Beit Furik, Huwwara, Sun 28.6.09, Afternoon
Natanya translating.
15.20 Huwwara
The pedestrian lane is empty and now and again 2-3 people pass through. The cars pass without delay.
When we arrived a man came to us and said that the car that had had bought yesterday had been delayed for hours with no reason given. His ID had been taken from his passengers. Because we could not speak to the soldiers we phoned the centre and afterwards the DCO who said that they would check. The commander passes close by and Yehudiet hurries to ask him what the reason is. He says the man has "only" been delayed an hour and a half and they are checking.
15.40 The DCO representative comes to us and he said that he had received a specific order about the van and is waiting for further orders.
16.10 A police jeep arrives and the commander speak to them and they leave within a few minutes.
16.30 The van is still there.
The dogtrainer who had been sitting idle now deals with great energy with an old Subarau . Everything is taken out and the dog climbs over the seats even though there is an order not to do this. Sniffs at the baggage compartment and after about 15 minutes the car is freed.
We phone again to hurry the checking of the van and are told that there is criminal suspicion attached to it and that the police are coming.
16.45 The search by the dog and its mistress has evidently been much enjoyed by them and now it goes to the 5th car and climbs again over all the seats, smells the tyres and is intent on its mission.
16.50 The police have still not arrived and the people are angry and impatient and we cannot help. Suddenly miracle of miracles, such are the wonderful ways of the occupation, without any obvious reason and without having to wait for the police to come the IDs are given to the passengers and they go on their way after a delay of 4 hours.
17.00 Beit Furik
Hamdan parks the car at the side of the road opposite the checkpoint and we watch two soldier checking cars cursorily and each driver that goes past stops to tell Hamdan that he has to withdraw up the road. We got out and went to the checkpoint One of the soldiers comes to us and says that everything is as usual and that nothing has changed and only we that have come today do not know this. We tell him that we are here every week in the last 7 years and much has changed. We described to him some of the sufferings which the people of Beit Furik in their enclosed village and he is truly shocked and does not believe that this is so. The soldiers are given the rules of war but not the rules of occupation and of the checkpoints…..this is out of their sphere
17.20 . For various reasons we could not go to Azzun Atma.
Beit Furik checkpoint
See all reports for this place-
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)
-
Huwwara
See all reports for this place-
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)
.
Shoshi AnbarMay-18-2025Huwara: The old houses in Area C
-