Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Tue 20.1.09, Afternoon
Natanya translating.
A depressing and despairing day. The soldiers act cruelly towards the Palestinians. The culture of lies and vulgarity is celebrated in every corner.
2.20pm Za'atra. 20 cars from the south.
2.30pm Huwwara.
At the parking lot there is great excitement. There are many drivers, the checkpoint is closed down and also the gate leading to Nablus is closed.
1. People say that two minutes ago the soldiers wounded a Palestinian in the head after they had beaten him with their rifles while he was handcuffed, on the ground and blindfolded. After some minutes we heard the sirens of an ambulance evidently coming to fetch him.
The people said that the brother of the wounded man, a taxi driver, bypassed people who were in front of him in the line. The soldiers clashed with him and then his brother tried to interfere so as to help him. The soldiers took the brother out of the line and tried to handcuff him and when he fought back did so, threw him on the ground and hit him. Zacharia phoned a few hours later and said that the man is Muhammed Owad from the village of Salem and that he was in hospital with hemorrhage of the head and that they were trying to send him to a hospital in Israel. He also said that he had seen the problems at the checkpoint over the last few days.
2. When we neared the opening of the exit of the checkpoint at the lower area, the far side of the turnstiles, two female soldiers and a soldier with his weapon heightened to his chest and from far off SHOUTED WILDLY again and again "Get the hell out of here. Get out of our sight." And other dirty language. When we asked one of them why she was shouting the reaction was again more shouts and from afar the crowning sentence "On my prick." At the same time the commander arrived, captain ?, flushed and excited shouting commands wildly at the soldier and on the women soldiers who had been shouting not to speak to us. The whole shouting with absolutely no self control. The people there said that it was he with another soldier who had beaten the bound Palestinian with their rifles.
3. Because of these circumstances we tried but did not insist on nearing the area near the turnstiles. Some time later captain Zaharani of the DCO came, chased away the Palestinians in the area near the passage to the checkpoint. When we asked to speak to him he promised a few times that he would come back and disappeared.
4. In the meantime at about 2.50pm we phoned the centre ( we apologize at the detailed description, but it seems to us that something is very wrong here and maybe can be checked). We reported what we had seen and heard at the place and that the checkpoint and the passage to Nablus was closed and that the army was acting savagely. A soldier called Nir replied and promised to pass on the information. He told us to phone again to find out what was happening. About 15 minutes later we phoned the centre and the conversation was cut off and though we tried 5 or 6 times after that the same thing happened after the first ring. We phoned from another telephone and were answered immediately by a soldier called Noya. We tried to find out from her what had happened with the information we had given and why our calls to the centre were being cut off. She had no idea and said that she was new and when we asked to speak to the commander said that there was no one there. Afterwards she agreed to put us through to someone who is seems was there after all. After long minutes she did so and of course the person denied that our calls had been cut off, that our information had been received and did not add anything new.
At about 3.00pm the activity at the checkpoint was renewed and the gate to Nablus opened. There were about 100-150 people waiting in the shed and the passage was swift. The new people who arrived took about 20 minutes to get through. We stood at the side of the checkpoint and not close to the exit.
4.00pm Beit Furik.
On the the way there 3 cars were standing on the road which is forbidden to Palestinians, one a taxi and a Hummer which had stopped them.
When we arrived at the checkpoint in the middle of the road a few soldiers were standing and would not allow a bus of settlers to go through to Alon Moreh and allowed us through. They explained that there had been a case of stone throwing at Salem and therefore they were holding up the traffic.
The surrounding area was empty.
4.10pm At Huwwara about 50 people in the shed.
4.30pm Za'tara. 20 cars from the south.
ום מ
דכא
ומייאש, החיילים מתייחסים אל הפלסטינ
ים באכזריות. תרבות השקר וגסות הרוח חוגגות בכל פי
נה
.
2.20 זעתרה – 20 מכוניות ממתינות בכיוון דרום.
2.30 חווארה – במגרש החניה התרגשות רבה. הרבה מאוד נהגים בשטח, המחסום מושבת וגם שער המעבר לשכם סגור.
א. האנשים סיפרו שדקות לפני כן שני חיילים פצעו פלסטיני בראשו לאחר שהכו אותו קשות ברובים כשהיה אזוק, על האדמה וקשור עיניים. כעבור עוד מספר דקות שמענו צפירות של אמבולנס שכנראה הגיע לאסוף אותו. מדברי האנשים הסתבר לנו שאחיו של הפצוע (נהג מונית) עקף אנשים שעמדו לפניו בתור הממתינים. החיילים התעמתו איתו ואז האח שהיה אתו ניסה להתערב לטובתו. החיילים הוציאו את האח מהתור, ניסו לאזוק אותו וכשהתנגד התגברו עליו, אזקו, הפילו לארץ והכו אותו.
ב. כשהתקרבנו לפתח היציאה מהחסום במגרש למטה (הצד הרחוק מהקרוסלות), ירדו לקראתנו שתי חיילות וחייל עם נשק מוגבה על החזה, ומרחוק צעקו בפראות שוב ושוב "עופו מפה! תסתלקו לי מהעיניים!" ועוד צעקות מכוערות. כששאלנו אחת מהן "למה את צועקת?" התגובה הייתה שוב בצעקות רמות מרחוק ובמשפט המחץ "על הזין שלי!". באותו זמן הופיע במקום גם מפקד המחסום (סגן ?) כולו סמוק ונרעש גם הוא צועק בהשתוללות פקודות לחיילים, ואל החיילות צועק שלא ידברו איתנו, הכול בצעקות ללא שליטה עצמית.
אנשים במקום אמרו שהוא היה זה שיחד עם עוד חייל הכו ברובים את הפלסטיני הכפות.
ג. בגלל הנסיבות נסינו אבל לא התעקשנו להתקרב לשטח הקרוב לקרוסלות. כעבור דקות הופיע סרן זהרני מהמת"ק, סילק את הפלסטינים שעמדו במגרש ליד המעבר למחסום. ביקשנו לדבר אתו, הוא הבטיח מספר פעמים לחזור אלינו אבל נעלם.
ד. בינתיים, בערך ב- 2.50 התקשרנו אל המוקד (סליחה על הפירוט המייגע, פשוט נראה לנו שמשהו מאוד מקולקל גם פה ואולי אפשר שייבדק). דיווחנו על מה שראינו ושמענו במקום, ועל כך שהמחסום והמעבר לשכם סגורים והצבא מתנהג בפראות. ענה לנו חייל בשם ניר שהבטיח להעביר את ההודעה. אמרנו לו שנתקשר שוב כדי לברר מה נעשה. כעבור כ-1/4 שעה כשהתקשרנו למוקד השיחה נותקה, חזרנו על הניסיון עוד כ-5-6 פעמים ובכל פעם בצלצול הראשון היא נותקה. התקשרנו מטלפון אחר ונענינו מיד. ענתה חיילת בשם נויה. נסינו לברר אצלה מה נעשה עם ההודעה שלנו ומדוע מישהו במוקד מנתק את השיחות מהטלפון שלנו. לא היה לה מושג. אמרה שהיא חדשה במוקד, וכשביקשנו לדבר עם המפקד, אמרה ש"אין כאן אף אחד", אחר כך הסכימה להעביר לנו את מי שכנראה בכל זאת היה שם. אחרי שניות ארוכות של התלחשויות העבירה לנו את ניר, שכמובן הכחיש שניתק את שיחותנו, אמר שכן דיווח על ההודעה שלנו ולא חידש כלום.
בערך ב- 3.00 חודשה הפעילות במחסום ונפתח השער לשכם. היו בסככה כ- 100-150 ממתינים, התנועה זרמה בקצב די מהיר, אצל החדשים שהגיעו מדדנו זמן המתנה של 20 דקות.עמדנו הפעם לא בסמוך ליציאה מהמחסום, אלא מהצד.
4.00 בית פוריכ,
בדרך לשם מחווארה עמדו בצד הכביש 'האסור לפלסטינים', 3 מכוניות, אחת מהן מונית והאמר צבאי שעצר אותן. כשהגענו לקרבת המחסום, עמדו במרכז הכביש מספר חיילים ואסרו על אוטובוס של מתנחלים לעבור לכיוון אלון מורה ועלינו להמשיך. הם הסבירו שהיה אירוע של זריקת אבנים בכפר סאלם ולכן מעכבים את התנועה. סביבת המחסום מכל הכיוונים הייתה ריקה.
4.10 חווארה – בסככה כ- 50 איש.
4.30 זעתרה– 20 מכוניות בכיוון דרום.
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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Fathiya AkfaJan-20-2009Huwara: traffic jam on the main road
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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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