BEIT IBA , Sunday 1 May 2005 PMObservers: Aliya S., Drora S., Susan L. (reporting)Guest: Naife B.colour=red>Summary On May 1, a workers’ holiday in the Palestinian Authority, we again witnessed the real face of the occupation: roadblocks and the humiliating, oppressive and arrogant way the army treats the Palestinians. And on the special settlers’ road a procession of huge construction trucks, signifying more of the same — way into the future. 15:10 Beit IbaEven before we reached the checkpoint, we were confronted withproblems (but problems that we could do nothing to fix): a man toldus of a 14-year-old boy (too young to have his own ID card) who didn’t have his birth certificate or a parent with him [without a parent accompanying him, a minor cannot go through this checkpoint]; a man with an Israeli ID wanted to enter Nablus, “just for a short while ” [Israelis need special, almost impossible to get, permits to enter Nablus].There were at least 10 soldiers on duty and one lone computer inside the pillbox.Lots of families came through the turnstiles quite smoothly, despite the huge plastic sacks many carried [these are not simple turnstiles such as one finds in a subway station, but high , revolving gates made of steel bars: each segment is barely large enough to admit one average-sized person; there is virtually no room to spare for anything that person may be carrying , whether a child or a parcel; passage for pregnant women or for the elderly is extremely difficult and frightening]. Many of the children were dressed up for the holiday, about which the soldiers seemed supremely ignorant. But they did greet many of the Palestinians, and ask how they were doing.Two young women tried to ease past the checkpoint, but were stopped. One was under 16 and was told to wait for her mother to catch up with her. Another, 18 years old, called her father, handed the phone to the soldier and soon after was waved on her way.Buses full of families returning from Nablus were checked by two soldiers, one of whom stood, fully-armed, outside with the driver. A man who chose to walk along the “humanitarian” lane was rudely stopped by the soldier there: “Don’t youknow what a checkpoint is? Isn’t this a checkpoint?” The man murmured anapology and was moved on. 16:05The pedestrian lanes on the exit from Nablus were also very quiet, but again someone who dared to walk along an “incorrect ” lane was roundly chastised . He however had an answer for the young soldier: “I’m 51 years old and I’m here every day at 6:00 in the morning and come back again every evening!”16:20Two men, one with a British passport, were trying to enter Nablus [holders of foreign passports need special permission to do so], so there was the usual commotion about what to do with him. He was a lecturer at Strathclyde University who’d been invited to An-Najah University in Nablus, where the man accompanying him is a faculty member. While the foreign passport was being examined, one of the soldiers [apparently knowing something of the academic boycott just decided on by the UK lecturers union] asked the overseas lecturer if he would also lecture at “Bar Ilan or Haifa universities ?” [ the two which are to be boycotted 17:15As we were leaving, a taxi driver complained to us about an unannounced checkpoint at Anabta. But before we got there, we were stopped at an unfamiliar smalljunction. Up on the dirt track, south of the main road, is a Palestinian paint factory. Across the fields on the northern side of the road, one can see the red roofs of the Shavei Shomron settlement. We were called over by a group of young men in a yellow mini-van who had been stopped at the unannounced checkpoint . Two soldiers stood in the road, checking all Palestinian vehicles, while the drivers of settler vehicles merely waved to the soldiers and raced past on their way home. The young men were en route from Tulkarm to Jenin where they are students at the Arab American University. The soldier in charge made it very clear that he wouldn’t talk to of us. Calls to the District Coordinating Office [the army section that handles civilian matters; it generally has representatives at the checkpoints ostensibly to alleviate the lot of the Palestinians] were not successful. Suddenly the two soldiers were joined by more soldiers in a jeep with Captain H. , who lectured us arrogantly, telling us, with all the usual stories, that he had to contact the General Security Services [better known by its Hebrew acronym as the Shabak]. Quite late in our frustrating stay here, we realized that, hidden from the road, was a dip off to the side, where there were another two soldiers , and it was they who were dealing with phone calls to the Shabak. 18:30 A busload of children came past: they’d been waiting two hoursat the Anabta checkpoint, and as the two soldiers at this checkpoint let them go through , a cheer from the youngsters rang out.18:45 Sure enough, at the entry to Anabta, the lone army Hummer that had been standing there at 15:00, was now holding up traffic in both directions. We counted over 50 vehicles, buses and cars and people getting out of cars – all waiting and waiting to go home.