehicles.