Beit Iba, Sun 17.2.08, Afternoon
16:15
Beit Iba- there is a segregation policy today- from the area of TK and Jenin. This means men, aged 16- 35, cannot go southwards from these areas. (As they can't go north either, since north is Israel, not much ground is left for them). As this policy is imposed without advertence people are sometimes unable to get back on time, and cannot reach their homes. We witnessed this several times to day, as students trying to return home from Nablus were turned back. Elderly Palestinians try to pass through the 'humanitarian line', but upon arrival some discover that they are not old enough, and the soldier orders them to return via a tall concrete rail. One such man tries to cross once, and fails, so he squeezes back through the turnstiles.
Several students are waiting for a friend still in line, at the end of the cp and the soldier tells them to get out of there 'you can't stand here'.
Dozens of young men are standing in two files, waiting for bags and IDs to be checked.
The soldier at the 'humanitarian lane' speaks perfect Arabic. 'Look', says my friend, 'he is actually looking people straight in the eye!'
I try to do the same.
We left at 16:52
No cp at Jit.
Beit Iba
See all reports for this place-
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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