HUWWARA, BEIT FURIK, Monday 16 August 2004 AM Observers: Suzi M., Shira G., Tal H., Ina M. (reporting) Nablus was under closure (probably because of recent events) – entry into the town was allowed at Huwwara South (with the usual restrictions), but no one was allowed to leave.The Beit Furik checkpoint was officially closed, although a few special exceptions were made. As routine activity was close to non-existent , we had time to look at the physical changes (more and more construction…) and talk to soldiers..Huwwara SouthWe arrived before 11:00 and found that because of the closure there was a nearly empty checkpoint. There were about 17 detainees in the “pen” [detainees are, typically, men aged from 16 to 30 who have no passage permits. The checkpoint soldiers phone their ID details to the General Security Services (GSS) which cross-checks them against a central list of security suspects and then phones the results back to the checkpoint. This cumbersome procedure, which often takes a long time, can take even longer if the checkpoint soldiers wait to accumulate a batch of ID cards before they contact the GSS, or if they wait to get back a batch from the GSS rather than releasing individuals as clearance comes through for each. During this time, the detainees are virtually prisoners at the checkpoints since the soldiers retain their ID cards until clearance arrives]. Only a very few individuals were waiting to cross through the checkpoint. We took the opportunity of acquainting ourselves with the latest innovations, especially the turnstiles which are so constructed that it is absolutely impossible to go through them carrying a baby or any luggage. A woman with a very large, heavy sack couldn’t negotiate the turnstile , and asked the soldier (whom we know from this checkpoint, and who speaks fluent Arabic) if she could walk round the side. We moved the plastic barrier in order to enable her to go through, and the soldier then insisted that we replace it after her (“It’s not my job…..”)We approached the checking post, and the soldiers asked “Who’s your [Machsomwatch!] commander?” We used the time to inspect the changes closely and note them down. The woman soldier there threatened that if Shira photographed the position, “I’ll break her camera”. Another soldier ordered us to stand away from the platform between the position and the detainees’ “pen”, claiming it was a “sterile area”.At Huwwara North, one soldier whistled at us, the other was resting. A few minutes later, soldiers from the southern checkpoint closed it and moved up to reinforce Huwarra North, bringing “their” detainees with them. A “seamline” security guard emerged, we didn’t notice from where, introduced himself to the soldiers and was immediately drawn in and fully updated as one of the guys [“seamline” volunteers are usually men – and women , too in a few cases – often considerably older than even the reservists, who undertake periods of unpaid service at the checkpoints along the borders between Israel and the Palestinian Authority – Huwwara is not, however , on the seamline]. A few metres away, a metal fence had been set up in the sun (carried by one person who was in the line), behind which about 25 people waited to go through. We asked the soldiers to let them wait in the shade, and were promised that they would be checked and let through shortly. The checkpoint commander announced through a megaphone, in Arabic (more or less correctly, for a change), that they would be allowed in [to Nablus], but not back, and made sure that they understood him. They were then summoned to the checking post in two lines, men and women, one by one.Beit Furik The checkpoint was closed in both directions. Nevertheless there were about 15 detainees held there by about 10 soldiers. When we got there, a water tanker was filling the (leaking) tank by the checkpoint; a small truck was waiting on the road, with some sheep in the rear and three adults and a nine-month-old baby in the cabin, all wanting to get back to their home in Salem. Having attracted the commander’s attention, the couple and the baby went through, the third adult, a relative, was detained. Some women wanted to enter Nablus, but were not allowed to do so : the soldiers said they were “escapers”. We kept hearing reports of people trying to evade the checkpoint by making their way through the fields, and once a soldier was sent to catch one of them (“We’ll catch and screw him!” )Some of the soldiers wanted to talk to us and we had a lively discussion – about history, about the [ Arab-Israel] conflict, and the [Israeli]occupation [of Palestine]. Among other things, they elaborated on why soldiers don’t like Machsomwatch: they feel we’re against them…The commander (a university graduate) surprised us by talking about historical narratives and extremism, and expressing a relatively liberal and moral worldview, relative to checkpoint realities, that is. The atmosphere was far less overbearing and hostile than at Huwwara , although most of the soldiers present were obviously not partners in an attempt to be humane. One of the soldiers (especially belligerent), who had apparently just woken up, screamed at the detainees to “stop pretending”. His mates joined him and called us “Jewish Arab women” and “murderers”, and demanded: “Get out of my checkpoint”. We were witness to some really heavy pressure by the soldiers on their commander, who ended up using his own judgement consistently, and on two others who tried to hold a serious discussion with us.It felt to us as though they needed to display both meanness and a desire for “action”, providing us with yet another reminder of the impossibility of staying really humane for any length of time under social pressure that encourages, promotes and dictates “pleasurable abuse”.