International Checkpoint Watch - Daily Observations

Date:  July 25, 2001                                 Time: 19:30 to 20:30

Place Observed: Atara Checkpoint

Number of Soldiers Present, Names, ID#’s, License Plate #’s, Etc.: 

3 soldiers on the road, 1 in tent checkpoint.

Events Witnessed:

1        Upon our arrival, there is a short queue of Palestinian cars.  Two cars are waiting to travel in the Birzeit direction, and about 4 cars are waiting to go in the opposite direction.  There is a constant queue during our time at the checkpoint as cars come and go. 

2        The soldiers are thorough and check all passengers’ IDs & the trunks of all cars.  On average we witness them letting 2-3 cars pass every 5-minutes.

3        We are approached by the soldiers and are asked where we are from and what we are doing

4        Coming back to Ramallah around 20:45 we find that Israeli soldiers have set up a checkpoint at Surda. Traffic is backed up but flowing