Beit Iba, Wed 14.1.09, Afternoon
15:25 Beit Iba checkpoint.
No cars on line entering Nablus.
Three lanes leaving the city – two for people leaving, one for those entering.
The pedestrian shed is empty. The humanitarian lane is empty. From time to time someone arrives, is inspected and immediately continues.
M., the commander, behaves appropriately. A'aoni, the DCO representative, is here, stands pointing his rifle, we don't know why.
The commander orders a female soldier who's shouting to "stop."
15:50 N., the commander, arrives, and the atmosphere changes. A Palestinian yells back at a female soldier who yelled at him. The commander tell A'aoni to explain to the Palestinian that he's not allowed to yell at the soldiers. Later, Tami told the commander that the soldier yelled first. The commander told Tami to just watch and shut up!
Otherwise, he behaves appropriately. It helps that there are almost no Palestinians going through…
For a number of weeks we've noticed that very few people have been going through the checkpoint. One reason is because students are on vacation. But that can't be the entire explanation.
16:05 Since the checkpoint is empty, we leave.
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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