BEIT IBA, Thursday 5 August 2004 AM colour=red>Generally speaking, it was intolerable shift; there were no special incidents.08:30—Beit IbaA doctor who regularly enters Nablus by car was banned from bringing in his vehicle. A. the representative of the District Co-ordinating Office (DCO), who is relatively goodhearted, and talks nicely “even” to Palestinians, confirmed that until recently it had been permitted, but said there was now a new regulation. It wasn’t clear exactly when this new regulation came into force. There was a list [of exceptions?], the doctor was not on the list. A. made a real effort and really tried to soften the checkpoint commander’s approach.There were 10-20 detainees, a different lot every 30 to 60 minutes [detainees are, typically, men aged between 16 and 30 who have no passage permits; the checkpoint soldiers phone their ID details to the General Security Services (GSS) which cross-checks them against a central list of security suspects and then phones the results back to the checkpoint. This cumbersome procedure, which often takes a long time, can take even longer if the checkpoint soldiers wait to accumulate a batch of ID cards before they contact the GSS, or if they wait to get back a batch from the GSS rather than releasing individuals as clearance comes through for each. During this time, the detainees are virtually prisoners at the checkpoints since the soldiers retain their ID cards until clearance arrives] . Some went through, others got sent to the DCO [the army section that handles civilian matters; it usually has representatives at the checkpoints, ostensibly to alleviate the lot of the Palestinians], as if permits grow on trees there. A., the commander, has been at Beit Iba on and off for six months. He screamed (in Hebrew), was rude and treated Palestinians with humiliating arrogance. His men didn’t take to us, by order. A rifle butt peeked out of the window of the checking position, aimed at the applicant’s face.People arrived in waves from all directions, creating brief period of crowding. A Palestinian told us about problems at Jalama checkpoint, which should be open from 07:00 to 19:00, but which instead gets opened by the soldiers only when there are more than 20 vehicles, so that people using this crossing sometimes have to wait for an hour or two.11:15 — AnabtaThe checkpoint is still blocked – an unmanned iron gate on a main road. Car and ambulance drivers have to make a huge and illogical diversion “for security reasons.”