Beit Iba, Thursday, 11.5.06 AMObservers: Biria L, Yael S (reporting) 08:10 – traffic is light at the checkpoint at this hour of the morning. The soldiers have been here only three days. Transit orders: entry to Nablus is open to all pedestrians. Exit from Nablus is prohibited to young men ages 16-30 – including those that belong to humanitarian organisations. New: busses and taxis with passengers can pass the exit checkpoint. 09:10 – at the entrance to Qusin we met a group of taxi drivers who were seeking our help. The village that looks down on the checkpoint is blocked from every direction to vehicular transport, except the exit to Beit Iba checkpoint. Till a few days ago the taxi drivers were allowed to take people from the village to Nablus and back, through the checkpoint, without special permits. According to them, as of two days ago they are prevented from driving to Nablus, and are being sent to the DCO to get a permit. They say that a permit cannot be obtained. (Even a taxi driver who has changed cars, and had a permit for the old one, cannot get a new permit.) It should be noted that this is their route, they cannot go to other areas, and therefore their livelihood is being closed off. For those who are interested, the taxi fare from Qusin to Nablus is four shekels. A taxi owner named Muhamad Ahmad B. from Qusin has organised a group of eight owners of taxis from the village – on the recommendation of a commander that he met yesterday, named H., and has prepared an orderly list of the taxi owners, their car numbers and IDs with the purpose of giving the list to the checkpoint so that only these eight will pass to Qusin. This morning, the checkpoint commander (S.) tried to help them, but did not get approval from his company commander. A., the DCO commander, said that this cannot be allowed, and there must be an orderly approval through the DCO. We spoke to G., the brigade spokesman and to the DCO officer, but no solution resulted – apart from issue of a document that involves the loss of many day’s work with a low chance of actually receiving it. It is difficult to remain indifferent to the distress of the drivers, whose right to work has been taken from them – and even that was under the pressure of rising fuel prices. Despite the “easements” that we read about in the papers, we are witness to ever more severe rules day by day. We documented the taxi drivers’ story on video tape. 10:30 – a conversation with the taxi drivers and dispatchers at the coffee shop tells more of the distress because of shortage of fuel in Beit Iba which necessitates a journey to Qedumim, where the checkpoint in front of the gas station is very busy and the wait to get through is about two hours.11:00 – at this hour there is a little more traffic of pedestrians in the direction of Nablus. Vehicle traffic is very thin relative to what we are used to seeing in other days. We wonder why?! Maybe the fuel shortage… The turnstiles are not working, and people are bypassing them. All are checked meticulously, but the soldiers are energetic and there are no delays. 11:10 – on our way home we could see a checkpoint on Route 60/57.