Punishment

Translated Dvora K.

A cold rainy day.

Summary:

The person responsible for security in the settlement of Maskiyot continues to make trouble for the residents in the area, in collaboration with military units serving in the region. Last week there were two incidents in which he initiated the illegal arrest of shepherds for 4-5 hours, and soldiers actually carried it out. In both cases they did not call the police, and that's proof that there was no legal reason for the deed. After 'the punishment was applied in full', the shepherds were freed to go home.

We heard complaints about unnecessary delays at the Tyasir CP. We ourselves saw an eight-minute halt in which no vehicle could go through the CP; there was no apparent reason for this. This was after we had left the CP and stopped to observe from a distance.

Gochiya Gate again was not opened until 15:45.

Tapuach Junction–11.25

There are no inspections. Near the guard tower that overlooks the road before Ossrin, a military vehicle is parked

Kussara

We met a man who told us that the Palestinian police are pursuing him, claiming that he is a collaborator [with Israel]. He was arrested several times and has spent time in jail. That is why he is having a hard time earning a livelihood for his family. His brother was killed by the Palestinian Authorities because he too was accused of collaboration. At the entrance to Kussara there is a  second hand goods store, for which the name 'second hand' is too grand. The items for sale are terribly ragged things that somebody has brought from the flee market in Jaffe and sells here.

Ma'aleh Efraim – 12.10:

There is no inspection. A military vehicle is parked near the CP. We did not see any inspections on our way back either.

Hamra CP – 12.30

A white Brinks van is parked near the CP and bars the left lane. When we returned it was still parked there in the same place. While we stayed there was a steady stream of people and cars in the usual speed. The passengers get out of the cars which come from the west, go through the pedestrian CP and wait for their vehicles in the cold rain for several minutes. Every time they refurbished the CP, no one has thoughtto have consideration for the thousands of people who go through the CP daily, whether they wish to or not, and must wait in the cold and in the rain in winter, and in the terrible heat of the summer.

The vehicles that come from the east, from the direction of area A, are not inspected.

In the encampment opposite Maskiyot: three weeks ago we talked with a shepherd who's been arrested illegally by R., the security person from Maskiyot, who was helped by a group of soldiers who actually carried out the arrest. This was done with the excuse that he'd come too close to the settlement fence with his herd. The shepherd was held in the CP for three hours, and then released.

Last Friday, he was arrested again. In the middle of the day he was taken from his herd which was left without anybody to watch it, for four hours.

In another encampment we were told about another case of a shepherd taken to the Tyasir CP – again on the initiative of R., who called on the army to make the arrest. The shepherd phoned N. from the Association for Human Rights. She arrived at the Tyasir CP but he was taken to the Hamra CP with the claim that he doesn't have an ID card and was kept there for five hoursa lltogether. In the end, he was released and no complaint was submitted to the police.

The same woman from the Association for Human Rights is calling a meeting of the Bedouin who live in the area in order to explain to them what their rights are and how they can fight for them. We appealed to the organization 'Yesh Din' ['There is Law'] after we received the agreement of the people involved to put in a complaint.

Tyasir CP – 13:50

When we arrived at the CP it was empty of cars. During the time we were there a few cars went through at the usual speed.

14:20– Three cars have already been waiting for five minutes and not a single one goes through. Only after an unexplained pause of eight minutes did the traffic begin to move.

Before this the residents of the encampments, who have to go through the CP regularly, told us that there are long delays to get to the urban center of Tubas . Somebody told us that yesterday at 10:00, not a rush hour for traffic, he's waited at the CP for about an hour, on a tractor open to the wind and the cold.

Guchiya Gate – 15:10

The gate is closed. We rang Zaharan at the Jericho DCO every ten minutes. He spoke with the person responsible for sending the soldiers to open the gate. They told him that the soldiers had been sent there, but none arrived. Those who needed to go through the gate did not get there either, because they knew it would not be opened.

Translator Dvora K.

M.Z., a shepherd who lives close to the settlement of Maskiyot, has been arrested at the Tyasir CP two days ago at 21:00, by the person responsible for security in the settlement and a group of soldiers who backed him up. M.Z. was held without their calling the police, that is to say, without any legal reason for his arrest, and released at midnight. The excuse was that his herd was too close to the settlement. This is a repeated phenomenon. We saw the same thing in the neighborhood of the B'kaot settlement. Those in charge of security use the authority that they actually do not have and make their own laws in order to keep shepherds away from the settlement fence. The same person in charge of security notified the shepherds that they are not allowed to come closer than four kilometers from the fence. From an officer at the Zaharan DCO we learned that by decision of the local command, the actual distance is only 300 meters. And still, the person in charge of security gets backing from the local army officers to carry out an illegal arrest as punishment. We gave this shepherd and others the telephone number of Zaharan.

On the other hand, we must mention that the Guchiya CP has begun to open exactly on time, since the change of the army unit at Tyasir. This is happening after several months during which it wasn't. One of the commanders, Lieutenant H., whom we met earlier at the CP, promised that from now on the CP will be opened on time.

Za'atara CP (Tapuach Junction) 11.25

There are no inspections. One soldier is in the watchtower at the junction.

Maaleh Efraim CP 11.35:

There are inspections at the entrance to the valley. A taxi is being inspected. The passengers remain seated in the taxi. When we came back at 15:45 there were no soldiers at the CP

Hamra CP. 12.00

Passage is quick. There are no queues. This is a quiet time of the day. In the CP courtyard there is a bachoe and piles of fence parts. Apparently they are going to build a new fence, even though the CP has a good fence on all sides. We have already become used to the fact that the army does not make efforts to save money.

In the encampment opposite the Settlement of Maskiyot, M.Z. tells us that the night before last R., who is in charge of security in the settlement, came there accompanied by a group of soldiers, and they arrested him and brought him to the Tyasir CP, where they kept him for three hours. Details at the beginning of the report.

In this family, the little children study in a school that was opened in Badri's encampment beneath Maskiyot. The older ones study in Tyasir or in Beida. There's busing, and they pay three shekels a day for each child. The school belongs to the Palestinian Authority and is free until the age of 18.

Tyasir CP- 13/15

When we arrived at the CP there were no cars. Lieutenant H. came up to us and we learned from him that the unit of Military Engineers that manned the CP during the last several months has been replaced. And now the place is manned by soldiers from the Kfir Brigade. He promised that he will take care of opening the Guchiya CP according to plan, and that there would be no unnecessary delays.

In the Encampment of K. beneath Maskiyot–

There too, they told us that R., who is in charge of security in the settlement makes trouble for the shepherds and instructs them to stay 4-5 kilometers away from the fence. It is important to note that recently a new fence has been installed in Maskiyot and this fence extends to at least twice the area it enclosed before.

The children here all study in Tyasir. The daughter (16) is studying in a seminar for physical education teachers. The older son studies at the Open University in Tubas, because the University in Nablus is very expensive. They pay NIS4000 per semester. All of them are waiting for rain. That is the 'drug' of life. When will it rain????

GuchiyaCP –

At 15.00 exactly a jeep arrived. Lieutenant H. came in it to make sure that everything is alright. No one come to the gate, because they know that there is no chance that it will open. That has been the situation for the last three months at least. I called Abu Sacher to tell him that we were given a promise that from now on the gate would open as it should, and we asked him to notify people.

Translator:  Charles K.

11:30  Tapuach-Za’tara checkpoint

Heavy traffic from the south (Ramallah) and from the north (Nablus) – No car arrived at the checkpoint during the seven minutes we watched.  There must be a checkpoint or roadblock somewhere farther along the road on the way to Huwwara.

11:50  Ma’ale Efrayim checkpoint -  The checkpoint isn’t manned

We drove to El Auja to see the spring which until ten years ago flowed abundantly and provided water via channels to the town of Auja, the surrounding localities and the Dead Sea (so it won’t dry up, God forbid), 1/3 to each destination.  Rusted dams, blocked channels, and the famous water slide are all ruined, because Israel erected three giant pumping stations nearby and another one higher up the hill, and diverted all the water to the settlements.  And they even had the nerve to ask us to vote for that miserable, neglected site (the Dead Sea) that’s drying up because of Israel’s failures, so that it will be honored by UNESCO…

This is how the El Auja spring looked in 1998.

Now it’s winter, no heavy rains yet, but even though some rain has already fallen the location is as dry as the sole of the occupier’s shoe.  Compare the attached photos.  Note:  the photo of the dams shows the white pumping station “peeking” above the dam.

13:30  Hamra – No cars.  We drove on.

14:00 – Tayasir checkpoint

We’re halfway up the hill to the checkpoint and three soldiers come toward us to chase us away.  One of them says he’s the checkpoint commander, flounces toward me puffing out his chest, announcing “Me – I’m the man!!! Remember me?” (cf. the Jordan Valley report, Hamra, a month ago).  His arrogance and pride, reminding me of the violent incident he oversaw, indicate that the police did nothing about it. 

He yelled at his soldiers to close the checkpoint.  Five minutes later a line of seven cars had formed from the east and six from the west.  We were forced to withdraw in order not to harm the Palestinians.  The journalist tried to explain to the soldiers that harming the Palestinians in order to get rid of us is both illegal and immoral, but his words fell on deaf ears.  I called Zaharan, the DCO officer.  He didn’t answer.

Palestinians we spoke to said that there have been many delays recently at this checkpoint.

(15.12.11 – Two days after this shift, starting at 14:00 in the afternoon, I received four telephone calls from Palestinians reporting that the soldiers at the Tayasir checkpoint are lounging in the shed, not inspecting, not letting anyone cross, and long lines of cars are waiting.  At 16:00, after calls to the DCO and to Zaharan, they began letting people through).

Gochia checkpoint (13:40 and 15:00)

The gate is open; we went in toward Tamun.  Some 300 meters east of the gate are rows and rows of tents and soldiers aiming at targets shaped like people, set up between them and a path on which Palestinians travel.  We were afraid of being hit by a stray bullet.  Isn’t the safety of Palestinians important enough for them to shoot in a different direction?  Cars parked next to the tents, the soldiers’ families visiting their children.  Is that why the gate is open?

(15.12.11 – Two days after this shift there was a call that the gate hadn’t opened at 15:00 as it was supposed to; Palestinians with wives and children were waiting.  The gate opened at 16:10, after calls to the DCO).

16:00 – Ma’ale Efrayim – Manned by three soldiers; three cars waiting to cross slowly from the West Bank to the Jordan Valley.

Translator:  Charles K.

Summary

Violence, as well as sexual harassment, at the Hamra checkpoint, long lines at the Tapuach checkpoint, the Gochia checkpoint isn’t open.

11:50 – Za’tara checkpoint (Tapuach junction) – Border Police soldiers stop cars in both directions, don’t request documents, don’t inspect anything, only ask, “Everything OK?”, as if to check people’s accents.  But at this hour, when there’s a great deal of traffic, that’s sufficient to create traffic jams everywhere, particularly in the direction of Ramallah.  Dozens of cars crowd into the plaza and far beyond, the traffic jam stretching farther than we can see.  The soldiers try to get rid of us; we stand quietly on the sidewalk but refuse to leave.  When we finally want to go, two military jeeps block our car from behind.  I maneuver around them.  One soldier stands in front of the car, blocking our way.  I ask the commander whether we’re being detained; he says no and tells the soldier to move aside.  We left.

Ma’aleh Efrayim checkpoint – 12:30

The checkpoint isn’t manned.

Hamra checkpoint – 12:45

Three soldiers swoop down on us as soon as we arrive, demanding we leave “their” checkpoint and stand at the junction, about 100 meters away.  Before we reach our usual observation point we stop by the water wagon, about 20 meters from the checkpoint.  The sergeant, very sure of himself and aggressive, yells to his soldiers to shut the checkpoint down.  When we tell him that’s illegal, he yells at us, “I’m the law!!  I do what the fuck I want,” and continues to repeat, “I’m the man – you better believe it!!”

All the checkpoint’s soldiers – about 10 – come over and surround us threateningly.  The sergeant grabs my notebook and refuses to return it.  He and his soldiers begin flipping through it and reading what’s written.  I was very worried, because it contains telephone numbers and ID numbers of Palestinians, but Yif’at went into the midst of the bunch of soldiers and grabbed the notebook back.  Both sides pulled until it was freed, but a Border Police soldier grabbed my camera and while holding it above his head pressed up against me.  I asked him not to touch me but he continued, chest to chest, stomach to stomach, very unpleasantly.  That allowed Yif’at to come up behind him and grab the camera from his hand.  The soldier laughed and kept pressing up against me until, finally, a few minutes later, he pushed me away.

The entire incident lasted not more than ten minutes.  I telephoned Zaharin, the DCO officer, while it was going on, and asked him to call the police immediately.  The checkpoint was closed during the incident; because it was rush hour the lines lengthened in all directions – to the east, toward the Jiflik, to the northeast, toward the settlements of Beqa’ot and Ro’i, and west toward Nablus.  Many laborers stood waiting on line along the road to cross to the West Bank.

An army jeep arrived with a lieutenant; I later learned he was the company commander whom Zaharan had called.  The officer, as usual, immediately backed up his soldiers and ordered us to leave:  “I have orders to close the checkpoint if you stay here.”  We moved to the junction so that the checkpoint would open for people to go through.  Before the checkpoint opened, one of the soldiers went over and said (in Arabic) to the waiting Palestinian laborers to tell us to leave.  The Palestinians mumbled something (“You see?  Look, they also want you to get out of here”).  When the soldiers moved away one of the Palestinians approached and said they had no choice.  But they’re very glad we’re here; we should come early in the morning.

The Palestinians crossing from Nablus later said to us that the soldiers at the checkpoint said they should tell us to leave.  They asked who we were, and when we explained they said “Kul al ahtiram [Good for you],” and thanked us for coming. 

The soldiers opened the checkpoint and then the police arrived.

The company commander went over to the policeman and told him we went into the soldiers’ booth and took photos of weapons and ammunition (a blatant lie!!).  I asked the policeman (Shlomo Na’amani) to look at the photos on the camera, but he refused.  I asked to file a complaint; at first the policeman, who was very hostile to me, told us to complain at the Ma’ale Efrayim police station.  We told him that we’d complained there in the past, but that we wanted to identify the attackers to him (he refused to get their names).  He sent me over to the patrol car where I submitted a complaint to another policeman, Nabil Tuba, who was businesslike and not hostile, although he too refused at first to write that the soldiers were violent or harassed me sexually, and said, “What’s the big deal – what did he do?  That’s not violence…”  Only after I insisted did he write what I told him.  He also agreed to look at all the photos on my camera and saw for himself there were none of weapons and ammunition, nor of the booth, and not even of the soldiers I tried to photograph (because they were standing too close, pushed me and nothing was in focus).

By the way, from what we could see before they closed the checkpoint, the crossing went quickly and we didn’t see any other delays.

13:50 – Tayasir checkpoint

3-4 cars from each direction which were let through as soon as we arrived.  We stood at a distance, but from talking to people waiting learned that recently there have been delays here of an hour and a half.  Today also – crossing proceeds slowly, and documents of those coming west from the Jordan Valley to Area A are also inspected.

15:00 – Gochia checkpoint

It hadn’t opened as of 15:15, nor had any Palestinians arrived.

17:30 – Ma’aleh Efrayim

Unmanned.

10:45 – Maale Efrayim Checkpoint

Manned, all Palestinian vehicles inspected.

11:00 In the area between the Gitit and Mekhora colonies, there are newly tended fields, by the settlers of course, for about a year now. The Palestinians do not tend fields at all in this region, as they have no water. About half a year ago they did grow squashes in hothouses, but the crop was later abandoned on the roadside. Now their hothouses are deserted and broken. Next to these, probably tended by those same settlers, a field lies green and lush, and at this hottest time of day, the sprinklers merrily spray water a-plenty in all directions. At the same time, Palestinians are prevented any access to local water supply and are forced to drive great distances and purchase water in tanks, in contrast to the waste we witness.

11:45 – Hamra Checkpoint – no vehicle traffic. A huge bulldozer parked in the middle of the checkpoint.

Gochia Checkpoint wide open
Palestinians tell us that tanks cross this point often and one of them has broken/twisted the metal gate. It now remains open to enable tank passage. Until two weeks ago “security needs” prevented Palestinians of the Jordan Valley from traveling to the center of their daily lives in the West Bank hills, except for specific days and hours, and with special permits and tight supervision of the Israeli army. So what has changed? How is it suddenly possible for them to cross without inspection? And if everyone may get through from here westwards into the West Bank, un-inspected, then what is the security point of all the other checkpoints?

We drove on to Al Farasiya, having heard just this morning of house demolitions there.

Well, house is a bit overstated. In the middle of an encampment with five structures, at 9 a.m. a military bulldozer demolished the sheep shed, and now the sheep lie exposed in the scathing sun. Amazing how the army chooses one structure, probably arbitrarily (so it appears), and demolishes it alone. The woman complains that they hardly have any food as it is, and not this… What will they do? The son, who speaks Hebrew, tells us that less than a month ago, on September 20^th, agents of the Civil Administration of the Occupation arrived and handed them a demolition order for the large tent that stood where now the sheep shed had been. The family dismantled the tent in view of the officials and left only the small sheep shed intact. But the officer told them, as the son says: “We don’t care – we only want you to go away!”

We met EAPPI volunteers from Yanoun, who told us that last night, settlers uprooted 150 young olive trees at the village of Kusra.

We drove about 5 km north to Al Hamma, a small encampment by the roadside. Two days ago the army demolished their cowshed. The people weren’t home but the cowshed is already re-erected.

At 13:30 we decided to take advantage of the open Gochia gate and drive westward. I called an acquaintance who lives in Atuf, near Tamun village, in the hills, about 5 km south-west of the gate. He lives on the hillside overlooking the beautiful fertile valley of Al Baqa (south of Ras al Ahmar). His home has water and electricity supplied by the PA, as the southern hill is considered Area B, but downhill in the valley it’s Area C and there’s nothing. In the valley there is a green field whose owner has dug an ‘unlicensed’ well (no permits are issued in Area C), and of course there is  a demolition order pending.

People told us that every few days two tanks enter the area through Gochia Checkpoint, climb the hill north of the Al Bawa valley, and open fire over the heads of the tent-dwellers in the valley. These run for their lives, horrified every time it happens. In fact they start running as soon as they see the tanks crossing Gochia. According to the map I hold the hill is marked as a firing zone, but not the valley. And anyway, firing tanks over the heads of residents, including children, women and the elderly?? Probably another cruel way to make them leave.

Translator:  Charles K.

Summary:  As September 20 approaches, the Jordan Valley prepares for war!!!  Thousands of soldiers, tanks, firing positions.  Primarily near the checkpoints.  Does Israel intend to fire from tanks on the people it thinks will try to come through the checkpoints?  What, exactly, is Israel planning?  And that’s in addition to false arrests, not opening the Gochia checkpoint and destroying wells in Area A.

13:30  Shomron gate

A bus carrying some 30 Palestinians, apparently people who stayed illegally in Israel and were caught, and are now being released back to the West Bank.  Since this is an apartheid road, there’s no Palestinian traffic on it so they can’t hitch a ride.  They begin walking east about 7 kilometers on the side of the highway, to the nearest locality, in danger from the speeding traffic, during the hottest hours of the Palestinian summer.  Their only sin is their desire to support their families.  Further down the road we saw two more Palestinians trudging along, apparently from an earlier batch.

14:15  Ma’aleh Efraim

Manned, after a long period during which it was unmanned.  The internationals told us that two days ago it was also manned.  Cars in both directions are carefully inspected – documents and contents.

14:30  Hamra checkpoint

No cars at all, so we didn’t stop.  On our way back (at 17:30) there were no cars coming from the Jordan Valley but there were cars from the west which were carefully inspected as they went through.  The internationals said (and confirmed what they said by showing us photographs) that the army established a number of sandbagged firing positions on the hill above the checkpoint, facing the West Bank.  Probably to confront the army of the elderly and children that will march to the checkpoint.  Or not.  Palestinians tell me that they’re not making any preparations or organizing to do so.  My fear is that even if there are no demonstrations, the very fact of preparations for war will tempt the army to use the force it possesses, and we’re talking about innocent civilians.

Gochia checkpoint

We observed from a distance but saw no Palestinians going through.  But we couldn’t see whether or not the army jeep arrived.  Recently we’ve received reports that the checkpoint hasn’t opened at all.  Maybe that’s why the Palestinians have given up and stopped coming.  Many soldiers and a tank next to the checkpoint.  Preparations for September 20?  Isn’t placing a tank where civilians and children cross a provocation?  Do they intend to use tanks?  Against whom?

More, from the following day – 14.9.11: 

A Palestinian told me that the tank stands next to the Gochia checkpoint, which was open all day.  He thinks they even dismantled the gate.  The rumor spread and Palestinians crossed freely but apprehensively to the West Bank.  I assume that the intent is to erect a more massive checkpoint to replace the metal barrier.  But the truth is that the size of the gate isn’t important, since the gate stands in the middle of nowhere, and even if they erect a gate that matches the prison in which inhabitants of the Jordan Valley have been trapped, how hard could it be to go around it?

We visited the Salamin family next to the settlement of Beqa’ot, whose sons were arrested a number of times last week (details at the end).  While we were there, a Beqa’ot security jeep showed up (driven by a Druze security man), drove around the encampment threateningly, and left, leaving us in the midst of a cloud of dust.

At 15:55, as we were leaving after our visit, the Beqa’ot jeep came toward us near to the settlement’s vineyards.  The security person signaled us to stop, asked who we are and what we were doing, but although we identified ourselves, he refused to identify himself and told us that it’s a closed military area and we’re not allowed to be here.  We made it clear to him that in the absence of an order from the commanding general this isn’t a closed military area.  He warned us not to dare return (we’re not talking about the settlement’s land, but the Palestinians’ grazing lands which, although they’re defined as firing ranges, like the entire Jordan Valley, this particular dirt road isn’t a firing range – because of its proximity to the settlement’s fields).  The jeep drove off and to block our route where the dirt path joins the main road.  We drove around it and continued to Tayasir.  Right after the turn to Tayasir an army jeep showed up, a soldier got out, came over to us and said that the security man from Beqa’ot photographed my car’s license plate and called the army.  The soldier said we weren’t permitted to be in the area of Salamin because it’s a closed military area.  We asked him to show us the order, which doesn’t exist, of course, so we informed him that we’ll continue to go there because it’s not a closed military area, and drove off.

16:15 – Tayasir checkpoint

Seven cars in line.  The checkpoint is closed.  People waiting say they’ve been there half an hour.  They waited ten more minutes after we arrived until the checkpoint opened.  We saw that there had been a change of shifts, but does the checkpoint have to close for that, and for how long?

After the checkpoint opened, cars coming from the West Bank were inspected – documents and contents.  Pedestrians were carefully checked and came angrily through the checkpoint (because of the long wait, I assume).  The documents of passengers in the cars crossing from the Jordan Valley to the West Bank were inspected, and the lines continued.

An old man and his wife reached the soldiers’ position without having been summoned to advance.  He was punished and sent all the way back to wait at the imaginary line –“The Palestinians know where it is.”  He waited five minutes before being called forward to be inspected, where they told him to get out of the car, but he had difficulty getting out.  It turned out that he’s not only old, but also handicapped.  That didn’t particularly bother the soldiers, who made him open the trunk.  The old man tottered over with difficulty and did what they asked, but it wasn’t enough – now open the hood.  The old man did it with great effort.  Finally they made him bring the documents from the car, which seems to have been the only other thing they could think of, and despite their boredom they allowed him to continue.  When we left at 16:55 there were four cars on line from the west and four from the east.

Addition to the report regarding the arrest of three members of the Salamin family

All we could understand from talking to one of the others (the brother who got lost doesn’t remember the incident) is that the army left him on the road and he was ultimately picked up by the Palestinian police who’d found him at two in the morning.  He’d wandered, confused, for 18 hours, aimlessly, not knowing where he was – he’d forgotten everything.  Eyewitnesses saw him in the afternoon near Zbeidat, on Route 90 and near Ain al Bidan, near Nablus (where he was finally picked up by the Palestinian police).

On Thursday, 8.9.11, one of the brothers (Udai) was arrested again, this time together with his 14-year-old nephew, next to his home, accused of bypassing the Gochia checkpoint without a permit.  When he asked why he’d bypass the gate, since he lives to its east, which is where he is, there was no answer.  The soldiers handcuffed him and blindfolded him with a strip of flannel cloth used for cleaning weapons.  He was detained for four hours at the Hamra checkpoint while we tried to get the DCO officers, who’d come for that reason to the Hamra checkpoint, to do something about it.  The two youths were released at the Hamra checkpoint; it took them another hour and a half to get home, without money, without documents, at a location without public transportation and almost no Palestinian traffic.

On Friday, 9.9.11, Udai was arrested again, this time together with another shepherd, Razi, from the Abu Sakar family.  They were handcuffed, beaten severely and blindfolded.  The reason – they hadn’t any identification.  One of them said he’d run home (200 meters away) to bring the documents, but the soldiers refused to relinquish their prey.  They were released two hours later, after the DCO intervened.

Destruction of wells in Nasariyya – report by the internationals

In Nasariyya, in Area B, the army destroyed three large wells, after having destroyed wells in the area last week as well.  Nasariyya is located on the road between the Hamra checkpoint and Nablus, west of the checkpoint.

Translation: Ruth Fleishman

Third Friday of the Ramadan

"Not yet fifty" was the key phrase.

On the morning of the third Friday of the Ramadan all the rule regulating the passage had changed: the criterions were more severe and all praying permits were cancelled. Fifty was the minimum age. Those younger by only a couple of days, men as well as women, with or without permits, were declined passage. Several hours later (at eight o'clock according to the officers), after the thousands that had wished to cross the checkpoint during the morning hours left in desperation, this "equality" between the genders was lifted and only the usual rules regarding women were implemented.

Two different groups were there, the group inside and the one outside.
Various military unites were inside, in the sterile zone, protected from grenades and rifles in the fortified site that was barricaded by metal fences, cement blockings and barbed wire.
While outside, surrounding the site, were thousands of men, women and children that had gathered from all around the West Bank, asking to realize the promise made by the sovereign who is obligated to protect the right for freedom of religion.
Order, discipline and hierarchy controlled the inside group, while the outside group was controlled by surprise, rage and chaos.    

People who had just a couple of days earlier received signed permits from the authorities that were to be used on that day, witnessed how the same hands that gave them their permits, denied both it and them with a simple hand gesture and a rude voice.  
Many men who up until the previous night were old enough to cross, had that morning become a threat, they ran helplessly between the gates, holding their documents out as evidence of their right, trying their luck for the second, the third and the fourth time.
But the gates and cracks were tighter than ever. The sterility was backed up with fishers' nets (in the military lingo) and almost no loopholes were to be found. The few, mostly teenage girls, that managed to slip passed the first row of soldiers, were caught soon enough and sent back through the "gate of the denied" which was a kind of "revolving door".
People from east Jerusalem found it hard to get back home: "not yet fifty" was the key phrase…

Among the people who were trying their luck was a person who two weeks earlier was framed by the soldiers, an event which we witnessed. The person told us that at the beginning he was taken to the police station at the checkpoint, from there he was transferred to Atarot and at the end of the day he found himself incarcerated in Ofer. In the mean time, while making their way from one place to the other, the people transferring him beat him. It was only on Sunday, two day after his arrest, that he was released on a 5,000 Shekel bail.
The link to the video documenting the event:
http://www.mahsanmilim.com/ramadan2011.htm
Two of the senior officers that commanded and supervised the event had a conversation: "Lots persons who are illegally staying in Israel cross here!..." said one to the other and they both nodded. Worried in face of the many people cramped up and the few that managed to pass, when the only criterion was the age specified on the person's ID, they didn't seem uncomfortable nor did they seem to dwell on the absurdity of the sight before them.

As the hours passed and the hour of the prayer in Jerusalem approached, the checkpoint was closed to elder men as well. It was the hour in which even the person's age didn't matter anymore. At the eastern side of the site, those who stood at the men's gate keeled on the ground and prayed in front of cement bricks, barricades, barbed wire and heavy machinery, before the eyes of the soldiers who saw and ignored this.  

Usually, at that point the laws regulating the passage are once again as before. However, this wasn't the case on that Friday. Closure was the regulation that faced those who waited for it to be noon, so that they could cross with use of their permits to Jerusalem. They were denied and sent home in shame, with a sound of the fortified soldier behind the front window, screaming at them.

Translator: Suzanne O.

There is a snap roadblock at Beit Furiq – security needs or collective punishment?

Azun Atma

6:30 a.m. 

A long queue of labourers (over 70 people) winds round the car park.  Each person leaving reports a different waiting time but they all complain about the length of the queue. The whole roadblock is run by female combat soldiers, and military police.  Instead of the improvised tent opposite the inspection cube a small concreted tower has been raised with an inflexible female soldier guarding inside.

At Shomron Crossing the civilian police are present at the exit from Israel and a long queue of settlers is at the entrance to it.

The entrances to Marda and Zeita are open.

Za'atra/Tapuach

7:00 a.m. 

The Border Police in the positions do not interfere with the flow of traffic.  The lookout tower has disappeared from the Menorah roundabout.

Yitzhar/Borin roadblocks

There is no military activity.

Awarta

Unsurprisingly, the yellow barrier still bars the crossing.  On the way back we will try to contact the spokesperson of the Central Command again.  We have still not got an answer to our letter on the matter from three weeks ago.  We didn't get an answer today either.  (In the end they will probably write us that the barrier is against the Breslau people and not the Palestinians.)

Beit Furiq

7:20 a.m. 

There is no IDF presence at the roadblock.  However, at the entrance to the village there is an improvised snap roadblock.  Three soldiers have spread out spikes on the road and all the traffic is at a standstill.  Very slowly they inspect ID cards and cars wishing to leave the village in the direction of Nablus and do not permit those wishing to enter the village to do so.  Tens of cars wait in every direction.  The drivers who are far from the roadblocks are unable to understand the meaning of the stoppage and try to overtake.  Chaos ensues.  We made a number of telephone calls – the humanitarian centre and the DCO – but no one there knows anything about the activity.  As Israelis we overtook the whole queue insolently and the soldiers waved us across.  In the village we were told that a few nights ago children threw stones at the windscreen of a military vehicle patrolling the roads of the village and shattered it, they believe this is a kind of punishment.

By the time we left the village the soldiers had already disappeared and with them the queues.  Perhaps, because we telephoned, someone took the time to find out what was going on there?

Huwwara roadblock

8:00 a.m. 

Deserted.  Some of the perspex buildings have already fallen down.

In the town Huwwara a new Burger King has opened.  A sign of economic peace.  Three Border Police vehicles patrol the streets of the town.

Za'atra/Tapuach

8:10 a.m. 

The traffic flows unimpeded.  There are soldiers in the positions.  A military vehicle is parked in the car park.

At Shomron Crossing the inspection at the entrance to Israel was, as usual, superficial. 

Translating: Ruth Fleishman

"All the Israeli citizens, regardless of their race and religion, know that Israel is, was and will stay obligated to being the most anti-racist country in the world…"

Qalandiya checkpoint:

-    On the same day that the Israeli president spoke these word (Hebrew source: http://www.calcalist.co.il/local/articles/0,7340,L-3516288,00.html), we witnessed this "anti-racist" country physically and mentally torture a person with heart disease on his way to surgery.
The 46 year old man from Gaza had been transferred from one stretcher to another, from one ambulance to another, ever since the break of dawn, exposing him to the public eye. This was in violation of the right to privacy embedded in the patient's bill of rights: "…maintain the dignity and privacy of the patient at all stages of his treatment" (Patient's Right Act, 1996, chapter 3/10). Not having civil rights means that even his privacy had been taken from him, this is his "punishment" for not having been born to the same people as a the president.

-    Roni had set to meet a German group on the Palestinian side of the checkpoint. The visitors weren't satisfied with our explanations regarding this checkpoint and the occupational mechanism as a whole, and wanted to experience it by actually crossing the checkpoint alongside us. This journey that was supposed to be short and simple, ended in bitter disappointment: The soldiers, who had probably been watching us the whole time, decided to play a hoax on the expense of the foreigners and locked the turnstiles every time that one of them arrived at the head of the line. They got everyone running from one lane to the other as their finger constantly pressed the lock button. When the visitors realized that this was part of a collective punishment, that the main victims were the Palestinians who had arrived there at the wrong time by accident, they felt guilty and headed back.
 
On Labour Day:
"There's no work here. It's tough this way..." said a resident of the refugee camp who was sitting idly by the wall. Throughout the hours we spent at the checkpoint and its vicinity, we saw hundreds of labourers heading back from a day of work. They were the lucky ones that received permits seeing as they fitted the profile that the sovereign had implemented: adult men. They are obedient people who don’t speak out when their salaries aren't paid or their social rights which are implemented by law are taken from them, for it is well known and reality proves it to be so, that anyone who dares complain loses even his single prized possession- the right to provide for his family.

Jaba checkpoint:
"You mustn't stand here!", "You mustn't take our picture or that of the checkpoint"- "This is a military zone..."
We saw a long and curvy line of vehicles on the road leading to Adam at the direction of the checkpoint. We insisted on our right to be there and take pictures, as well as see the decrees that forbid us from doing so. The group of soldier huddled at the post and started looking through their files, but the decree that is said to exist wasn't to be found (because there is no such decree!).
The soldiers' attention was diverted towards us, making them forget all about the Palestinians and the traffic began to flow.