Beit Furik, Huwwara, Wed 1.10.08, Morning
Translation: Hanna K.
Huwwara
In the beginning the parking lot was empty. There were only isolated comers and goers. This didn't prevent the girl-soldier from exercising her vocal cords with loud cries of "ta'al" and "yallah, yallah".
Luckily Natty was there to ask her how she would feel if somebody would shout at her in this way. The girl didn't know she was shouting. She does them a favour by raising her voice a little, otherwise they won't hear her. But then she called them more gently and didn't forget to add "please" and immediately threw a victorious look at Natty the educator as if saying:" you see, I am a good pupil".
One Palestinian lad didn't understand one soldier. Just a misunderstanding, he didn't stand in the right place or didn't raise the right leg, but the soldier suddenly jumped on him with drawn weapons, and showed him what it meant not to understand what is said to you. The Palestinian, surprised by the vehemence of the reaction, raised his hands and said "alright, alright".
The soldiers guarding the vehicle entrance into Nablus do not talk to us – they are forbidden to. Therefore we understand from their behaviour only that Israeli Arabs with blue IDs are allowed to enter Nablus as well as Palestinian cars, even if they do not have authorizations.
But there was a catch to this.
I counted over forty cars entering and the soldier said that indeed there is an order to let all the vehicles enter Nablus, but there is no order to let them out. So you'd better know that if you enter, you won't be able to leave. All the drivers, without exception, heard the frightening explanation, and entered. Do they know that it is impossible to leave hundreds of cars, most of them with yellow number-plates, in Nablus, and not allow them to leave?
These soldiers were of the educating species. The Palestinians know that they are supposed to stop about 20 meters before they reach the barrier, on an existing or imaginary line, to get permission in the form of a slight head or finger movement, and then approach the soldier. The Israeli Arabs who, after all, live in some kind of democracy, went straight up to the soldier, without waiting at any line.
"Don't you have any manners?" the soldier wonders. Can't you wait until I call you? Now you reverse and go back and wait until I signal you to approach". For lack of any other option the Israeli Arab goes back, waiting for a sign. The soldier signals and he approaches again.
"Tell me, are you bored" the Israeli Arab asks the soldier, without noticing that he is in the territory of a different planet from the one he is used to.
"You wouldn't wish to see me when I'm bored" answers the soldier, who doesn't understand how an Arab, who is subject to his benevolence, dares speak like this.
The duty of the bored one is also to smuggle out of the CP exit those people who wait for family members who are stuck on their way to the x-ray machine or the magnometer which doesn't stop ringing until they also remove the pin that is attached to their tie.
To those who are waiting for their relatives the soldier shouts to remove themselves in the direction of the car park, so as not to block his CP for him. A young man who got angry because he couldn't wait there lifted his hand and waved it across the fence at the soldier, in a movement that meant "why, what's the matter?". The soldier who didn't understand why everybody behaved impertinently today shouted in dismay: "to whom did you do this with your hand?" If there hadn't been a fence separating between them and our eyes watching, he would surely have exploded then and there.
At the humanitarian queue many women, old people and children passed quickly.
Beit Furik
Here it was quiet. According to the Palestinians the soldiers are polite and don't create problems.
חווארה:
בתחילה מגרש החנייה היה ריק. היוצאים והבאים בודדים. זה לא הפריע לחיילת לנסות את מיתרי הקול שלה ב"תעל" ו"יאלה יאלה" קולניים.מזל שנטי היתה שם כדי לשאול אותה איך היא היתה מרגישה אם ככה היו צועקים עליה. החיילת לא ידעה שהיא צועקת. היא עושה להם טובה בזה שהיא קצת מרימה את הקול, אחרת לא ישמעו אותה.אחר כך היא קראה להם יותר בעדינות ולא שכחה להוסיף בבקשה, ומיד הסתכלה במבט ניצחון בנטי המחנכת כאומרת: את רואה, אני לומדת יפה.
איזה בחור פלשתיני לא הבין איזה חייל. סתם אי הבנה, הוא לא עמד במקום הנכון, או לא הרים את הרגל הנכונה, האיזה חייל קפץ אליו פתאום עם נשק שלוף והראה לו מה זה לא להבין מה שאומרים לו. האיזה פלשתיני, מופתע מעוצמת התגובה, הרים את הידיים ואמר "בסדר, בסדר".
החיילים ששומרים על כניסת הרכבים לשכם לא מדברים איתנו, אסור להם. לכן רק מההתנהגות שלהם, אנחנו מבינות שיכולים להיכנס לשכם ערבים ישראלים עם תעודות זהות כחולות וכן מכוניות פלשתיניות גם אם אין להן אישור. אבל היה פה קוץ. ספרתי מעל ארבעים מכוניות שנכנסו והחייל אמר, נכון שיש הוראה להכניס את כל הרכבים לשכם, אבל אין הוראה להוציא אותם. אז תדע לך שאם אתה ניכנס, אתה לא יכול לצאת. כל הנהגים, בלי יוצא מן הכלל, שמעו את ההסבר המפחיד, ונכנסו. האם הם יודעים שאי אפשר להשאיר מאות מכוניות, רובן עם מספרים צהובים בתוככי שכם ולא להרשות להן לצאת?
אותם חיילים היו מן הזן המחנך. הפלשתינים יודעים שבהגיעם למחסום, הם אמורים לעצור כעשרים מטר ממנו, על קו קיים, או על קו דמיוני, לקבל אישור בצורת ניע יד או אצבע, ואז להתקרב לחייל. הערבים הישראלים שבכל זאת חיים באיזה דמוקרטיה, היגיעו ישר אל החייל בלי לחכות ליד שום קו."אין לך נימוסים"? תוהה החייל. "אתה לא יכול לחכות עד שאקרא לך? עכשיו תחזור רוורס ותחכה שאסמן לך להתקרב" בלי ברירה חוזר הערבי ישראלי אחורה, מחכה לסימן. החייל מסמן והוא מתקרב שוב. "תגיד משעמם לך?" שואל הערבי ישראלי את החייל ולא שם לב שהוא נמצא בטריטוריה של פלנטה אחרת מזו שהוא מכיר. "אתה לא רוצה לראות אותי כשמשעמם לי" עונה החייל שלא מבין איך ערבי נתון לחסדיו מעז לדבר ככה.
התפקיד של הלא משועמם הוא גם להבריח מהיציאה של המחסום את אלה מחכים לקרובי משפחה שנתקעו בדרך למכונת השיקוף או המגנומטר שלא מפסיק לצלצל עד שהם מסירים גם את הסיכה שמחזיקה את העניבה. אלה מחכים לקרובי המשפחה והחייל צועק להם להתרחק לכיוון חניית המכוניות שלא יחסמו לו את המחסום. בחור צעיר שהתרגז שהוא לא יכול לחכות שם הרים את היד ונופף אותה מעבר לגדר לחייל בתנועה של "למה מה קרה"? החייל שלא הבין איך כולם מתחצפים היום צעק בתדהמה, : למי עשית ככה עם היד? ואם לא היתה גדר חוצצת ביניהם ועיניים שלנו, הוא בטח היה מוציא עליו את כל העצבים שלו.
בתור ההומניטארי עברו הרבה מאוד נשים זקנים וטף במהירות.
בית פוריק:
היה שקט. לדברי הפלשתינים החיילים אדיבים ולא עושים בלגן.
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)
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Shoshi AnbarMay-18-2025Huwara: The old houses in Area C
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