Summary: Severe closure for
the last 4 days: no passage whatsoever of Palestinians, including
schoolchildren, except for residents of Nablus, of teachers and of
humanitarian cases with permits. This creates great pressure from
the students, who were used to passing since the beginning of the
academic year, but could not go to their examinations today; also
from sick persons without permits and from people who just need
desperately to get to Nablus. Huwwara checkpoint was on the brink
of explosion when dozens of people were trying by all means to get
through. The soldiers had great difficulties keeping control.

We witnessed the renewed and strict implementation of orders issued
2 years ago by the former defence minister Ben Eliezer, according
to which Palestinian vehicles are not allowed to move on the roads
of the West Bank, even those connecting Palestinian villages and
towns. Today this prohibition was put into full effect. Private
cars and trucks, who were found using the connecting roads, were
held up by soldiers, directed to Beit Furik checkpoint, parked on
the side road leading to Salim, keys were confiscated and the
drivers told to come for their cars after 4 days. An officer was
handing out receipts in an orderly manner and despairing drivers
were trying, in vain, to avert the punishment . 11 vehicles were
already stranded there at 09:30.

Our shift:

Beit Furik:

Because of the strict closure, relative few people were waiting,
most of them students who did not want to miss their exams. The
soldiers were rather civil. 4 detainees were released soon after
our arrival. Our intervention helped a woman pass to a meeting of a
health council in Nablus.

On the hills of Beit Furik people were picking olives. When a
person crossed the fields towards the hill, an armoured car was
sent in his direction, “only in order to check him”, as
the soldiers hurried to explain. On their way back the soldiers
shot tear gas into a crowd of waiting students! Just like that –
trigger happy!

We learned that the DCO was coordinating with the villages and the
police the date and time for the olive picking in the areas near
the settlements, so as to protect the olive pickers from the
assault of the settlers. It remains to be seen if the farmers will
indeed be protected!

A group of cars parked on the road to Salim were being punished for
using the roads in the area, interconnecting their villages and
towns, despite the explicit prohibition against driving on these
roads. For quite some time, until 4 days ago, these orders had been
quietly ignored and not put into effect.

Huwwara South
150 people crowding and wanting to get into
Nablus and about 40 (mainly women students) being detained because
of bypassing the queue. A terrible mess! DCO officer Elad was
trying to sort out the humanitarian cases, with very little
success. Only three soldiers at the checkpoint, one for the cars
and the ambulances (who were being checked rather swiftly) and only
two for the pedestrians! Instead of checking, the soldiers were
busy pushing the people back, and the situation seemed to get out
of control. At 10:00 Elad was called to Itamar, where the settlers
were reported shooting, and the checkpoint almost collapsed. Elad
at least gave orders by phone to return the IDs to the datainees.
This eased the tension for some time but the escalation was fast to
come and there was almost nothing we could do!! A woman from Baq’a
el Gharbia with 5 children and a blue ID could not return to her
home in Nablus, where she lives with her husband. She had not
changed her address in her ID, so as to give her children some of
the privileges of the blue ID! Huwwara North Two women soldiers
were politely checking female suspects in a tent. Less tension and
mess.