SARRA, BEIT IBA, Wednesday 28 April PMObservers: Tamar S.A., Etti P., Philip – German journalist, Dafna B. (reporting) colour =red>PrecisThe Sarra checkpoint was empty. The situation was unchanged – only over-35 s were allowed through. N., our driver, was detained.At Beit Iba there were hundreds of Palestinians at the checkpoint, crowded together , tense, angry and not allowed through until they complied with the order that the soldiers were trying to impose. The pressure grew from minute to minute as more people arrived. The checkpoint was on the verge of explosion until N. of the District Coordinating Office (DCO) [the army section that deals with civilian matters] arrived and eased the pressure.There were many detainees (aged 30-50), including health workers, held for hours. The driver of a truck which had broken down was left to sleep in his truck at the checkpoint because his permit was for Awarta and not Beit Iba. One of the soldiers was violent towards a Palestinian who arrived late at the checkpoint.ConclusionsFrom checkpoint to checkpoint, from week to week, the situation worsens. The overall arbitrariness, especially of the regulations, and the inhumanity are both intolerable by any criterion. At best, when there is a more humane soldier at the checkpoint, he is trapped in the tangle of inhuman orders, intended to harass. In other cases, and they are the majority, the evil stemming from policy and the evil that bursts forth from the soldiers themselves (either as a result of their education or because of the conditions of checkpoint service – not that that is of any concern to the weeping man forced to spend the night in his truck) combine to create an incomparably cruel reality for millions of people.SarraWe went up to Sarra to collect evidence about the house that had been requisitioned by the army. The owner was afraid to come to the checkpoint because of the soldiers, who even tried to prevent us from reaching the house, but we told them that since this was not one of the areas of the Palestinian Authority which Israelis are forbidden to enter, only an order from a general would keep us away. N., our driver, stayed at the checkpoint for 20 minutes. Ten minutes later we received an urgent call that one of the officers had called the police and we must leave. When we returned, the officer wasn’t there but N.’s papers had been taken “for checking.” When I asked why his and not ours, we were told that Palestinians are also checked randomly. When I asked how long the check would take, I was told: “You know the procedure. It will be just as it is with the Palestinians.” Luckily for us, half an hour later an officer arrived and screamed at our driver for still being there. When I told him what had happened, he returned the document and threw us out.In conversation with the checkpoint commander, we gathered that usually all the Palestinians go through in the Nablus direction. The young ones apparently go through at the whim of the soldiers. From a talk with a Nablus resident we understood that only the over-35s, and those with trading permits, go through. The young ones are imprisoned or forced to turn to crime to make a living. 15:45 –Beit Iba When we arrived there was terrible pressure and chaos. Hundreds of people shoving and pushing around the metal detector (from Nablus direction). A number of Palestinians volunteered to help push the crowd back and several people were crushed. The remainder couldn’t be moved because of the pressure from behind which was increasing. Only the women were allowed through from the side, climbing the steep hill, and stumbling over as they went. But because of the dense crowd , the bodies of others checked their fall. It was terribly hot, people were extremely agitated, swearing and exhausted with standing for hours. One of the soldiers, A., became violent, aimed his rifle at the crowd, screamed, threatened and shoved. E., who acted correctly this time, calmed him and forbade him to act violently. He also tried repeatedly, at my request, to summon N. but N. was busy. I telephoned the army’s “humanitarian” hotline and the Military Spokesperson – but got nothing by way of help. E. chose people from the head of the line (criteria unclear), and took their ID cards.. He didn’t check them, luckily for them, and made them sit down near the detector.The crowd began singing and there was a feeling of revolt in the air. The arrival of N. (16:45) from the grey building beside the checkpoint eased the tension. Within half an hour the line of hundreds had been reduced to only a few.About 50 detainees were sitting in the blazing sun and refused to accept drinks from us or from the German journalist. We left them a full bottle. Some had been detained since the morning (a few hours) and others “only” an hour or two. Among them were many medical workers, who were very late for their 14:00 shifts.An ambulance from al-Amal hospital in Jenin on its way there, without a patient, was detained because the soldier said that the doctor’s license looked forged. He said he’d never seen one like it and he gave him a “test” in medicine. “Say something medical” he said. “What do you want me to say, in what field?” But the soldier didn’t even know what to ask! After a few minutes the doctor was released and allowed to continue to Jenin but by himself (probably by bus). The ambulance and its driver were detained. Why? No reason! I called Physicians for Human Rights, but there was no answer in the office or on the cell-phone numbers. I left messages. Until now (next day) nobody has called me back The problems faced by medical personnel are particularly acute and this is not the first time that we have encountered them.A young man from Deir Sharaf collapsed before reaching the checkpoint and arrived by ambulance, looking very sick. R., the civilian paramedic, was summoned and treated him with real dedication, and then he was allowed to continue his journey to Nablus by ambulance. It was R., too, who sent the young man’s ID number to the Shin Bet {Israeli security service] for checking and nagged them about it until they shouted at him.At 16:30 a DCO officer, A, arrived. Very hostile, both towards me ( he said he doesn’t talk to Machsomwatch women) and towards the Palestinians. Since N. arrived, most of the detainees and the ambulance had been released.We received a report that girls were being harassed again at An-Naqura and Buqra. Taxi drivers said that, following our intervention when one of the girls disappeared, the harassments had stopped.18:00 — When we returned , we found that N. had gone. The soldiers said he had gone home.A taxi driver from An-Naqura told us that his son (aged 30), who works as a tile-layer in Nablus, can’t get a permit and so isn’t allowed through the checkpoint. When he does get into Nablus, he can’t return. One of the soldiers, A., came over and demanded to know what we were talking about. The man told him and A. joked with him and said, half-laughing and half-threatening: “Why are you telling them? Why don’t you come to me? You think they’ll help you more than I can? If I don’t want to let him through, there’s nothing they can do.” In the end it was agreed that the man would bring his son and introduce him to A. and then he would be allowed through.18:30 — There was no answer yet about the detainees! They complained of hunger. The soldier in the watch tower started to shout at them to shut up. Or else…18:45: While a truck driver who wanted to go through the checkpoint was talking to the soldiers, the engine of his vehicle died and wouldn’t start again. One of the soldiers told him to push it outside the checkpoint, but when he did, another soldier stood in front of it, aimed his rifle and said that if the driver continued, he would shoot. The driver was confused and terrified. The soldiers argued among themselves and meanwhile the truck was blocking the way. Finally one of the soldiers called over a detainee and forced him to announce over the loudspeaker that all the detainees must come and push the truck back in the Nablus direction. “Anyone who doesn’t push will stay here till the morning.” After some hesitation, about half the detainees went to push. The others booed and said they weren’t ready to do a service for someone who’d stuck them in the sun for hours! The detainees who “volunteered” got a prize — the soldier released them without waiting for the Shin Bet answer! (Which proves that the soldiers are allowed to use their discretion).An elderly man arrived whom A. wouldn’t let through. There was an angry discussion and A. seized the Palestinian forcibly and shook him violently . The commander came over, restored calm, sent A. away and let the man sit down. He promised to let him through soon.The driver of the immobilized truck begged tearfully to be allowed to transfer his merchandise at least or to push the truck towards Deir Sharaf. He didn’t care about the truck but his load included costly SIM cards. The soldiers didn’t care if he spent the night at the checkpoint. Told him to go through Awarta. (How? With his truck?)N. arrived. We begged him to do something about the truck. Nothing doing. Orders are orders. The man couldn’t go through. Even a humane individual like N. can’t bend the rules. (The driver had all the required permits but goods can only go through Awarta). Even N. can’t see why it’s inhuman to leave him to sleep at the checkpoint, because one can’t be humane in such an inhuman place: there’s no humane way to tell a man that he’s going to have to sleep out in the open because his permit is for another place.All the same, N. released all the detainees (two of whose documents couldn’t be found, but N. knew who had taken them and where – in other words, they hadn’t been checked . We heard him telephoning the soldier in question to bring them back). We complained to him about the violence and he said he would deal with it and immediately release the Palestinian.