Beit Furik, Huwwara, Tue 2.12.08, Morning

Date: 02/12/2008 ,Morning

Observers: Nurit W. (took photos) Yael P., Rahel A. (reported)

Latest reports:

Beit Furik

east of Nablus at junction of Route 557 (apartheid road forbidden to Palestinians, leading to Itamar and Elon Moreh), and Route 5487. Checkpoint has operated since 2001, seemingly serving residents of Beit Furik and Beit Dajan. In practice it only serves the residents of the settlements. One of the three permanent checkpoints that close off Nablus, together with Huwwara and Beit Iba.

Close description

Translation: Hanna K.

We arrived late because of the traffic jams that happened around the Dan region because of a terrorist attack alert.

At the Zaatara\Tapuah Junction Few cars.
At the parking lot, opposite the approach road to Beita stands a military command-car.

08:35 Beit Furik
Few cars. The traffic is sparse.
At the CP there is a beginning of a refurbishment activity. Three bulldozers are working in the area. One of them lifts the concrete barricades which formed a kind of fence, parallel to the CP. Their use was truly never clear to us, as all the people pass through the covered passage and the turnstiles. Most of the concrete barricades have been removed already. Two volunteers of a church organization for human rights come up to greet us. She is British and he is Swedish. Both are not young anymore. They have been living since three months in one of the villages in the region.
A military jeep stops next to us. A captain in it smiles to us in a friendly way and announces that the activity of the bulldozers will make the passage through the CP quicker. We pass on to the exit junction from Beit Furik to collect information at the coffee kiosk.
It transpires that on the exit lane from Beit Furik three concrete barricades were placed - perhaps those which were removed from the CP to Nablus. By their means it will be easy to block the exit from the village. At the café we are told that the Beit Furik CP will be dismantled and instead a new CP\gate at the exit from the village will operate - which will be open every day till nine o'clock in the evening. Nurith asks what will happen if a woman will be about to give birth, and the way from the village will be blocked.

Awarta
There is a CP for the back-to-back transfer of goods, and bulldozers are also operating. The parking lot there is empty. A crew of officers, amongst which is the building officer of the region, are present on the spot.

Huwwara
An ordinary day. There is no special tension. The soldiers seems to be fresh in the area. The girls too. The DCO man comes up to us for a light conversation. From time to time, when we counted, there were about 20 persons waiting to pass. The passengers of a minibus going to Nablus are made to leave the bus to be checked at the screening machine.
One of those passing through the CP stops for a conversation with us:
Life is shit
Look what goes on here
I left Jenin in order to reach Ramallah. This will take me more than an hour. I must pass through about 10 CPs on the way.
He has three children and makes his living as a real estate broker.
The soldiers are doing their own thing - breakfast and everything connected with it. It doesn't seem that they are making it especially difficult for the Palestinians.
Before we leave a car arrives and in it are two women, members of the well known "blue white" organization.
Their car parks at the parking lot reserved for the army - near what was once the "humanitarian building.
The blue white women hasten to the soldiers carrying green small flags which they districute among the soldiers.

10:00 We leave Huwwara.

At the Za'tara\Tapuah CP there is hardly any traffic