Beit Iba, Tues. PM, 20.06.06Observers: Pithiah A., Racheli B-A., Hanna C. (reporting)15:30 – At the exit from Nablus, a lot of crowding behind the far-off row of turnstiles. Male residents of Nablus between the ages of 18-25 are not allowed to leave. At the entrance to Nablus there is occasionally a line. As you remember, the entrance to Nablus was recently conditioned on not being Israelis, on the grounds that it was dangerous. Today – there is general inspection with no discrimination. Remark: Someone once wrote that one of the examples of oppression was caused by the instability of the laws, when you don’t know what the daily orders are going to be. While, in normal states, the hours of opening and closing of public places are given, and there are clear signs for the various lines, in the checkpoint-state there is a dynamic field of improvisations. This can be seen in the “fast-track” line next to the turnstiles: sometimes, this is a line for women and people over 50, or over 45, or 40, and it is called the “humanitarian line”. Of course, there are no signs indicating for whom this line is intended from day to day. On Tuesday afternoon, the line was, at first, according to gender alone: women. Afterward, it changed to “humanitarian”, and the irritable soldier responsible for selection would call out from time to time in a nasty voice: “Only people over 40, no doctor and not anyone else.”In the detention shed are 3 detainees. One of them is a 13 year old boy with no ID, and a youth who was suspected of bypassing the checkpoint, being punished. At 15:40 they were all released.15:45 – Another detained youth interrogated, bares his midriff. He says that he is stopped every day and his papers checked. According to the officer, he is a wanted person who is being watched. He is released after 15 minutes.16:20 – 2 detainees (one over 40), released quickly. The officer does a security check, and people whose ID numbers are close to those on the black list are also detained. A lot of unnecessary “educational” detention, for short periods.17:00 – A tempermental Palestinian makes it clear to the officer that he has “a mental problem”. He is sent to recuperate in the cell, and his ID is taken. The man disobeys and starts off on his way, while his ID is left in the lands of the checkpoint commander. After a while he changes his mind, comes back and puts himself into the cell. Later, he is released and his ID is returned.Meanwhile, there is some sort of technical problem, the turnstiles do not stop, and the Palestinians move forward. The officer gets angry at them vociferously for their lack of self-discipline, and sends them back. We left.18:00 – We arrived in Kfar Azoun. There are dozens of pedestrians and vehicle owners at the exit of the village, which has been blocked. The men, women and children wait, while all the IDs, including women and adults, are checked by the GSS. They say that the waiting people lasts more than 2 hours. The explanation given by the soldiers: yesterday a molotov cocktail was thrown from this village. This is the military response of egalitarian punishment. At the Hotline (Uriel) they claim not to know anything about this and promise to check and deal with it. For some reason, after a short time, the IDs are returned, and everyone scatters.