Beit Iba, Tuesday, 21.11.06, PM, Observers: Ariela C., Horit P., Ronit K. (reporting) 14:45 – Arrive at checkpoint. Trucks standing on the road, in the direction of the Beit Iba checkpoint, in the direction of Nablus, in a traffic jam that isn’t resolved the whole time of our shift. The air is full of dust and smoke. The pedestrian checkpoint is crowded from the direction of Nablus. The line toward Nablus has about 10 people, later it gets more and more crowded. One man is detained, waiting in the shed. He is released about 10 minutes after we arrive. At 14:50, two people are detained and at 15:55 another two join them. A little after 15:00 they are all released. One of the detainees, a taxi driver, turns to us and tells us that, 15 days ago, a policeman by the name of Erez, from the Kedumim police station, took his document and magnetic card during inspection and never returned them. He is not sure if it was on purpose or just careless. The driver tried to get to the police station, but the soldier standing there didn’t let him enter, shouting at him “Get out or I will shoot you!”. We gave him the number of the Association for Human Rights. A woman comes to us and tells us that her document was confiscated and she has been waiting for more than an hour, since she tried to pass through outside of the checkpoint, along the road. Following her conversation with us, the woman got back her document and was released. At the entrance checkpoint to Nablus, there is a long line of people. Horit speaks with the inspector. She points out the absurdity on checking the documents for someone who wants to enter Nablus. A little while after this conversation, the people in line are given free entrance to Nablus, and the line decreases. The checkpoint at the exit from Nablus becomes very crowded. People are crowded beyond the checkpoint, stuck in the turnstiles. An additional inspection line is opened in the humanitarian line, “for women over 35 and male residents”, according to the report of one of the people standing in line. Horit points out that the commander is quite efficient. The vehicle checkpoint is very full. Vehicles are standing in two lines going out of Nablus. I manage to count about 20 up to the curve in the road which is hiding the others. The inspection of trucks lasts about one and a half minutes. From the direction of Beit Iba, one can see from the checkpoint only one truck at a time in the traffic jam of trucks. 15:30 – The pedestrian line continues to be very full. A young Palestinian man with a passport is detained, because he “doesn’t resemble his picture”…and he doesn’t have a visa. At 15:55 we leave.