הסיכומים התקופתיים הם תמצית של אירועים בולטים, כמו גם של שגרת המחסומים, שנצפו בכל מחסום ומחסום במשך זמן נתון. במהלך שנות הכיבוש הצליחו צה"ל והמינהל האזרחי להדק את הפיקוח על התנועה של הפלסטינים על אדמתם בתוך שטחי הגדה. אל המחסומים מגיעים אך ורק מי שיש בידיהם אישורי מעבר תקפים. אישורים אלה הושגו לרוב בתלאות ובקשיים בירוקרטים מכוונים. הקושי העצום של הפלסטינים להתפרנס ולחיות תחת עול הכיבוש משתקפים בדוחות היומיים ודרכם בסיכומים התקופתיים.
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Bethlehem area
Tuesday AM, 4.12.07
06:30, Bethlehem CP. 4 posts open. Lines build up and then dissolve. We were told it was similar on the
Palestinian side.
08:00, Ezyon DCL. Few people. 4 sought our help -- not allowed into Israel for security reasons.
Wednesday AM,
5.12.07
Bethlehem CP, 06:40. 5 checking stations open. Lines are long and crowded. They say many still waiting to enter, because
2 other CPs are closed today.
Ezyon DCL, 08:45. People already being serviced.
Wednesday PM, 5.12.07
Ezyon DCL. 15:00: 2 people emerge. One is GSS refused. The other had a permit, said he was allowed
entry in spite of his being "refused" for some reason. He was
doubtful whether he would be able to use this at the CPs. Another man sought a
permit to accompany his brother, who has
Cystic Fibrosis, to Hadassah. He had been receiving permits for many
years, and Bethlehem CP, 16:00: 3 stations open -- not enough for the many
people wishing to return to Bethlehem. The lines almost reach the street. A civilian guard lets the people in
groups of about 10, and makes sure they line up "nicely" in two
lines, leaving a decent space in between for women and children, who pass
without having to wait in line. It takes 10 minutes for the men to pass. At 16:15 two more stations are opened and everybody goes
through quickly. Pressure over.
A-Ram &
Qalandiya Area
Monday PM,
3.12.0
13:30-18:00 - All cars checked at the exit path from Bir
Nabala. Bitunia: The Palestinian
prisoners released by Israel had already passed, but we found a locked gate
(without any explanation) about a 100 yards before the CP.
Qalandiya: An impromptu CP had been set up on the road
before the Atarot Industrial Zone, causing a 20 minute wait.Bus drivers said
they had been waiting for 45 minutes for passengers they had dropped off on the
other side, since every person is being bodily checked, even women, and in our
community there is much shame undressing in front of strangers".
Pedestrian passage northbound was uneventful until we heard some shooting and
the loudspeaker announced: "Shooting at the CP, the CP is
closed". A deafening alarm went off
and all gates were locked automatically. A mass of people pushed towards the
turnstiles – those bus passengers. 10
minutes later the northbound gates opened. The number of people waiting to
cross, most with blue Ids, had increased dramatically. After a wait of about an
hour we were able to move into the second waiting area, with its electronic
welcome message ("have a pleasant stay". An elderly British couple were appalled by
the shouting and power in the hands of the young girls, who decided to close
the CP for a couple of minutes as collective punishment for any tiny break of
the public order, e.g., when 3 people
passed instead of 2, or someone was stuck within the turnstiles. The husband, a
retired physician, wants to set up a hospital in Gaza, but so far was not allowed entry. We were getting
impatient, but the Palestinians, among them many students, took it in stride.
We finally passed into the CP area and found the DCL closed. Only two passages
were open. People had to take care
themselves of the trays for purses, phones and keys, to remove coats, belts
etc., present their papers, and then push the tray into the X-ray machine and
past the metal detector. Some elderly women, less efficient, were shouted at by
the girl soldier. A young man attempted to enter when the soldier decided that
he should wait. She screamed at him to
move back, but the turnstile was stuck. His grin infuriated her, and she sent
him to return to the end of the queue. When he refused, she closed the passage
to everyone for five minutes and then took his papers and let him wait. The
police was called and he was taken inside for "further
investigation". We heard loud wailing from the first passage and went to
look. A woman and her young daughter were lying on the floor and crying. Her
permit was for yesterday and she was denied entry. Both passages were closed,
no one passed.The line grew ever longer.
Tuesday,
4.12.07, PM
Qalandiya, 15:30. A display
of fireworks, celebrating the return of
the prisoners! New graffiti on the
Apartheid Wall. In shining blue the well
known computer formula for total discharge:
CTRL + ALT + DELETE 12 - 15 people came to return the gas masks of their
families to army representatives, but none were present, in spite of posters
designating this time and place.In order to collect masks from Jews, soldiers
climbed stairs and knocked at our doors. At the first turnstiles there was
quite a long line. Rush hour. A man asked us for help. He is (one of many)
trying to receive family reunion. The paper which attests to it has expired. He
has applied for a new one but not yet received it. His wife and children live
in Jerusalem and he with them. He left Jerusalem to bid farewell to his father who lives in
Ramallah and who is about to go abroad, and now cannot return. A DCL officer we
called gave the authoritative answer that the Palestinian was
not entitled
to enter Jerusalem before his paper was renewed. The father's
disappointment and despair cannot be described.
Thursday AM,
6.12.07
06.40 Anata. Long lines, but moving. 3 women try to by
pass the CP, but are being turned back again and again.
07.40 Qalandiya. Lines moved quickly. A civilian guard was
walking around with a pointed gun. He
explained that he felt threatened, after last week a Palestinian drew a pistol.
Prisoner's families came through quickly with no apparent problems.There was a
noticeable effort to ensure speedy passage of everybody.
Nablus Area
Sunday, 2.12.07, PM
15:30, Huwwara. The CP functions flawlessly. The Palestinians stand in
perfect single file behind the turnstiles. We thought about the rain that was
pouring there a while before we arrived, how people – unsheltered – must have
been drenched on their way to reach the taxis, where the women and children
could have stood, being forever banned from the only sheds in sight, how they
could have protected their babies.
The water streamed generously into the detention
cubicle as well and the four detainees, three of them held there as punishment
since 12:30 crowd upon a plank placed above the puddle that formed on the floor
like a life raft. The first detainee, a thin boy, has been waiting for the GSS
interrogators since 9:30 a.m. At 16:35 we complained
to the army hotline about the boy waiting since morning in the cold and rain.
20 minutes later the DCL (District Coordination Office) representative on the
spot reports to us that the boy is about to be handed over to the Palestinian
police. Another 20 minutes go by and a Palestinian police car arrives, and
takes the boy into Nablus.
The three other detainees are the drivers of two
trucks caught at 12:30 while driving from the intersection towards Awarta on the road
forbidden to Palestinians. They said that while turning at the intersection,
there was an army vehicle standing but the soldiers did not warn them not to
turn there, and having turned, were hunted down. By order of the brigade
commander they are being detained for 6 hours, but the CP commander says that
it's been 4 hours already and he'll let them go soon, for they're freezing and
wet. At 16:03, as they are being released, one of the soldiers says: "Well, will
you still drive on this road next time?... You see? Now you've learned!"
And they admit that they didn't know, but really, why isn't there a sign saying
it's forbidden? And why didn't the soldiers in the jeep say anything?
Beit Furiq. Few people passed
quickly and were swallowed into the few taxis that were still left at the taxi
park bound for Beit Furiq. Cars were passed after a short checking.
Sunday, 2.12.07, PM
14:17, Jit Junction. Coming down from Jit, we see a jeep across the
road. The traffic seems to be flowing, but not in the direction of Jit. Indeed,
we are told that no one is allowed to continue except for Jit residents with
the proper IDs.
15:00, Beit Iba. The new renovated CP is opened; there are two
turnstiles and one humanitarian line accommodating women and men over 45 years
of age.We notice that the new roof is a bit short; when it rains, it will run
right down on the people passing from the humanitarian line.
There are many soldiers, we count 15. They are standing around in groups of 3-4
chitchatting. They are checking thoroughly the contents of bags, emptying out
everything. Few vehicles.
Tulkarm Area
Sunday, 2.12.07, PM
13:30. Qalqilya. Few vehicles waiting to
enter, none coming out. There is a curfew as of a few hours previously. No one
is allowed out except for a handful of pedestrians and vehicles that manage to
have the right papers. Everyone is being checked
14:10, Azun. Completely closed. The cement blocks are closely lined
up, no space between them, no chance of making room to get through. Everyone is
safe inside.
15:50, Anabta. No line of vehicles going in, but coming out of Tulkarm
is an endless line. Sporadic check of IDs and vehicles, though IDs of most of
the younger men are being checked. At 16:00 there is a change of shift, the
soldiers from both shifts seem to be doing their job efficiently. At Beit Iba
taxi drivers tell us that there is a 3 hour wait at Anabta. timing a bus from
where we could see it, it took 15 minutes for 45 vehicles to pass, but we don't
know how long it took the bus to get to the point where we saw it.
17:00, Gate 753. Uneventful
Ar-Ras. There are four
reservists and two women soldiers, and one dog. Two vans are pulled over, the
IDs of one van are being checked, the second one has all its parcels, bags and
belongings taken out and the dog is going through it all.
Tuesday, 4.12.07, AM
06:15--06:40, Qalqilya. The city of Qalqilya is partly
encircled: only residents carrying an Israeli IDs and school children who study
in Israel can go in and out. People with permits can enter the city only on foot,
and have to leave their cars in the parking-lot outside.
06:40--07:30, villages on Road 55.
Nabi Elias is open.
Izbat at-Tabib. Has been
blocked by sand embankments and boulders for many months. People make their way
by clambering over them. Many of them come from Azun. Drivers leave their cars
parked on the side of the road.
Azun. Reserve soldiers
man the exit to Rd. 55. According to them there was some stone-throwing as well
as Molotov cocktails. According to some workers waiting outside the village
there is no open exit for vehicles.
Kafr Laqif. Has been blocked
for the last week or so by boulders and sand embankment. Here too the people
say there is no open exit for vehicles. Ambulances have to stop at the
obstruction; petrol for cars inside the village is brought in jerry cans.
09:00--09:20, Anabta. Long lines of vehicles, especially coming out of
Tulkarm, but checking is random. We timed the passing of 30 vehicles: 10
minutes. A van with young men is detained for 25 minutes, the IDs checked by
the computer.