BEIT IBA, Saturday 5 June 2004 AM Observers: Rachel H., Hedva A., and Nina M. (reporting) color = red>Summary: Unfortunately, the unit of reservists had left and a regular unit was on duty. There was no violence. But they showed very little understanding of civilians needs.There was a big crowd of people wanting to go to Nablus. But the soldiers were busy arranging the crowd into “proper” lines. Our suggestion that they open a special line for “humanitarian” cases on the road itself was refused because of “deep concern for people’s safety, lest they be hit by passing cars”; nevertheless, five minutes after the suggestion was made and turned down , the new line was opened, on the road , greatly relieving the pressure.As usual, the main humanitarian problem was posed by young men under 35. This group [which is always under heavy suspicion at the checkpoints ] is thereby denied many basic human rights: as for example, easy access to medical help. H. (one of the checkpoint’s commanders) considered all of them as liars and sent people with obvious medical problems to the District Coordinating Office (DCO) to get permits [the DCO is the army section that deals with civilian matters and usually has a representative at the checkpoints ostensibly to alleviate the lot of the Palestinians; obtaining a permit from the DCO, if it is indeed granted, can take anything from one day’s lost work to far, far more than that] . Our attempts to enlist the support of D. B. (coordinator of health services in the occupied territories), who eventually agreed to permit the passage through the checkpoint of three men, took us one-and-a half hours of lobbying and 20 phone calls. Nor was H. ready to accept her intervention, claiming that he did not know her. We also witnessed an open clash between the DCO representative who allowed these men through and the soldiers who did not, and who claimed that only their commander (H.) could do this. The DCO man enlisted the help of another officer and the men went through.Another serious abuse of the human rights of this group of “young” men is the army’s frequent refusal to allow them to accompany their wives (pregnant or with sick children) to medical clinics. There was no way we could persuade this checkpoint’s commanders to let such men pass this week. The atmosphere at the checkpoint was bad : because the soldiers were utterly under the influence of the thinking that says, “What if they go into Nablus and arrange a terrorist attack in Jerusalem from there”, ordinary Palestinians were prevented from going to the bank, to the garage or to work, barred from everyday activities that had been open to them when the reserve soldiers were on duty here just days ago.