Beit Iba, Tue 26.2.08, Afternoon
Beit Iba. 15.30 Few cars in both directions. Is this because of the difficulty of getting permits? The Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense claim that there are alleviations in the movement of people in the occupied territories. Tens of pedestrians wait in line and it seems that most of them who came by bus have had to alight. We heard complaints about the length of the trip home and that the taxis are very expensive. We saw one bus which was allowed to pass but the men had to alight for inspection. The women were checked inside the bus.
The humanitarian section is working for women and men over 40. The soldier refuses to speak to us but he allows elderly women laden down with parcels to pass without being checked. He sends people who did not fit in with his criterion to the ordinary line even if the person says he is a medical worker.
The wait for the regular inspection is about 30 minutes with the usual stripping of clothes and pockets and the x-ray device squeaks the entire time, which is hard on the ears.
Detainees. When we arrived there was one and when we left there were 6. The commander said they would be there till 16.30. The DCO said that they had tried to slip through and amongst them were youths of 18-19. .
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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