BEIT IBA, HUWWARA, Wednesday 23 June 2004 AMObservers: Orit B., Miriam L., Nava Mann, Michal P. and Hannah A.(reporting together ) colour = red> Before the turnoff to Shavei Shomron there was an unannounced road-block: a military command- car was parked the width of the road halting traffic in both directions07:45 — Beit Iba The checkpoint is changing from watch to watch, and conditions are getting better (shelters, water, perhaps even loudspeaker announcements?) but, on the other hand, the checkpoints are becoming a permanent fixture.Many people, including families and children, were entering Nablus, in a regular flow. We were approached by families of law students who were due to attend a graduation ceremony today; some family members had been barred. We interceded and they went through. 2nd Lt. M. arrived [from the District Co-ordinating Office (DCO ) — the army section that handles civilian matters and usually has representatives at the checkpoints, ostensibly to alleviate the lot of the Palestinians] and informed the soldiers of the new order easing restrictions on entry to Nablus.09:30 — Huwwara A number of vehicles, including ambulances, were waiting, and it took about half-an-hour for a vehicle to go through. There were 15 young detainees.10:30 — By now there were 28 detainees. Without warning , a soldier trained his gun on them and shouted at them to sit down. One of them, suspected of having a forged ID card, was handcuffed and blindfolded and thrown onto the ground in the middle of the lane till a police car arrives to take him at 11.30. Only a few detainees were released, and our efforts to speed up the process with the DCO and the army’s “humanitarian” hotline were unsuccessful.Huwwara North There was now a single detainee and traffic was flowing. The megaphone had disappeared but there was an “innovation”: the table where the contents of cases were inspected had been moved and people now had to empty out their luggage on the ground; “Muhammad”, as the soldiers called him, and his friend had taken the initiative, moved a table, translated the soldiers’ orders for those who needed this service, and urged them to hurry up , and the soldiers apparently were cooperating with them. It turned out these were owners of confiscated taxis who were waiting ……for what exactly, it wasn’t quite clear to us.An elderly man went over to the DCO representative, explained that he had eight children, and that something in a document he showed was inaccurate. The officer asked a soldier to change the document, but then the man came back a second time — there was another inaccuracy ; it would be a good idea to take more care and thus avoid the unnecessary run around that people are given. At 10:00 there was a sudden hubbub. A very skinny young girl started running,with the soldiers chasing after her, shouting at her to stop. Muhammad tried to stop her, people tried to soothe her. When a woman soldier came over, she started running again. The soldier aimed her rifle at her. Orit went over to the girl, reassured her, took her hand and stayed with her. The girl responded well. They wanted to do a body search on her and she went over to the checking tent hand in hand with Orit, accompanied by two women soldiers, a sergeant and a DCO officer. At a certain point, they refused to let Orit in, the sergeant shouted that she was disturbing them and the women soldiers shouted and cursed her. The women soldiers were intent on heating up the atmosphere and constantly screamed obscenities and threats against the young woman. One of them refused a suggestion that she should return to checking the other people — she wasn’t going anywhere until that “bitch” has been checked, “I’ll give her what for, pushing my friend like that! Fuck her!” etc. etc. If the girl wouldn’t undress, one of the women soldiers said, “I’ll shoot her to make her do so!”. At that point, a car drove up with a settler from [the Jewish Israel settlement of] Har Bracha, named M., who told us we were traitors to Israel. The women soldiers egged him on him and he told us that there’d been women like us in Nazi Germany as well. Meanwhile the harassment of the young girl continued unabated, orchestrated and carried out by the women soldiers.What was it all about? The girl had a medallion with a picture of her 32-year-old brother who’d been shot by Israeli troops, not in a terrorist action, she told us. The woman soldier saw it and, when asked, the girl explained to her using the word “Shahid” [Arabic for one who dies or is killed in a sacred cause]. This was like a red rag to a bull for the woman soldier concerned and she quite lost her cool. At one point, she even called the young woman a “terrorist” .After some time, the girl’s mother arrived, shouted a little and they let the girl go.The soldier who was holding the ID cards of the detainees’ tried to check what was happening : the orders that he was given were to convey the details [to the General Security Services (GSS) — also known as the Shabak or Shin Bet, — which cross-checks the information against a list of security suspects and phones back the results to the checkpoint] only when he had 10 ID cards [which, of course, adds to the very considerable time the detainees are kept waiting]. At 11:45, when we were about to leave, there were 29 detainees, including two with Israeli ID cards. One at least had been waiting more than two hours. The DCO representative was awaiting instructions to release them all.