Beit Iba, Mon. PM, 12.06.06Observers: Yonah A., Ziona S. (reporting)SummaryA closure, along with chaos, humiliation and unnecessary delays, because of some unclear event. Young men, between 18-20, are not allowed to leave Nablus, no matter where they live. The closure started at 11 AM, and was still continuing at 18:00, when we left. There was also an order that no vehicles of any kind could leave.14:20 – We arrived at Beit Iba, after the previous shift had warned us that there was total “stoppage of life” there, and about a truck drdiver who was bringing saline acid from Nalbus to Jenin, and had already been waiting for 2 hours, but he was not allowed to pass. The checkpoint commander told us that there was a terrorist in the area, and that was the reason for the closure. No vehicle was allowed to pass, even if it was carrying dangerous material. After our attempts to explain to him that, if the material should disintegrate because of the heat, and explode, it would be a disaster; in the end, he did allow the truck through. In the detention cell were 21 detainees, one locked into an interrogation cell. Most of the detainees were trying to get home by cutting across the hills, after the checkpoint had been closed for 2 hours and they had become desparate. The anger in the cell was increasing. Among the detainees was a young man with a small boy, and a lecturer from A-Najah University. Meanwhile, according to the soldiers, the terrorist had been caught, but “the warning is not over,” so the closure continued. We asked concerning the young man in the locked cell. The checkpoint commander answered angrily that he had tried to strike one of the soldiers.15:00 – some of the men were released from the cell, but only to return to Nablus. They protested, but went back, including the youth in the locked cell, who was released and sent to Nablus. Only the lecturer, an adult, was allowed to leave.15:10 – A group of soldiers came down from the hills, bringing new prey. 10 youths, who had bypassed the checkpoint trying to get home. It seemed that the soldiers knew that there would be attempts like this, and ambushed them. The soldiers rejoiced in their successful hunt, looking quite happy there was some “action”. One young man begged to be allowed to go back to Nablus, because his mother was in the hospital. The soldiers made fun of him: “Suddenly everyone has a mother in hospital!” My question, “And, if his mother is not ill, is he forbidden to enter Nablus?” seemed stupid to them and ignorant of security issues.15:35 – Chaos reigns. 18 in the detention cell. It seems that the IDs of those who were caught in the hills had been taken by the soldiers in the jeep who found them, and the jeep had not yet returned from the operation of catching the terrorist, so they could not be released. Nevertheless, one set of parents did succeed in getting their son released, whose ID the soldiers had mistakenly thought was missing. Our impression was that the soldiers themselves were quite mixed up and didn’t know who was who.16:00 – The turnstiles are locked. Since we are not allowed to approach them, we could only see from a distance the youths gathering behind them, while shouts and moans were heard from time to time, every quarter of an hour. There is no need of a detention cell – also that is a cell.The inspection in the humanitarian line was moved backward today, in a line with the turnstiles. The women, children and elderly were crowded together in the sun, while the soldiers let them through little by little. Sent them back, stopped the inspection for long moments, came back, etc. Yonah asked the soldier why they were torturing the elderly that way, and he answered “Torture them? Hah! Did an Arab ever kill someone in your family? You can’t stand here!”A man on a donkey with a wagon full of packages of cigarettes going, on his way to Jenin, asked to go through with the donkey only as far as the taxi, to bring him the merchandise. The officer answered him, “Today there is a lot of confusion, not today. I suggested that you bring them by hand, on a wagon, but the commanding officer wouldn’t even allow that.” The man concluded, “I guess that officer would only understand if he had a tommygun pointed at his head” – is this how you create terrorists?A truck with some tanks moves along slowly. The officer stops it and orders the driver to go back. The passenger in the truck gets down to talk with him. He tells him that they are bringing oxygen tanks to the hospital in Tulkarm, and shows Yonah the permits. Yonah shows the permits to the officer, who, after some comments, allows them through.16:20 – A mother and her small son and her brother, 20, returned from the hospital to their home in Qalqilya. The boy has a hole in his heart. AFter an hour and a half of waiting, the mother and the son leave, but the brother is sent back to Nablus. He prefers to stay in the cell, since he has nothing to do in Nablus.16:30 – 10 detainees in the cell. The officer asks, “Who wants to go to Nablus?” Only one wants to. All the others prefer to wait in the cell. What would they do in Nablus? They were already there for 5 hours, and couldn’t get home. Interesting that the soldiers don’t seem to understand their preference to remain in the cell.17:40 – Soldiers come down with another group of youths, they look like students. “At least these are nice and funny, ” the soldiers say while putting them into the cell. They, of course, understood what to expect, but decided to try to get by, and weren’t surprised when they didn’t succeed.18:00 – The order to forbid young men to leave has already been in place for 7 hours. Hannah B. has already made contact with the general’s office, they are aware of the problem, but the youths are still detained. Among them is a young man from Jordan, whose brother has been waiting for him for 6 hours. We leave, with the feeling that we have just now been inside the factory which produces future terrorists.18:15 – Junction of roads #57/60: a flying checkpoint in the direction of Anabta. 7 vehicles waiting.J’at Junction: a flying checkpoint on road #55, west in the direction of J’at. About 10 vehicles.