'Awarta, Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za'tara (Tapuah), Thu 15.1.09, Morning
Translation: Hanna K.
06:35 About 2 kms before the Samaria Gate there is a police barrier. The Samaria gate itself is without a barrier.
06:50 Marda -
A group of soldiers gets down from a vehicle near the entrance to the village.
The gate is open.
Zeita - the road is blocked.
06:55 Za'tara -
From the west there are 7 cars that pass the CP almost without checking.
A bus and a minibus wait at the parking lot. The passengers stand in a straight line, their backs are toward the CP and they face us. According to them they are waiting about a quarter of an hour. The commander arrives immediately and doesn't allow us to talk to them. (???) When they are returned to the bus one detainee remains at the parking lot and with him too we are not allowed to talk.! The CP commander refuses resolutely to talk to us too.
Ten minutes later the detainee is allowed to mount on a taxi in the direction of Ramallah.
There are about 50 cars in the queue from Nablus.
07:15 - opposite the entrance to Beita there are two military vehicles, one of them Border Police. There are no detained taxis.
At the Burin Junction there is a military vehicle watching those coming from the direction of Yitzhar and from time to time detains vehicles coming from there.
07:25 Huwwara -
There are almost no people waiting at the pedestrians' passage. At the parking lot there are few taxis. The Palestinians complain about the worsening that occurred since the new CP was opened, and about the soldiers who destroy their stalls and do not enable them to make a living, which in any case is reduced.
At the vehicle passage there are two open lanes. The checking lasts 2-3 minutes. 14 cars are waiting.
08:15 Awarta -
There are at least 20 cars coming from Nablus waiting. At the new CP there is place for only one lane.
08:20 Beit Furik
The road is open, and only after we walked about the CP we saw the top of a soldier's head.
08:30 Burin Junction -
The military vehicle which was there detained a bus which arrived from Jenin and took the IDs for registration. According to the driver they are already waiting for a quarter of an hour. After about further five minutes they are released to go on their way. The driver asked the soldiers to inform the soldiers at Za'tara that they have already been checked. Interesting to see whether this functions.
Opposite Beita there still is a military police vehicle, but not detained taxis.
08:45 Za'tara - From the direction of Nablus there are still 50 cars waiting.