Beit Iba PM
BEIT IBA, 5 July 2004 PM Observers: Anat S., Maya K. (reporting) colour = red>We arrived at 13:30. It was extremely hot. Pedestrian traffic to Nablus moved very well, while to the other side (westwards) there were periods when passage was quick (10-15 minutes) alternating with periods in which people had to wait up to half-an-hour. At the peak time, when dozens were waiting to pass, a woman soldier, L., arrived who miraculously speeded up the passage of pedestrians, but also scared people with her shouting. Two small children were too frightened by her to go through the checkpoint and it took their families some time to persuade them to do so. There were complaints about waiting time and especially the standing in the sun . (There is a shed above the line of the waiting people, but it’s insufficient when the crowd is big).We assisted the passage of pregnant women and of families with sick children, etc., and handed out bottles of water, as usual.Detainees: There were eight detainees on our arrival, who were released shortly afterwards. Eight to 10 detainees was the norm today, and most were released within an hour. One detainee was handcuffed – according to a friend of his, it was because he asked for water (we had big communication problems); according to the commander, A., the young man had been caught earlier this morning going through the mountains in an attempt to evade the checkpoint. He’d been detained, his ID details had been . checked, and just as they’d wanted to release him – he wasn’t there. A few hours later he’d returned to get his ID card. This time he’d been handcuffed, as a punishment, and we were told he’d be detained for some hours. It wasn’t the first time he’d done it, A. added.
Beit Iba
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A perimeter checkpoint west of the city of Nablus. Operated from 2001 to 2009 as one of the four permanent checkpoints closing on Nablus: Beit Furik and Awarta to the east and Hawara to the south. A pedestrian-only checkpoint, where MachsomWatch volunteers were present daily for several hours in the morning and afternoon to document the thousands of Palestinians waiting for hours in long queues with no shelter in the heat or rain, to leave the district city for anywhere else in the West Bank. From March 2009, as part of the easing of the Palestinian movement in the West Bank, it was abolished, without a trace, and without any adverse change in the security situation.
Jun-4-2014Beit-Iba checkpoint 22.04.04
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