Sarra, Beit Iba 13/3/2004 Watchers: Yehudit E., Varda G., Nina M., a guest Sarra, 9.15-9.40. It was possible to reach the checkpoint with our transit; a gate at the beginning of the road was open. Soldiers explained the situation: nobody goes out to road 60. Thus, nearby Jitt and the neighboring Sarra and Thil villages are disconnected. Villagers from Sarra and Thil can go out only through Beit Iba (the direct road to Nablus is closed for them). Ambulances cannot reach Sarra. Ill people need to be transported somehow to Beit Iba and from there, an ambulance can take them to a Nablus hospital. Drivers need a special permits to go from the villages to Beit Iba. Young men (16-35) are practically trapped and cannot go out from their villages, similarly to Beit Furiq area.We spoke to a lorry driver who came from Kutzin village, and got an insight into what is going on there. He told us that the army occupies constantly one of the houses in Kutzin, changing houses every 2 and a half to 3 months. Owners are forced to leave their houses during this period. He said that their biggest problem is high school students who need to get to their schools in Nablus. Youngsters (16-18 years old) have to get permits in order to pass Beit Iba checkpoints, and this is extremely difficult. They ask for help on this issue. Beit Iba, 10-13. There was a very difficult situation concerning men under 35. Young men had a specially arranged checking area. Most of them were detained after the checking and ordered to wait. Their IDs, student’s cards and other documents were taken, and the soldiers claimed that many documents were forged. All young men had to wait for the checking of their IDs at GSS, and it took hours. A young dentist, for example, waited from 9:30 to 13:30, when his documents were returned to him, but he was not allowed to go to Nablus, to his clinic, and went back home. Similarly, the working / studying day of other men was wasted by this endless waiting. One of the soldiers appeared every 15 minutes with a few IDs, and ordered the men to squat. Only when all 70-80 of them were near the ground in this submissive position, their IDs were returned.We did endless phone calls; as a result of it many high-ranking officers of the parachute unit manning this checkpoint appeared, just to explain to us the importance of their security activity. It is difficult to see all this army officers so sure in their rightness to destroy the life of young Palestinian men in the name of “security” that does not exist.