BEIT IBA, Thursday 18 November 2004 PMObservers: Shalva C., Roni K. (reporting) Note: This shift lasted only about half an hour, since we left quickly for Huwwara, anticipating that the situation there would be worse than it turned out to be (including a possible violent visit by the “Blue-White” women).14:45 — The area leading to the checkpoint was full of activity, hordes of people and cars were on the move. However, the lines at the entrance side of the checkpoint (to Nablus) were almost empty. On the other side, there were constant queues of dozens of people waiting. A group of reservists was manning the checkpoint – their less tense attitude was felt. N., the officer in charge, was resolute and tough, but also practical and to the point. It seemed important for him to communicate with us. Next to him stood I. , the representative of the District Coordinating Office (DCO) , who characteristically treated people with consideration and respect [the DCO is the army section that handles civilian matters; it generally has representatives at the checkpoints ostensibly to alleviate the lot of the Palestinians] . Physically, there was a small change at the compound: barbed wire now blocked the narrow space between the checkpoint and the detainees’ area which somewhat limited our access to the detainees.[Detainees are, typically, men aged from 16 to 30 or 35 who have no passage permits; recently, young women, too, have been detained. The detainees’ ID details are phoned through to the General Security Services (GSS, also known as the Shabak or the Shin Bet, the Hebrew acronym for the GSS) for checking against a central list of security suspects and the answers are then relayed back to the checkpoints. This cumbersome process can take considerable time, and that can be prolonged even more if the soldiers wait to accumulate a batch of ID cards before passing them on to the GSS , or if they behave in a similarly tardy manner at the end of the process, waiting until they have a batch of GSS clearances before they release individual detainees. Meanwhile, the detainees are virtually prisoners at the checkpoint where the soldiers retain the ID cards until the entire process is completed]. As we arrived, we were approached by four detained taxi drivers whose cars and keys had been taken from them about half an hour earlier. We prepared ourselves for an extensive advocacy effort on their behalf, but then N. decided to release them. However, there were still seven detainees remaining, one of them the holder of an Israeli ID card , detained on his way back from a three-day visit to Nablus because he didn’t have with him the special permit to visit that city.N. had already called the police; only they could decide on his release, he said.In general, the lines progressed quickly. I., who was in charge of the women, was managing to exchange a few words with them in Arabic, and some of the women even smiled. At some point he also let four women students pass, without much hassle.This was not the case for a group of male students who wished to go to Nablus. They were rejected time and again.One small remark on human dignity: for one man who stood in line with his baby in his arm, the resolute military style – with its insistence on making “order” in the lines – was a bit too much. He was not detained, nor made to wait for long, but his eyes filled with tears as he was standing there. After he left, Shalva followed him with some words of solace.15:20 — Before we left for Huwwara, and given the decent level of communication between N. and us, we asked him – in the presence of the Israeli detainee – to make sure that once the police arrived they would treat him with dignity. If this was the case we do not know, but it was at least some attempt on our part.