Beit Iba, Tue 23.12.08, Afternoon
14:20 Beit Iba
Few vehicles enter Nablus. At the exit there is a bus, whose young passengers (students) are waiting in line along the checkpoint until their IDs are checked. They say they have been waiting half an hour. The "dressing" scene is repeated every time (belts and sometimes also shoes). Two stations are operating in addition to the "humanitarian line" which moves quickly. We are told that there is a detainee. The checkpoint commander confirms this, but refuses to give any details about the reason and says that it has not yet been three hours since he was detained. We have no way to talk to him. The DCO rep "suffers" from hearing problems and doesn't answer my request to discuss the detainee. The bus continues on its way after inspection of part of the IDs. The pedestrian entrance to Nablus requires no inspection. The DCO rep decides finally to talk to us and says that the detainee is a "bingo" and that they called the GSS. The inspection of the students naturally includes taking off their shoes. A youth who passes by with his shoes in his hands complains and the soldier next to him recommends that he wear sandals the next time. A "good checkpoint" in comparison to yesterday, when they had to wait two hours according to one of the students.
14:30 An ambulance leaving Nablus is inspected briefly by the military police.
14:50 A bus leaving, only the young passengers are taken off'; the adults stay on the bus. The IDs are checked against a short list. Very fast, within 5 minutes everyone gets back on the bus. Another ambulance goes through. After inspection of the IDs, it continues on its way in a few minutes. The detainee is guarded for the entire time he is held by the checkpoint commander himself, who refuses to speak with us. We called the hotline and are waiting for an answer.
15:20 We left.
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.
Neta EfroniJun-4-2014Beit-Iba checkpoint 22.04.04
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