Beit Iba, Sun 31.8.08, Afternoon
14:30: The checkpoint commander said "shalom" nicely to us. All the soldiers were polite to us, but didn't talk to us. In general, the checkpoint operated quietly and in a businesslike manner. None of the pedestrian lines were long; it took people entering and leaving Nablus an average of ten minute to go through the checkpoint. All the women and elderly men went through the humanitarian lane relatively quickly, with a minimum of checking. The vehicle lines were also relatively short, and they were checked quickly. Two men were detained for interrogation – the soldiers told us that they'll be checked and released.
The male soldiers were neatly dressed, and behaved properly; but we couldn't help noting the sloppy appearance of the single female soldier on duty: she's tall and fairly heavy, and her low-riding pants almost completely exposed the curve of her behind (even though her shirt covered her underpants). I'm not conservative, but it wasn't a pleasant sight. The military webbing she had on was overloaded, and she had a heavy load on her back. Despite all this, she behaved quietly and in a businesslike manner.
14:50: Three high-ranking officers (each with a star on his shoulder) came to see the checkpoint. Two carried guns, but the third was unarmed, no helmet or flak jacket. The two others showed gave him a thorough tour of the checkpoint, and he looked satisfied with what he saw.
15:30: The checkpoint operated so smoothly that we felt we weren't needed there, so we left.
Beit Iba
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A perimeter checkpoint west of the city of Nablus. Operated from 2001 to 2009 as one of the four permanent checkpoints closing on Nablus: Beit Furik and Awarta to the east and Hawara to the south. A pedestrian-only checkpoint, where MachsomWatch volunteers were present daily for several hours in the morning and afternoon to document the thousands of Palestinians waiting for hours in long queues with no shelter in the heat or rain, to leave the district city for anywhere else in the West Bank. From March 2009, as part of the easing of the Palestinian movement in the West Bank, it was abolished, without a trace, and without any adverse change in the security situation.
Jun-4-2014Beit-Iba checkpoint 22.04.04
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