Huwwara 13 March 2007 Watchers: Aharona M., Ninette B., and Dina A. (reporting)Translation: Suzanne O.This is no life, in spite of the fact that there was nothing out of the ordinary, the circumstances of life under occupation where everything is forbidden, where you have to get a permit for the most commonplace things, e.g.: for a doctor on his way to a clinic where patients wait for him but he has to wait at a roadblock for permission to cross, the humiliating manner of the soldiers, the not knowing what to do, it’s just impossible.Za’atra (Tapuach) Junction7:50 a.m. There are five cars at the roadblock from the direction of Road 5, one checkpoint and the traffic flows.From the direction of Nablus one car is being checked. It is not clear why the roadblock is empty.Two military jeeps are parked opposite the village of Marda.Huwwara roadblock8:00 a.m.Just a few pedestrians queue at the exit from Nablus and the crossing is quick.At the entrance to Nablus there is a stream of people but even so comparatively there are less people than we are used to seeing.Vehicles coming to the roadblock seeking to enter the town are checked quickly.There are few vehicles at the exit and the crossing is quick.The x-ray machine for baggage is available.8:30 a.m.The queue increases, some twenty people wait to cross, the inspection is the normal one: removing belts, opening baggage, some of the people behave as if we are invisible and some greet us with a smile and a good morning, this is normal when the waiting time is not long.As soon as a crowd builds up at the roadblock the commander comes and gives the order to speed up the inspection and release the queue.The humanitarian queue is started and the roadblock empties again.All in all, at this point, the soldiers are friendly and work efficiently.The dog handler arrives with her dog and tells the soldiers that if someone or something is suspicious they should call her.A transit van full of passengers for Nablus arrives, obviously it is not permitted to cross. The passengers are taken off, mainly women, among them three old women one of whom walks with the aid of a cane, it is difficult to see the insensitivity, an old woman, hobbling along, forced to walk on a morning as cold as this one.Beit Furiq9:00 a.m.Pedestrians arrive in groups and cross swiftly but there are real problems with vehicles.The well-known humiliating method is in use: there is a convoy of cars at the exit from Beit Furiq and they are not permitted to approach the roadblock. One vehicle at a time is permitted to approach and only when it is called for inspection can the next vehicle advance; after all why not make it harder?The residents appear to be well trained but in addition the crossing is very slow, drivers called Micky F., and complained about having to wait hours. We approached the soldiers and they answered that they are inspecting cars entering and leaving Nablus alternately. The inspection is painstaking and, after every car or two, they take a short break.We called the Humanitarian Centre, after about 15 minutes they called back promising that an order to speed up the inspection has been given, we suggested that they send reinforcements and open two checkpoints and then the wait would not be so long.A doctor approaches us and explains that patients are waiting for him at the clinic. We went to the roadblock commander and he sent him across immediately as well as a transit van with a patient needing medical examinations.When we left eight cars were queuing and it seemed that it takes an hour to cross. It is unbearable, people leave in the morning to go to work or to do what they have to do, and never know when they will get where they have to go.AwartaThere are six cars in the queue at the entrance to Nablus, people inform us that there are no problems at the roadblock but there is not much of a living to be made.Huwwara roadblock9:45 a.m.When we get back a car is parked near the soldiers’ position with a tray of cakes on it and near it stands a woman from the Haifa Blue and White group, the soldiers are grouped around her. The woman talks very loudly and laughs with them pointing to us.The soldiers disperse very slowly and she moves to the side of the turnstile and sits down on the parapet.At the entrance to Nablus a queue of about six cars builds up, among them an ambulance. We approach the soldiers and ask them to let the ambulance through and then… the woman starts lecturing, using such foul language, so passionately and with such hatred as we have never heard, cursing us and calling us Arafat’s, Abu Mazen’s and Hanieh’s prostitutes. What a shame you weren’t cremated in Auschwitz, go back to Europe and burn there, Arab lovers, see what you are doing to the soldiers.She informs the soldiers that they must not talk to us, when I ask in a whisper whether they are allowed to talk to her, she answers: “There will be a law under which it will be illegal to talk to MachsomWatch women only.” When a soldier tells me that he has released the ambulance she tells him he is not allowed to talk to us, she supervises the soldiers and is furious that they are not making thorough enough inspections. Why did you let the ambulance through? It should be noted that the crossing is into Nablus. You see the Arabs are hiding bombs under the baby blankets. A UNESCO car crosses and she screams at it as well. At the same time she continues to curse us. We were silenced when we asked the soldiers if her screaming does not bother them, some of them said that on the contrary it helps, which encouraged her to continue screaming. We, of course, did not answer.10:20 a.m.A van arrives, the driver is disabled and the van is loaded with machine oil packed in boxes. The soldiers remove the boxes, make holes in them and call the dog to sniff them, when they finish we ask the dog handler about her dog, the screaming woman informs her that she is not allowed to talk to us, the soldier takes no notice. Then she announces again: you love Arabs, animals, dogs and flowers but not Jews.10:30 a.m.We left and so did the Blue and White activist.On the way back there are again no roadblocks except for Za’atra and there are no cars, nor is the army vehicle opposite the village of Marda.