Burin Huwwara Za’atara
Burin (Yizhar) Jnc. Huwwara, Za’atara, Wednesday 7.6.2006 PMObservers: Debra L. Dalia F. Devorka O. (reporting)Natanya translating.Summary. Bitter complaints from the Palestinians that the military police who check the men demand that they expose their bodies in a way that they have to open and lower their trousers in a embarrassing way .Amongst them was a doctor who in the beginning refused but eventually in despair gave in. The women soldiers seem to be enjoying every minute of this scene. The commander of this shift, second lieutenant E. of the military police is very satisfied with his job and says that there is no reason to put men in charge instead of women and does not believe us when we tell him that their behaviour is disgusting and vulgar also towards the women.Once again we see detention being used as punishment under the pretense of “checking”…such as that they tried to pass with a car (with a horse with baggage) dared to pass on the apartheid road between Beit Furik and the crossroads of Hawarra. 17.00 Crossroads of Burin (Yizhar) ..a checkpoint and 15 cars waiting to be checked.17.10 At Hawarra there are few people. Two detainees in the enclosure since 4.30 because they tried to pass a car with a horse from Beit Furik and Ramallah and part of their journey brought them to a “forbidden road”. The soldier in the sentry post saw them, took their ids and sent them to the enclosure. They asked us to persuade the soldiers to see to it that the horse did not dehydrate in the sun. After many phone calls to the centre and Amit’s effort to help they were freed at 6.00 and the older went on with the horse to Ramallah and the young man returned to Nablus.In the meantime there was a group of women soldiers of the military police who were in charge of checking the men at the checkpoint. They ordered them to raise their shirts so that they cold see their bodies and therefore they had to open the belt of their trousers and to lower them. They did not demand this of all the men and not of those who war sweat shirts. They did not hide the pleasure and fun that this gave them.A doctor refused to do so and phoned Naomi L. to ask for her help. We spoke to the commander, second lieutenant Eli of the military police who was in charge and complained about the behavior of the women soldiers and asked him at least to give this duty to male police. And we also complained at the behavior of one of these righteous ladies towards an elderly woman who had evidently by mistake taken the humanitarian line to Nablus. This righteous young woman scolded her and said to her “Get the hell away from here.” He replied to our complaints without the slightest doubt or hesitation that the women soldiers were checking the men politely and he did not believe that one of them had spoken to the woman in such a manner.Our complaints had no effect. After a while a young man who had just passed this check came to usand in perfect English with an ironic smile on his face said to us quietly. “What is going on here? They are having a game? What they are doing has no connection with security. What they are doing is only to infuriate the Palestinians and to bring them to “bad deeds.” ( he wore a blue shirt, closely buttoned and close to his body and one could see his vest and to see that there was no place there for anything else to be placed). But evidently the women soldiers could not give up their little pleasures.18.25 -The road to Hawarra South….an accident between a taxi and a Palestinian car and we saw that people had been hurt and an ambulance arrived and also the police.18.30 Crossroads of Burin 20 cars.18.35 Crossroads Za’atara no cars from the south and 16 from the east.
Huwwara
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The Huwwara checkpoint is an internal checkpoint south of the city of Nablus, at the intersection of Roads 60 and 5077 (between the settlements of Bracha and Itamar). This checkpoint was one of the four permanent checkpoints that closed on Nablus (Beit Furik and Awarta checkpoints to the east and the Beit Iba checkpoint to the west). It was a pedestrian-only barrier. As MachsomWatch volunteers, we watched therre since 2001 two shifts a day - morning and noon, the thousands of Palestinians leaving Nablus and waiting for hours in queues to reach anywhere else in the West Bank, from the other side of the checkpoint the destination could only be reached by public transport. In early June 2009, as part of the easing of Palestinian traffic in the West Bank, the checkpoint was opened to vehicular traffic. The passage was free, with occasional military presence in the guard tower. Also, there were vehicle inspections from time to time. Since the massacre on 7.10.2023, the checkpoint has been closed to Palestinians.
On February 26, 2023, about 400 settlers attacked the town's residents for 5 hours and set fire to property, such as houses and cars. Disturbances occurred in response to a shooting of two Jewish residents of Har Bracha by a Palestinian Terrorist. The soldiers stationed in the town did not prevent the arson and rescued Palestinian families from their homes only after they were set on fire. No one was punished and Finance Minister Smotrich stated that "the State of Israel should wipe out Hawara." Left and center organizations organized solidarity demonstrations and support actions for the residents of Hawara.Hawara continued to be in the headlines in all the months that followed: more pogroms by the settlers, attacks by Palestinians and a massive presence of the army in the town. It amounted to a de facto curfew of commerce and life in the center of the city. On October 5, 2023, MK Zvi established a Sukkah in the center of Hawara and hundreds of settlers backed the army blocked the main road and held prayers in the heart of the town all night and the next day. On Saturday, October 7, 23 The "Swords of Iron" war began with an attack by Hamas on settlements surrounding Gaza in the face of a poor presence of the IDF. Much criticism has been made of the withdrawal of military forces from the area surrounding Gaza and their placement in the West Bank, and in the Hawara and Samaria region in particular, as a shield for the settlers who were taking over and rioting.
On November 12, 2023, the first section of the Hawara bypass road intended for Israeli traffic only was opened. In this way, the settlers can bypass the road that goes through the center of Hawara, which is the main artery for traffic from the Nablus area to Ramallah and the south of the West Bank. For the construction of the road, the Civil Administration expropriated 406 dunams of private land belonging to Palestinians from the nearby villages. The settlers are not satisfied with this at the moment, and demand to also travel through Hawara itself in order to demonstrate presence and control.(updated November 2023)
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