BEIT IBA, Thursday 22 April 2004 AMObservers: Micky P, Ofra C, Naomi B, Nava A, Yudit A’D (reporting) color= red>07: 45There were 10 detainees, who had already been waiting for an hour when we arrived. Among them were three students from el-Kuds University and a male nurse. At the entrance to Nablus there was only very little traffic and no special problems.At the exit from Nablus there was a line of 10-30 people. According to the soldiers very many of the permits and documents were forgeries.A veterinary surgeon, who had an ID card, a magnetic card [granted by the Israeli army only to Palestinians who satisfy its security requirements], a valid permit from the District Coordinating Office (DCO) [the Israeli army unit dealing with civilian affairs], a liaison worker’s card, and a document from body which employs him, was nevertheless not allowed through. The DCO permit was confiscated as forged with the “explanation” that anyone can forge documents nowadays on a home computer. But then, the “big boss” from the DCO arrived and let him through, perhaps thanks to us.A student from the Nablus an-Najah University turned to us, when told that he had no prospect of going through the checkpoint. He said that he had come on the wrong day [ which was true in the sense that students are only allowed to enter Nablus on Saturdays, when the university teaching week starts, and may leave it only on Wednesdays when it ends ] . That arrangement, he told us, obliges him to use illegal means to get around the checkpoint, and there are many ways to evade it, he said. For NIS50 he can be transported by car wherever he wants to go.The soldiers are well aware of this, but their aim is to make life difficult.After two hours, all the morning’s detainees were released and went through. Then there was a soldiers’ shift changeover, and the new team pulled in another 10 detainees.A woman holding Swedish nationality was not allowed to leave Nablus, even though she was due to catch an afternoon flight. Again we received a lecture about the regulations regarding foreign citizens, which are stricter than those for Palestinians or Israelis. Last week, a woman foreign national was not allowed into Nablus. Everything is logical in the name of security. Telephone calls were of no avail, but Ofra delivered a persuasive lecture about our image abroad to a lieutenant who happened to be passing in a jeep — and the Swedish woman was let through.A shot rang out. The soldiers had caught an escapee in the hills.