Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za'tara (Tapuah), Thu 11.9.08, Morning
Translator: Charles K.
7:30 Shomron Gate is not blocked to eastbound traffic coming from the west.
7:45 Marda is open; Zeita is blocked.
7:50 Za'tara -
No vehicles backed up coming from the west and going east. 3 vehicles waiting on the road from Huwwara to Ramallah, and they go through the checkpoint quickly.
7:55 A Border Police Hummer at the entrance to Beita watches the traffic without intervening.
8:00 Burin/Yitzhar checkpoint isn't manned.
8:05 Huwwara.
Tension in the air, apparently because of the acid that was sprayed on a soldier yesterday. The soldiers rigorously check people coming through, both men and women. Everyone we asked - about 15 people - said they waited an hour before they could go through.
The soldier who was injured by the acid was released from hospital the previous day. His name is A.Z., and he's a soldier without family in Israel so he went back to his unit when he got out of the hospital. He's currently at the base.
8:30 Beit Furik.
No line of vehicles or pedestrians. There's a constant stream of pedestrians who are quickly checked, so no crowd forms. The same is true of the vehicles.
When we asked at the coffee shop we were told: A good checkpoint.
8:55 Huwwara again.
No detainees. There's an x-ray vehicle on site. A DCO representative is present.
People going through continue to be checked rigorously. All packages, and some of the pocketbooks, go through the x-ray machine.
All the women are checked with a hand-held wand. A school principal from one of the villages claimed, rightly, that the careful, lengthy check is a form of collective punishment, and meanwhile the children are hanging around in the street.
9:20 Burin/Yitzhar is not manned.
9:35 Za'tara. 14 vehicles on line coming from Huwwara to Ramallah. A bus is waiting in the parking lot. No line to Ramallah from the direction of Ariel.