Huwara South Monday 20.9.04 noonObservers: Ora (guest), Tal H., Aya K. (reporting)Huwwara is still, the streets are empty, all the shops are closed. A ghost town.We see a man walking by, N. asks him what happened, and he says that soldiers ordered all the shops closed. We called the “Humanitarian” hotline of the army, as well as the army spokesperson’s bureau – both, in my opinion, the Occupation’s PR agencies… Anyway, as a part of our protest we demand answers, for the record. And it seems that at times our calls, even when answered by tiring, transparent lies as a part of the system, tickle the soul of the Occupation into giving in (there are plenty of other arenas for cruelty, so once in a while such surrender is no big deal). When Jewish women are eye-witnesses. Or when too many questions are asked… This time, incidentally, it didn’t work.The army spokesperson didn’t answer our query, and one of the hotline operators, after much pressure on our part, answered that this was “shop-shutting procedure”. Another several calls as to “why?” and he answered that there was rioting the day before so… “Is this a punishment?” I asked.“No way…”Another touch of Occupation lore: a well-known radio reporter called, asking to verify the rumor that the wife of I.(important Civil Administration person) is a Machsomwatch member. We took the opportunity to tell him about the shut shop routine in Huwara, where a whole town has been denied its livelihood, schools etc. and added what we had found out in the meantime, that both Huwara and Beit Furik CPs were under total “life halt” and are closed.This (unlike the rumor), he explained, is not news.Huwara South. The checkpoint has been closed for about an hour. Dozens of people crowd behind the infamous turnstiles. Unbearable stench everywhere. The two toilets placed right next to the waiting line, already mentioned in previous reports, are not connected to any sewage pipes, and the feces just hang outthe pipe openings in the rear, pouring out onto the CP ground, a meter or two away from the waiting line of people. I have no words to describe this. Suffice it to say breathing was a challenge. Looking was revolting. If this innovation is intentional, it is one of the most sophisticated methods of humiliation invented by the army. If not intentional, this is one of the worst symptoms of brute persecution. What does the occupier assume? That “they” are not disgusted with the stench so close? That they do not have hygienic needs, even minimal? That “their” sense of smell is any different than “ours”?What has whoever did this been thinking, or rather what has not occurred to him? It has not occurred to him that these are literally human beings! But why am I surprised? The basis for it all… Could such normal soldiers maintain this degrading regime faced with real human beings? No. In order to keep doing this, they must not be regarded as human beings. Not like us. Not really. So why do I wonder at these toilets, really?According to army sources, the checkpoints were closed because of some secret intelligence, some serious top-security stuff. One soldier said there was shooting in Nablus. Another person standing in line said Mofaz (Defense Minister) had crossed the CP earlier and that’s why it was closed. Nor did the soldiers seem to know why. Soldiers are not cruel, they only manifest all that is inherent in a soldier of an occupying army. One of them, E. merits favorable mention here (despite my sweeping view that nothing positive is to be said of any soldier since differences of degree are irrelevant, anyone there has crossed a line and the rest is marginal) – still I mention him here for the sake of other vigils. He is open to conversation. Doesn’t seem to see Palestinians as “people”, not quite, but still seems to feel better when he is helpful. And our appeals were met. He agreed to let a woman and her newborn baby pass despite the “ceasing of life” procedures, and let women with babies wait in the shade of the detainee shed. He agreed to hurry the ID check of a boy accompanying his mother to Nablus, and allowed and recommended a woman accompanying her sick mother to summon an ambulance, since ambulances were allowed through. Which, in itself, is outrageous because if an ambulance is allowed through, why can’t a sick person just be let through, period? It has to cost money which is lacking…Tal commented to soldier E. that the soldiers both address women as “girls” which is disrespectful, and even that is pronounced wrong, and that they should be addressed as women, “nisuan”. Although his first reaction was sardonic and defensive, he began to seriously apply this and addressed the women’s line properly from that point on.At 12:20 the CP was opened, or rather went back to its usual function, many prevented from crossing, some allowed along the known criteria.