'Anabta, Ar-Ras, Jubara (Kafriat), Qalqiliya, Thu 12.2.09, Afternoon
14.10 – Jubara, A-Ras
We arrive at gate 753 to drive
on from there to A-Ras. The soldiers at the roadblock are interested
and ask us questions about what we are doing and about Machsomwatch.
We pass through without being checked. At A-Ras there isn’t one single
car. After a few minutes some private vehicles arrive from the villages
in the direction of Tulkarem. They drive through without being checked.
The soldiers check the permit of a truck driver, who arrives from the
same direction.
14.20 – We leave
14.40 – Anabta
The traffic in both directions
is passing through without delay. At the most there are 2 cars at the
exit.
14.46 – We leave
16.40 – Qalqiliya
There are 14 cars at the entrance
and 2-3 at the exit. Permits are being checked in both directions. A
bus full of young men is parking on the side a few meters from the entrance.
3 men are standing outside close to the roadblock. A man standing nearby,
but with no connection to the passengers of the bus, tells us that they
have been waiting for an hour already. He says that they have already
been checked, and that they are being detained for no reason. He says
that he’s working in the area. We don’t know why he’s waiting.
We understand the passengers in the bus are students from the A-Nagiyah
University on their way home from Nablus. We try to ask the soldiers
why the students are being detained, and when they will be released.
The reaction is aggressive. The soldiers say that the case is being
checked and add that we are interfering, that it’s military area and
that we have to move back behind the signpost. Another soldier coming
in the direction of the soldiers speaking to us orders them not to talk
to us. We move back behind the signpost.
16.50 – The bus with the students
doesn’t wait any longer. It drives on without the 3 detainees.
16.54 – There are 30 cars at
the entrance and the line is still getting longer. Waiting time is 10
minutes. At the entrance permits are being checked sporadically.
17.00 – A soldier turns to
the man we spoke to before. Apparently he’s not allowed to keep standing
there any longer. He walks away in the direction of Qalqiliya.
17.03 – Two of the students
are being released, but we are standing far away and cannot speak to
them. Now vehicles are passing through without inspection.
17.09 – The third student is
being released.
The line at the entrance is long,
but the vehicles are driving through relatively fast.
We leave.