Beit Iba, Mon 8.12.08, Afternoon
Beit Iba
About one kilometer after the junction of roads 57/60, there was a lot of the color yellow: yellow blocks, a yellow barrier as well as a crane. A second lieutenant that we met at Beit Iba told us that this was temporary and that the checkpoint would remain as it was. We recorded this information… At the entrance it was quiet. One kiosk was open; a few taxis. They dared to drive right up to the checkpoint and take on passengers leaving Nablus, mainly families with children in holiday clothes. Although there was no pressure, the soldier inspecting in the humanitarian line made sure order was preserved. He sent a terrified old man back in the line to his proper place. The movement of private vehicles was free, but the drivers already have a "conditioned reflex" and stop on the line. The checkpoint commander suggested that we stay if we wanted to speak with the commanding officer that was supposed to arrive at any moment. We declined. We have enough problems with Israelis now. It was a short shift. There was no tension or anger. The people insisted on having a holiday attitude and we agreed with that. A strange experience in such a place.
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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