BEIT IBA, SHAVEI SHOMRON, SARRA, WEDNESDAY, 17 MARCH 2004 PMObservers:Hanna A.,Orit B., Shalva C., Sharon G., Mihal P., Yehudit A. color =red>13:30 Beit Iba The checkpoint is full of people going through in both directions. There is also a line of trucks, and around 30 people detained. O. arrives, makes some order, and the soldiers allow through women and men over the age of 35. Nevertheless, there are always at least 50 – 60 people waiting to go through the checkpoint. Checking, especially of personal effects, is rigorous and sometimes men are asked to lift their shirts. Some of those detained say they have been waiting since 07:00 and still nothing has happened. According to the box [where the identity cards are kept] and the soldiers, none of the detainees have been there since before noon. As some are released others take their place. At 14:50 there is a total “freeze”. No-one goes through the checkpoint. Later, it is women and elderly people only who are allowed to pass. For the others, the “freeze” continues. Again an identity card is lost. This time it is one that belongs to a Jordanian. Orit looks after him and also writes down his phone number and continues helping him during the week. A young man without a permit arrives with two small children in his arms. The soldiers refuse to let him go through. O. [a soldier]suggests that he gives the baby girl to a woman who is going through. After our intervention, however, he is eventually allowed through.At 15:30 an ambulance arrives with a woman who has just given birth. There is a brief hold-up, resolved after our intervention. Another ambulance with a patient is held up for half an hour. 13:40 Shavei Shomron No pedestrians. A long line of vehicles. 14:20 Sarra The checkpoint is deserted apart from one Palestinian who has been held there as punishment for three hours. According to the soldiers he drove through the checkpoint at 150 km per hour and ignored the order to stop. He denies this. The car has an Israeli license plate and he has a valid permit to go through the checkpoint.A routine and horrifying day in the occupied territories.P.S. On Friday one of our group took a Palestinian taxi from Pundok to Haris. When the driver heard she was from Machsomwatch he told her that he had been stopped that morning at the Shavei Shomron checkpoint, where, had it not been for the Machsomwatch shift that arrived, he would not have been allowed through.