Beit Iba, Thu 21.8.08, Afternoon
14:05 Qalqilya checkpoint. The entry and exit of the checkpoint is practically empty; no inspection.
14:35 Beit Iba. Two entering cars waiting to be checked. The checks are done without the dogs.
Strict inspections of those leaving Nablus, including shoes. 50 people waiting at the turnstile. Students are exiting.
A soldier lays down the flag he received from Women in Blue and White.
14:57 A wanted man is stopped, sat down in the shed and released three minutes later after a body search. He said that he was stopped twice that morning.
15:02 A physician, about 35 years old, asks to enter Nablus with his mother. He's held for half an hour while his identity is verified. He claims that he came through this morning from the other direction without any problem.
While we were here, the sign shown in the attached photograph was hung on the outside of the booth where the soldiers carry out the checks, and later moved so it faced in our direction.
A Ford Transit is checked at length – about 15 minutes.
16:05 We left the checkpoint.
'Anabta: Empty
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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