Huwwara. 28 July 2005 a.m.Watchers: Tsvia S., Tal B., Roni K., and Miki F (reporting)Za’atra/ Tapuach JunctionSelective ‘Bidul’ (separation), people can cross to Nablus, they can’t cross to Jenin and Kalkilya.The crossings to other villages are in accordance with the arbitrary list held by the soldiers.Huwwara – a normal occupation day without any particular incidents.Za’atra roadblock (Tapuach)7:10 a.m. From the direction of Salfit – Ariel there are no vehicles at all.There are 15 cars from the direction of Nablus to Ramallah.Two soldiers are at the checkpoint. They inform Tal aggressively that we are forbidden to stand there. Tal replies that we have permits. There is no further argument. In reply to our question about the day’s orders, they answer rudely that they don’t owe us anything and were not prepared to speak to us.7:15 a.m.They hold up a car on its way from Nablus to Salfit. They check I.D. cards and allow them to go after 10 minutes. Two taxis arriving from Nablus are told to go back. People leaving Nablus are entitled to cross by foot.7:30 a.m.Finally we manage to get hold of someone at the D.C.O.; there is a ‘selective’ separation procedure, to Nablus – yes, to Kalkilia, Jenin, Tulkarm – no.The number of vehicles crossing the roadblock has grown to 25. The average check of each vehicle is two minutes.7:55 a.m.A bus arrives on its way to Ramallah. It is stopped at the side for a check. The driver is asked to bring the I.D. cards of the passengers.6 people are taken off the bus, among them:a. A Palestinian on his way for an angiogram in Ramallah. The soldier is not prepared to listen. We contact Dalia Bassa who asks the name of the man’s doctor and acts immediately informing the D.C.O. that the man should cross. And the D.C.O.– they work slowly, and the soldiers, who at some point became more communicative, tell us that they are waiting for instructions from the brigade. We contact the D.C.O. too and inform them that there is a long queue and it is imperative that a representative should be at the roadblock. Answer: they will send someone!b. There is a woman on the bus who was apparently refused permission to cross by a soldier when she came by taxi and she is trying her luck a second time by coming by bus. The soldier is furious that she dared to try this ‘trick’ and he decides to punish her by detaining her. The woman tries her luck with us, she only wanted to give her daughter her matriculation certificate, she says, she is prepared to go back home just to get them off her back. 8:10 a.m.Finally Eitan, the D.C.O. representative, arrives. He comes over to us for a briefing. We ask him to speed up the check of Palestinian who is on his way to have an angiogram and to get the woman released. Tsvia asks Eitan why the bus which has already been checked leaving Nablus needs to be checked a second time at Za’atra Junction, his predictable, security reply: a terrorist could get on the bus somewhere between Huwwara and Za’atra! Afterwards he goes to get a briefing from the soldiers at the junction. Another urgent telephone call to Dalia Bassa regarding the patient for the angiogram, and all she could do was to commiserate with us on the local officers who have all the time in the world.8:20 a.m.The D.C.O. representative finally allows the patient to cross, finds the time to reprimand the woman and sends her on her way.8:30 a.m.The D.C.O. representative leaves. Beforehand we asked why there is not a permanent D.C.O. representative at the junction and his answer: there are only problems here because of the ‘Bidul’ (separation). The ‘Bidul’ (separation) is due to end and so will the problems. An interesting answer?!And the selective Bidul’ (separation) ‘?… the solutions are with the gods of the roadblock.8:20 a.m.Another bus. The driver brings all the I.D. cards to be checked. The soldier at the roadblock asks for a woman to be detained, a new photo is stuck into her I.D. card. Eitan asks her in Arabic why she stuck the photo in and she explains that the original photo was with her in purdah’ wearing a veil, and it caused her a lot of problems at the roadblocks. In addition she is a Jordanian citizen. She brings her passport. Eitan allows her to go back to the bus.9:05 a.m.A minibus taxi arrives. Three people from Zita Jemain wishing to apply to Ramallah University are not allowed to cross. Why? They come from a village which is on the list of the ‘Bidul’ (separation). The girl student bursts into tears – but goes back. One student of the other two is detained in order to check his I.D. card.9:15 a.m.There is a long queue of cars and only two soldiers are checking. We telephone the D.C.O. to ask for a soldier to come. A.’s answer: the problems have been sorted out so the D.C.O. representative left. When we insisted that problems come up all the time and the queue is long, he promised to check and to send a representative. No representative had yet arrived when we left at 11:00 a.m.At the same time Naomi left a message for Yonni the brigade spokesman and also spoke to S., the representative authorised by the brigade to liaise with us.We can’t say that the telephone calls led to any changes.9:55 a.m.The student is still detained. We are in continuous clarification of his case with the D.C.O.10:00 a.m.The student feels unwell. We ask the soldiers to let him sit in the shade. They suggest that he sits in the checkpoint and even bring him a chair and offer him water. We try to call the Shabak about him all the time. 10:05 a.m.The student is released and returns in the direction of Nablus. The girl soldier at the D.C.O. informs us that residents of Zita are not entitled to cross but those from Zita Jemain are allowed to. The students have already gone back. We inform the soldiers. They listen and it seems that people from Zita Jemain will be able to cross in their shift…10:15 a.m.The number of cars has been reduced to 10. Every bus and minibus is checked, the residents of villages remaining on the separation list are sent back. Among them is a bus full of women from Jenin on their way to a visit in Ramallah.The villages and towns on the separation list are: Tamoun, Tubas, Dik, Jemain and, by mistake, Zita Jemain and Jenin, Kalkilya and Beit Lid.>b>Huwwara Tsvia and Roni reporting9:30 a.m. Tsvia and Roni went to Huwwara.The crossing at Huwwara is almost smooth. There are very few pedestrians. The cars go into Nablus without problems after a short check.The roadblock commander, A., is communicative and ready to listen to special requests.Tsvia requests that the girl soldier should not point her gun directly at people. A., claims that this is the security procedure, but complies with the request and asks the soldier to point the barrel at the ground.Beit Furiq10:10 a.m.the roadblock is almost deserted.10:30 a.m.We return via Huwwara. From a distance a queue of cars can be seen leaving Nablus. Because we had to get to work we could not stay to find out what was happening.11:00 a.m.We return to Tel Aviv via Za’atra Junction.The end of the report – and enough of the occupation!