Huwwara, Beit Furik, 20.11.06, Monday PMObservers: Macky S., Merav A., Nur B. (reporting)Translation: Hanna K.13:00 Barukin – the blockade stands. No military presence.13:10 Zeita and Marda – the gates are open.13:15 Zaatara – one vehicle heading to the east is waiting. One vehicle heading to the west is waiting. The shift commander refused to report on the passage instructions – “you look nice, but I have a problem with this organization, and from me you’ll get no answer”. In a phone conversation with the humanitarian center it is reported that there are no restrictions on pedestrian passage (that’s to say young man are allowed to pass), vehicles may pass if they have an authorization.13:25 – the CP on the road leading to Yitzhar is empty. 13:26 – Huwwara – five vehicles are waiting at the entrance to Nablus, a queue the end of which cannot be seen is waiting at the exit from the town. Very few pedestrians. The humanitarian queue is open. The checking is very thorough – each handbag or paper bag is opened. It is outraging to see that the search of the men, including the opening of the belt buckle, is done by military policewomen. The CP commander told us that is should be done by a male security guard soldier, but that after the policewoman checked the IDs and the bags it is only natural for the Palestinian toturn to her for the corporal check. In addition to that women chosen arbitrarily are taken to the small checking cell, for a corporal check.The instructions for the passage – a few moments after our arrival new instructions were issued – are that men aged 16-35 from Jenin and Tul Karem are not allowed to pass. Until a few moments ago the instructions included full checks for the inhabitants of both towns.In the solitary confinement cell a taxi driver is detained for an hour. According to one of the soldiers this is a well-known phenomenon – taxi drivers who disregards the CP. At 14:00 he was released and returned to Nablus.14:40 Awarta – the number of trucks is greater than usual.14:50 – Beit Furik – two vehicles are waiting to enter Nablus. The passengers have to leave the vehicles and the interior of the vehicle is checked. In one case, that of a driver who wanted to leave Nablus, we saw that the driver was asked to lift the engine hood, and the engine was checked. The passage of the vehicles is quick today. The pedestrians’ queue, on the other hand, is very long, relative to this CP, and moves along very slowly. The waiting time is about an hour and a half. Most of the traffic is that of cars leaving Nablus, and only a minority in the direction of the entrance to the town. Part of the pedestrians is returned to Nablus, because they are not inhabitants of Beit Dajan or Beit Furik, the only two villages whose inhabitants are allowed to pass through this CP. The passage instructions: free passage. Men of all age groups may pass freely.The men are required to lift their shirt while still standing behind the turnstile, at a certain distance from the checking post. Here too, so annoying, the checking of the men is carried out by a policewoman. One of the men didn’t understand the order which was shouted at him in Hebrew. He opened his jacket, but underneath is he had a shirt and a vest.The girl-soldier remarked: “how many shirts do you wear?” . A skirmish almost broke out. In the end he was taken to the side at gun point, and there was checked. A few moments later he left the CP. Here too women are arbitrarily taken to the checking cell for a corporal check.A young man arrives with a rucksack, the military policewoman asked him to empty the contents of the bag on the improvised tale. He takes more and more things out of the bag, and his belongings fall on the floor. The soldiers are not pleased. They ask him to bring the bag to them. He throws the bag out of the window, and the soldiers become really annoyed.After they check the bag, he begins arranging his belonging in it. The soldiers shouts at him that he should arrange his things here, he should take them in his hands and arrange them somewhere else.A 15 year old boy is asked to return to Nablus and to bring his parents. But his mother is hospitalized in the hospital in Nablus, and his father words in Israel. Merav contacted the humanitarian center, who made contact with the DCO. At 16:25, after a waiting period of about an hour, the boy was allowed to pass.15:25 – a young student girl is detained because she had among her belongings a scarf of the popular front. Crying she tell us that she got the scarf at the university “as a decoration”. A special investigator is summoned for her and she is told that today she will arrive at her home very late. In the end she was released at 16:10. More students, with scarves of different movements, pass at the CP. The scarves are confiscated. The soldier, an officer with the rank of lieutenant, who speaks Arabic very well, opens also books and copy-books, to make sure that no propaganda material is in them.15:30 – a couple who was married a month ago, because the wife is not yet registered as an inhabitant of Beit Furik, the village where her husband lives. The Ministry of Interior in Nablus is still on strike. Members of their family will bring the wedding certificate, the soldiers promised that then the woman will be allowed to pass. And indeed this is what happened. 15:50 – A man whose ID number is on the list is being detained. When we left at 16:30 he is still detained.16:35 – On the road Huwwara Beit Furik, near the Settlement of Itamar, we see a van with yellow licence plates, which is being stopped by the soldiers. When we approached it transpired that the driver was an Israeli Palestinian who had in his van a Palestinian, an inhabitant of Beit Furik, who had an authorization to enter Israel. When we asked why they stopped a vehicles with yellow licence plates, we were told “this road is for Jews only”. When we mentioned that there were no signs limiting the traffic on the road we were told “not everything has to be written. There are things one knows”. In the van there were many objects and the soldiers asked him to unload the contents. As there was a very large amount of objects, the driver refused to do that on the road. He suggested that they drive to Awarta and there unload the van. The soldiers refused at first , then agreed. The driver also complained about verbal and physical violence (one of the soldiers also pushed him). It has to be mentioned that to us too the soldiers talked very rudely.16:50 – Huwwara – at the exit of Huwwara there are 10 vehicles waiting, at the entrance 7. 4 are detained in the pit, children who had thrown stones at Itamar. An elderly man is detained in the detention shed. There are many pedestrians, the CP is crowded and there is a lot of pressure.A few moments after our arrival a group of 9 man arrives accompanied by a soldier. They are detained in the pit because they tried to bypass the CP. The CP commander told us that all the detainees will be released at 18:30.17:05 – The barrier on the road leading to Yitzhar is empty.17:30 – Zaatara – 14 vehicles heading to the west are waiting. 22 heading to the east.