Awarta, Beit Furik, Za’tara (Tapuah), יום ג’ 8.7.08, בוקר
Translation: Suzanne O.
Marda
Open
Zeita
The barrier is closed.
Za'atra
7:45 a.m.
There is a queue of 29 cars. We did not stop.
Beit Furiq
7:55 a.m.
There are four cars in the queue. One crossing is open in both directions; it takes about a minute for a car to cross at the entrance to Nablus.
There are two detainees. They ‘trickled' – they drove on the apartheid road in the direction of Huwwara. When we arrived they had already been detained for two hours and, according to the polite roadblock commander, Y., they still have an hour remaining. We were not allowed to approach them and particularly not to point out (and here I point out) that they were not permitted to take the cards with the MachsomWatch telephone numbers. Therefore we are unable to say if they were indeed released an hour later.
I asked the commander if this was a punishment and he confirmed it was, when I asked him if he knows that it is illegal to punish them this way he claimed that he was not doing it just for the sake of doing it, they too had done something they were not allowed to do and he has his orders…
In his defence it must be said that he really was polite, including an attempt (which succeeded) to mediate between us and a rather het up female soldier who informed us sharply that she would close the roadblock if Yehudit kept on using her camera – she was frightened of being photographed.
Meanwhile one of the Palestinians told us that the army had entered Nablus during the night and taken over a commercial building, including the shopping area (market?) claiming that the building belongs to Hamas. Anyone entering the building over the next two years will be imprisoned for five years. Some of the merchandise was left in the building.
Awarta
8:35 a.m.
There is no queue to enter Nablus and there is one car at the exit. There is one back to back.
Huwwara
8:40 a.m.
There are about 12 people at the roadblock. We left at 9:25 a.m. without witnessing any particular incidents.
Za'atra
9:35
There are six cars and one bus being inspected. We did not stop.
'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-23-2026Awarta Checkpoint is empty
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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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Za'tara (Tapuah)
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Za'tara (Tapuah) Za'tara is an internal checkpoint in the heart of the West Bank, at the intersection of Road 60 and Road 505 (Trans-Samaria), east of the Tapuah settlement. This checkpoint is the "border" marked by the IDF between the north and south of the West Bank, in accordance with the policy of separation between the two parts of the West Bank that has been in place since December 2005. At the Za'tara checkpoint, there are separate routes for Israelis and Palestinians. In the route for Israelis, there are no inspections and the route for Palestinians inspects. The queue lengthens and shortens suits. The checkpoint is open 24 hours a day. The checkpoint is partially staffed and the people who pass through it are checked at random.
Shoshi AnbarSep-27-2023Za'atra (Tapuah Intersection). Signs
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