Beit Iba, Tue 1.4.08, Afternoon
Trans. Judith Green
15:00
There are two lines, one humanitarian. Those waiting fill up about one quarter of the shed. Reserve soldiers are manning the checkpoint and they attempt to work efficiently; when the lines increases, they conscript more manpower for the inspection, also for the vehicles. This time, they checked those entering Nablus as well, no one knows why.
A number of remarks we heard from passers-by: a man who left the checkpoint with his belt still in his hands: "this is no way to make peace." A man who introduced himself as a professor of psychiatry who lives in England: "What is going on here? This is shameful! Some day this will all blow up!" A man who saw the dog trainer getting on a bus full of children: "Is this how they make peace? Getting on a bus with a dog in front of children who are shaking with fear?" A woman who burst out crying bitterly as she left the checkpoint, answered Nadim's question as to why she was crying: "Because of seeing all that goes on here.",
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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