HUWWARA SOUTH, Tuesday 15 June 2004 AMObservers: Efat K., Ruchama S., Deborah L. (Susan L., Rivka A., Effi P. and Eti P. were with us in Beit Iba and went to Huwwara North (see separate report) color=red> We arrived at Huwwara South at about 10:00. There were about 50 people waiting on line, no vehicles, and four detainees, two women and two men. The line was moving. The women detainees,a mother and her daughter, were released after about a 15 minute wait. The soldiers had been warned about a young woman passing through who might be dangerous and for some reason they suspected the daughter. One of the men detainees was released within a half-hour but the second was still there when we left at 11:45 . We were told by the soldiers that he had shown them a hospital note that actually belonged to his sister and so they were checking him out, and punishing him. He admitted this, but said he had been misunderstood;, he hadn’t meant them to think he was passing the document off as his own. During our shift, another six detainees were held. They were between 16-35 [the age-group that almost automatically falls under suspicion of involvement in terrorist activities; those in this group are almost invariably detained at checkpoints, often even if they do have the relevant permits] and wanted to return home to Nablus or nearby villages. There was still no shade at Huwwara South and it was difficult to see young men, who’s only crime was that they were young, being dried out in the sun and ordered around mercilessly should they have the nerve to ask what was taking so long.One of the soldiers used the loudspeaker unnecessarily and seemed to have no patience whatsoever. The other soldiers were correct, if not particularly sympathetic. Still the lines were moving and even cleared completely at times. By calling the District Coordinating Office (DCO) [the section of the army that handles civilian matters and usually has representatives at the checkpoints, ostensibly to alleviate the lot of the Palestinians] we were able to help a man whose wife had been taken to Nablus for an emergency operation to get into the town to see her. R., a senior DCO official , sent a DCO representative within minutes who let the man and his brother-in-law (a doctor) go through. The soldiers on duty had told the two they must go to the DCO office for a permit . A call to the DCO also seemed to help some women who had foreign passports . We learned today that in order for foreigners to pass through, they must have a special visa, and if not — then they must have a special document from the humanitarian organization for which they are working. The soldiers didn’t seem to know this and therefore did not let them through. But with the explanation from their officer and from the DCO, they allowed them to pass. We were also told that Israeli Arabs are only allowed through in the case of some dire emergency involving their immediate family. The Israeli Arabs who wanted to pass through today did not fit that category.