Awarta, Beit Furik, Huwwara, Sun 27.4.08, Afternoon
Translation: Tal H.
The media announced today that the Nablus enclosure would be removed, assuming no one will ask what that means, and that the removal of one checkpoint (between the village of Asira A-Shamaliya and Nablus) would sound good enough not to ask questions.
15:25 Huwwara checkpoint
Commander Second Lieutenant Ei., DCO representative – T.
The pedestrian waiting lines stretch all the way to the edge of the shed. The special side line for women children and the elderly is also full. First women get through rapidly, then elderly men. Some of the latter are required to raise their shirts and expose their body all the way up to their chins. A man reveals his paunch in sight of everyone and is obviously severely embarrassed. A young man pleads with the soldier to let him through, in vain.
Three active checking posts – everyone is required to unbelt and empty pockets of all belongings. Young men exit and report half an hour's waiting time.
A holder of special entry permits to Israel and into Nablus purchased a new car on Thursday and could not have it registered yet (because of the Passover week vacation at the DCO offices). He is refused entry into Nablus with his new car. He tells us the commander even refused to hear him. We locate the DCO rep. and ask him to intervene, he tries to convince the commander, but in vain. Finally the commander exercises his judgment and rules:
Only through Awarta (goods) checkpoint, and only on a tow-truck! (which costs hundreds of shekels). The man is in a hurry and leaves angrily although we have already requested the intervention of the DCO chief. Later more cars request entry and are refused on similar bureaucratic grounds. "E. will not let them through, you're wasting your time" says the soldier checking vehicles to the DCO as he tries to get a taxi in whose permit expired yesterday and the driver lives in Nablus. Another taxi, carrying a sick person who cannot walk, is refused. The DCO representative is forced to get a taxi from the other side of the checkpoint to arrive in reverse for E. will not let it come it normally and turn around to pick the patient up. "I tried but he refuses.
The commander on this morning's shift would have let him through and congratulated him for his new car!"
Awarta Checkpoint:
A Palestinian detainee in his car, wearing his Red Crescent vest. He tells us he was alerted to drive a doctor from Nablus to the clinic in Awarta village, but the car broke down and he had to change the oil crater. Therefore the doctor made the rest of his way in an ambulance. When the driver came back, the checkpoint commander told him he was lying. "You lied to me. Where is that doctor?" and did not return his ID.
In our presence he approached the commander – a sergeant – and explained to him again what the problem was. To our surprise they both lie down on the asphalt under the car for the driver to show the commander where the repair had taken place, and then the commander hands him his ID back and says to us: "I wasn't going to keep him here all day"… So why detain him at all?
Beit Furik Checkpoint
17:00 – Quiet and empty. We explained to our guest that the essence of this checkpoint is not what one sees there, but rather what one does not see. Few cars, and few pedestrians, some of them greeting us with smiles. A week ago three women were not allowed through to get to the funeral of their relative in the village, and after a very long wait in vain, they gave up and returned to Nablus.
The spectacular view and the false calm create an idyllic, pastoral illusion of life on the land – no trace of the ongoing, incessant violence and oppression. No one heeds the anguish of Beit Furik and Beit Dajan's villagers.
'Awarta
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Awarta, an internal checkpoint in the heart of the West Bank, is located east of the Hawara checkpoint, at the junction of Roads 555 (which was forbidden for Palestinian traffic in this area) and the entrance road to Nablus. It was one of the four checkpoints that surrounded Nablus until 2009. We used to watch it at Huwwara shifts because it was the only one where goods could be transferred to and from Nablus, using the back-to-back method. It was operated by the army, from 06:00 to 20:00. Until 2009.
Ronit Dahan-RamatiApr-27-2008Awarta: a long line of cars
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Beit Furik checkpoint
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One of the three internal checkpoints that closed on the city of Nablus - Beit Furik to the east, Hawara to the south, Beit Iba to the west. The checkpoint is located at the junction of Roads 557 (an apartheid road that was forbidden for Palestinians), leading to the Itamar and Alon Morea settlements and Road 5487. The checkpoint was established in 2001 for pedestrians and vehicles; The opening hours were short and the transition was slow and very problematic.Allegedly, the checkpoint is intended to monitor the movement to and from Nablus of the residents of Beit Furik and Beit Dajan, being the only opening outside their villages. Since May 2009 the checkpoint is open 24 hours a day, the military presence is limited, vehicles can pass through it without inspections, except for random inspections. (Updated April 2010)
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Huwwara
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The Huwwara checkpoint is an internal checkpoint south of the city of Nablus, at the intersection of Roads 60 and 5077 (between the settlements of Bracha and Itamar). This checkpoint was one of the four permanent checkpoints that closed on Nablus (Beit Furik and Awarta checkpoints to the east and the Beit Iba checkpoint to the west). It was a pedestrian-only barrier. As MachsomWatch volunteers, we watched therre since 2001 two shifts a day - morning and noon, the thousands of Palestinians leaving Nablus and waiting for hours in queues to reach anywhere else in the West Bank, from the other side of the checkpoint the destination could only be reached by public transport. In early June 2009, as part of the easing of Palestinian traffic in the West Bank, the checkpoint was opened to vehicular traffic. The passage was free, with occasional military presence in the guard tower. Also, there were vehicle inspections from time to time. Since the massacre on 7.10.2023, the checkpoint has been closed to Palestinians.
On February 26, 2023, about 400 settlers attacked the town's residents for 5 hours and set fire to property, such as houses and cars. Disturbances occurred in response to a shooting of two Jewish residents of Har Bracha by a Palestinian Terrorist. The soldiers stationed in the town did not prevent the arson and rescued Palestinian families from their homes only after they were set on fire. No one was punished and Finance Minister Smotrich stated that "the State of Israel should wipe out Hawara." Left and center organizations organized solidarity demonstrations and support actions for the residents of Hawara.Hawara continued to be in the headlines in all the months that followed: more pogroms by the settlers, attacks by Palestinians and a massive presence of the army in the town. It amounted to a de facto curfew of commerce and life in the center of the city. On October 5, 2023, MK Zvi established a Sukkah in the center of Hawara and hundreds of settlers backed the army blocked the main road and held prayers in the heart of the town all night and the next day. On Saturday, October 7, 23 The "Swords of Iron" war began with an attack by Hamas on settlements surrounding Gaza in the face of a poor presence of the IDF. Much criticism has been made of the withdrawal of military forces from the area surrounding Gaza and their placement in the West Bank, and in the Hawara and Samaria region in particular, as a shield for the settlers who were taking over and rioting.
On November 12, 2023, the first section of the Hawara bypass road intended for Israeli traffic only was opened. In this way, the settlers can bypass the road that goes through the center of Hawara, which is the main artery for traffic from the Nablus area to Ramallah and the south of the West Bank. For the construction of the road, the Civil Administration expropriated 406 dunams of private land belonging to Palestinians from the nearby villages. The settlers are not satisfied with this at the moment, and demand to also travel through Hawara itself in order to demonstrate presence and control.(updated November 2023)
.Fathiya AkfaApr-27-2008Huwara: traffic jam on the main road
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