Huwwara. 19 June ‏2005 Watchers: Yael B., Ditza Y (reporting)The main event of the shift: discovering explosives at the roadblock. Another point worthy of note: the attitude of the soldiers towards the settlers in comparison to their attitude towards us.Tapuach roadblock7:40 a.m.A snap roadblock which we came across for the first time, on the road which leads from Ariel to Tapuach (on our way to Huwwara). We joined the queue of cars in an attempt to undergo a similar experience to that which the Palestinians suffer on a daily basis and sometimes several times a day, to check the length of time it takes to get through, and also, we must admit, to clear our consciences in respect of the times we, the superior race, bypass the queue while the Palestinians are forced to wait.The Palestinians in front of and behind us were incredulous at our presence among them, and signalled that we are entitled to cross and did not understand why we did not take advantage of the option available to us.We waited about half an hour; in front of us were 7 vehicles behind us the queue stretched out to some 15 vehicles. We tried to pass the roadblock without being checked but the soldiers stopped us. When we protested and asked why the settlers were not subjected to checks, they claimed that our presence in the queue of Palestinians made us suspect. (In the event they did not check us.) Huwwara8:20 a.m.A few metres before the roadblock a settler popped up in front of us and informed us that if we intended to talk to the soldiers, he was coming too. He repeated the mantra that our interference prevents the soldiers from fulfilling their tasks and instructed the soldiers not to speak to us.One detainee at the roadblock, more soldiers than usual present and presently some officers joined them. Two soldiers carried out checks, not many Palestinians leaving Nablus. The traffic in the direction of Nablus is heavier.8:35 a.m.Another five people are sent to the lock-up.The roadblock officer C., tells us that there is a warning but it is not specific. We notice that the observation point where there is normally one soldier who has his weapon aimed at those crossing now has two soldiers with their weapons aimed. The officer requests that we direct our questions only to him and that we do not speak to the soldiers. The settler converses at length with one of the soldiers and we point this out to the officer. He says that when he is free he will deal with the matter and, indeed, after a few minutes he approaches the settler, takes him aside and successfully convinces him, very pleasantly, not to talk to the soldiers and the person leaves.A Palestinian who has crossed the roadblock approaches us angrily: I have been kept waiting for half an hour at the roadblock, like a dog! In fact he did not wait longer than 5 – 7 minutes, but his sense of humiliation is understandable and it distorts his sense of time.8:55 a.m.9 detainees. No one has yet been released.9:10 a.m.A car, with no permit, with a patient in it arrives and wishes to get to the hospital in Nablus. The soldiers say: An ambulance passes here every few minutes, wait and you will be picked up. The ambulance does not arrive and the roadblock officer allows the driver to take the patient to the hospital on condition that he leaves his documents at the roadblock and returns within 20 minutes. Meanwhile the ambulance arrives and the roadblock officer demands that the taxi driver, who had not yet left, ask the ambulance driver to take the patient. The man went over to the ambulance driver and returned claiming that the ambulance will only take the sick person to the clinic he is attached to and not to the hospital. In this case the driver is permitted to take the patient into Nablus. The roadblock officer asserts to us, after checking the ambulance, that the driver told him he was prepared to take the sick person to the hospital, but the taxi driver asked him to tell the roadblock officer that he was not prepared to take him.Foreign business people, who live in the American Colony, are not permitted to enter Nablus because they had not coordinated their visit in advance with their embassies.9:40 a.m.13 detainees. Two of them, with whom we managed to speak, are nursing students at the hospital in Ramallah.10:00 a.m.An elderly man, who has problems walking, arrives accompanied by his son. They are returning from Nablus where they had been without a permit. The roadblock officer allows them to return to their village in Israel with a warning not to go to Nablus without a permit in future.10:10 a.m.There are still 13 detainees in the lock-up. We contacted the brigade: they refused to speak to us and told us to contact the I.D.F. spokesperson. When we did so we were answered by a recorded message and we left a message. We contacted Ra’ad who promised to try and deal with the matter when suddenly, within a few minutes, the I.D.F. spokesperson got back to us. He suggested that we should contact him again if Ra’ad did not manage to solve the problem within half an hour.10:15 a.m.All the detainees were released but five new ones arrived.10:25 a.m.A feeble old man, supported by his son, arrives and is really unable to reach the taxis for Nablus. He lost his temper about the organisation of the roadblock and the soldiers retorted: What are you shouting about? Yallah, imshi, imshi! We suggest that he wait, perhaps he can get a lift. He loses his temper again and blames the Jews and the Arabs. We manage to find him a lift and he and his son get in the vehicle.10:30 a.m.A 16-year-old youth has a suspicious substance and he is detained and the substance is checked. A girl, apparently his sister who has come to meet him, makes an angry outburst because he is detained.One of the iron hurdles which block the exit from the checkpoint falls over and hurts the leg of a Palestinian woman. The army hasn’t enough creativity to solve the problem of these hurdles which fall over from time to time.10:40 a.m.There are 9 detainees. One of the detainees is a teacher who gives professional training to women, and who is due to give a lesson at 11.30 a.m. There are about 20 in the queue for the turnstiles.10:50 a.m.The youth who had the suspicious substance is put into the cell.The roadblock is tense and the people are cleared out. The Palestinians, and we, are moved away to the other side of the southern roadblock. The detainees are also taken away and led under the observation post with an armed soldier in front of them and two behind them.More officers and border police arrive, as well as bomb disposal experts and many photographers. The youth is taken to a field a few metres away and an armed soldier guards him.11:15 a.m.Settlers arrive and approach the Palestinian youth. They behave as if they own the place and the army, who usually interfere with us, take their presence for granted. We, in response, walk to the youth’s side and are, of course, pushed away by the soldiers. A soldier, who was very concerned about us, turned to Yael saying: are you prepared to endanger yourself because of a stinking Arab? Imagine the great danger we were in by approaching the youth who had been disarmed and who was guarded by an armed soldier. When we drew the attention of the officer to what was going on he went to the settler and got him to leave.Palestinians gave us a cold drink and asked us to pass it to the youth. The soldiers and the officer refused. Afterwards, when we questioned a military policewoman as to whether he was legally allowed a drink, she told us that he had been given one.11:55 a.m.A security vehicle from Shomron arrives with some armed settlers. When questioned the soldiers tell us that they come to help the army.Meanwhile the queue of Palestinians on their way to Nablus builds up and they wait.The explosives are detonated and a cloud of smoke billows into the sky.1:00 p.m.The roadblock is still closed.We leave.