Beit Iba, Wed 28.11.07, Afternoon
15.20 Beit Iba
We arrived at Beit Iba where there was a steady stream of cars.The building for pedestrians is massive with large rafters of which the purpose is unclear, a terrible noise and sparks in all directions. Dust and in all this the soldiers go about with their weapons drawn and in this impossible situation a very careful check is carried out of everything possible and everything is exposed to the dust.
A military policeman chewing gum carries out a careful check of every little bag. A soldier who goes up to her gets special attention. They stand and flirt while those waiting to be checked stand silently and patiently with blank faces. We lose patience but do not interfere and when they have finished their little flirtation she goes back to checking.
When Tammie asked the soldier about this conversation he claimed that he was telling her what she had to look for but it did not look that way.
A young man who went into the humanitarian line is sent to the back of the men's line. The lines of men are beyond the turnstile and overcrowded and even when another is opened it is still packed solid.
A DCO representative, Avichai. tries to help the progress of the line and explains that they should move back a way but it does not help.
Because of the careful checking the line grows longer and shouts and screams are heard.
The commander. Moshe arrives and send a soldier inside to move the people back and stop the overcrowding and this time it helps. He knows how to handle the situation and can do so if he wants. Tammie knows him and says he always help to solve problems.
Heiman from the DCO speaks to Tammie. There are 12 people in the enclosure mainly from Azzun and they had tried to slip through. A soldier shouts to another giving him the numbers of the IDS and some are freed.
On our way to the car a student tells us that in 10 days time a month long vacation will begin.
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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