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Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Thu 25.9.08, Afternoon

Observers: Yehudit L., Michal S.
Sep-25-2008
| Afternoon

Translator:  Charles K.

We left late today in order to be at the Beit Furik checkpoint at the end of the Ramadan fast, in view of how crowded it was there last week.


16:00 (15:00 Palestine time).  Both entrances to Marda are open.  The entrance to Zeita is blocked, to pedestrians as well. 
13 vehicles waiting from the west at the Za'tara checkpoint.  Two north-to-south lanes are open, and ten vehicles are waiting on line.


16:20  Huwwara checkpoint
The checkpoint is densely crowded.
  The pedestrian line stretches past the end of the shed. 
Eight vehicles on line to enter Nablus.  You can't see the end of the line of vehicles waiting to leave. 
One detainee in isolation.  A., the DCO representative, says he's being punished for butting into the line.  He says he's already been detained for half an hour.
When Yehudit approaches the man in isolation the soldier immediately makes us move back behind the blue line (that's usually located on the other side of the checkpoint, next to the line off to the side for women and elderly men), and yells that we're interfering with his work.

16:45  Another detainee is placed in isolation.  His friend, who's waiting for him to be released, tells us that he has a heart condition and doesn't have permission to go through, so the soldiers detained him because he dared go through the "fast lane."
The female MP checking documents doesn't stop yelling and cursing at the people going through
.  "Don't worry, dance, dance.  Wait till you get to me," "What a dog!"  A soldier stands on the rail between those waiting, pointing a pistol at them. 

16:55  Another person is put in isolation, as punishment for trying to leave Nablus through the entry lane.
The middle lane closes for a few minutes so that five soldiers can stand in front of us yelling that we're breaking the law.  We tell them to call the police.

17:00  Yehudit calls the humanitarian center and speaks to Neta regarding the detainee who's ill.
A small boy going through the "fast lane" is asked to open his bag.
Pedestrians still have to put their bags through the x-ray machine located in the white vehicle, and then return to the checkpoint in order to collect their ID cards.

17:20  Another detainee (they take his ID card, but don't put him in the pen) – punished for driving on the Madison road even though, being a Palestinian, he's not allowed to.
Meanwhile in the background the beeping and the yelling of the MP continues: "Yallah, nu, come on already!!!"  A youth going through her lane is asked to raise his shirt and lift the cuffs of his pants.
A woman exiting the "fast lane" says that  it took an hour to go through.

18:00  The first detainee (who was detained before we arrived, after he hadn't eaten or had anything to drink all day) complains that he was detained for no good reason.  The female MP starts volleying curses at him, and he answers her.  Among them:  "Your mother's a whore," "Just wait, if you get out today I'm going to fuck you," "Fuck your mother, pimp," and more.  The soldiers try to calm her down, and eventually find a creative solution:  the detainee is taken from the pen and transferred to the inspection booth in the vehicle lane.

18:05  The second detainee (with heart problems) is released and says that there are still two more detainees in the pen, both of whom tried to leave Nablus through the entry lane. 
At 18:22 they're both released.
A man who lost his ID card at the checkpoint approaches us.  Since the DCO representative wasn't available, we asked the soldiers whether they found it, and they said no.  We called the Nablus DCO, who said he should come during office hours on Sunday and report the loss of his ID.

18:30  We left.


There wasn't any crowd at the Beit Furik checkpoint between 18:00 and 18:30.  The taxi drivers said that yesterday at this time it was terrible.

18:45  A detainee by the side of the road between Nablus and Za'tara, with Border Policemen.  We didn't stop because Hamdan was in a hurry (he's also fasting). 
Two vehicles waiting from the north at the Za'tara checkpoint.

  • 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)

      .
      חווארה: הבתים הישנים בשטח סי
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  • Za'tara (Tapuah)

    See all reports for this place
    • 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.  
      זעתרא (צומת תפוח). שלטים
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      Sep-27-2023
      Za'atra (Tapuah Intersection). Signs
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