BEIT IBA, Monday 15 November 2004 PM Observers: Riva and Tami (reporting) colour=red>13:15 – We passed through the Jubara checkpoint where there was a lot of action, with people coming and going, in holiday clothes [it was Eid el Fitr, the holiday marking the end of the month –l ong fast of Ramadan].13:35 – Some 20 vehicles were waiting at the crossroads, to proceed in the direction of Jenin. The line soon started to move. There was also a longish line of cars coming from Jenin had begun, and here too progress was reasonable. Shavei ShomronOn the perimeter fence of this [Jewish Israeli] settlement there were huge signs saying: “Welcome to Shavei Shomron – quality of life”. It would be interesting to know who’s enjoying this quality of life and at whose expense. The soldiers at the checkpoint, all reservists, were doing their work properly. 14:25 – Beit Iba The checkpoint, being run by reservists, was functioning efficiently. The checkpoint commander worked calmly, politely and with good will; the traffic flowed; the soldiers also had the help of a representative of the District Coordinating Office (DCO) [the army section that handles civilian matters; it generally has representatives at the checkpoints ostensibly to alleviate the lot of the Palestinians].The main problem was, as it so often is, communication with the General Security Services. When we reached the checkpoint there were four detainees, but in less than an hour the number had risen to 15. [Detainees are, typically, men aged from 16 to 30 or 35 who have no passage permits; recently, young women, too, have been detained. The detainees’ ID details are phoned through to the General Security Services (GSS, also known as the Shabak or the Shin Bet, the Hebrew acronym for the GSS) for checking against a central list of security suspects and the answers are then relayed back to the checkpoints. This cumbersome process can take considerable time, and that can be prolonged even more if the soldiers wait to accumulate a batch of ID cards before passing them on to the GSS , or if they behave in a similarly tardy manner at the end of the process, waiting until they have a batch of GSS clearances before they release individual detainees. Meanwhile, the detainees are virtually prisoners at the checkpoint where the soldiers retain the ID cards until the entire process is completed]. 15:00 – Everything was going very slowly, which was difficult for the detainees and also for soldiers. 15:40 – We had to leave, after hearing from our colleagues at Huwwara about what was happening there (see separate report).On our way home, we saw work underway for paving a road about two kilometres northeast of the settlement of Avnei Hefetz; it was not clear what the purpose was.