Jordan Valley Checkpoints, Sunday, 3.7.05, AM Observers: Ofra K., Dafna B. (reporting)Guests: Azami. B., who translated from Arabic, Karin L. Summary – Hamra and Ti’asiir checkpoints are manned by soldiers from the “Religious Nachal” regiment, apparently many of them are settlers. At the Hamara checkpoint, passage is only permitted to area residents in order to “clean” the route (from Palestinians).Prolonged detainment in the blistering heat, especially at Ti’assir, for no apparent reason. Conclusion – our presence at the checkpoint is essential. Especially in the early morning hours, 6.00 and in the afternoon from 3 pm onward. 10.30 Gitit Checkpoint – We did not stop, we meant to stop on the way back but in the end it didn’t work out for us. Religious soldiers (long beards and side curls) man this and all the other checkpoints we visited. 10.30 Hamra Checkpoint The soldiers immediately declare that “we are not allowed to stand at the barriers and we should move behind the cement blocks, about 150 meters away from the checkpoint. Since this is where the Palestiniais wait until the soldier condescends to summon them (“one by one” naturally”). We walk over there.A woman with two children and a young man are waiting at the designated area, despite the scorching heat. They tell us that usually they are made to wait about 30 minutes to an hour, even if there is no one else seeking passage at the time (later, we will observe the same pattern at Ti’assir).The DCO Officer approaches them, trying very hard to impress us with his humanity. At first he wonders why their ID’s have Jericho down as their residence while they claim they live on the other side of the checkpoint in Beit Hassan. Despite this he lets them through and asks them, in Hebrew, “why did you wait? You should have approached the barrier straight away?” sure, they chose to stand by for half an hour for fun. Actually they were better off not understanding Hebrew, what would happen to them (without us around) if they come up to the soldiers without being summoned.I ask the DCO what happens with those who have Jericho marked on their ID. He explains that no one from Jericho can pass through this checkpoint, in fact only the residents of the nearby village are allowed to pass through at all. Why? “Because we wanted to clear route 90!” (from Palestinians obviously). These are orders of the Brigade Commander. It makes no difference that this is actually not route 90 – ethnic cleansing is underway nonetheless.The checkpoint commander arrives and explains that the only ones allowed passage from the village of Jiftlick, on the eastern side of the checkpoint, are the water bearers. There is an aqueduct in the village and the soldiers already recognize the bearers and let them pass. Even from Jiftlik none are allowed to cross over to their neighboring village on the other side of the checkpoint.I ask, “How will people travel from Jericho to Jenin or Tubas, for example?” he answers: “Through the Rimonim checkpoint”. I examine the map, there is no way to get from Jericho to Jenin via the Rimonim checkpoint unless you go around half of the west bank with all its regular and temporary checkpoints!The cars (there are hardly any pedestrians) are slowly inspected while the passengers are roasting in the sun. Despite the fact that there are never more than two or three cars, they wait approximately twenty minutes until the un-busy soldier summons them. The passengers quickly descend from the cabs without even being asked to do so, they are well trained, their ids are handed to the soldier and only after he examines them very seriously, the passengers, women and children included, are allowed to continue on their way. The Palestinians complained to us about the wait but emphasized that at the Tiassir checkpoint, about 20 km to the north, the conditions are much worse. The passengers of a Red Cross vehicle also asked us to go to Ti’assir because the situation is especially difficult there. They added that at El Bidan (Tirza Junction), North West of Nablus, the regular checkpoint was dismantled but instead rolling checkpoints are posted nearly every day. Unfortunately we were unable to get there, we were stopped by soldiers and the well known red sign :”your are entering the Area of the Palestinian Authority ……”.It should be noted that these signs are placed by the army wherever they please. In many cases the area behind the sign is actually not area A, which is out of bounds for Israelis. In many cases this is still area B, where we are allowed to enter. Note: None of the soldiers of the checkpoint including the DCO speak Arabic! The discussion is in Hebrew since “they understand”. 12.30PM – Ti’assir checkpoint Everybody we spoke with during our visit, Palestinian or Internationals, complained about this terrible checkpoint. From afar we could see that on both sides of the checkpoint there are two cabs waiting, while the two soldiers manning the checkpoint are idling about. Simply not doing anything aside from seeking shade and staring at the cars. One of the drivers says he has already been waiting for twenty minutes, (he will wait an additional 10 minutes untill he is allowed to approach the barrier). They usually wait here for an hour or two. The soldiers are as averse towards us as towards the Palestinians. They insist we keep back from the checkpoint and every time we approach them they pull down the barrier insolently. As a result we stand further away and communicate with them by shouting.Five minutes after our arrival the soldiers signal the first cab. Also, at this checkpoint, all the passengers descend from the vehicles, including women of all ages and young children, they show their ids and go back to the cars. The only shade in the whole area is under the soldiers post, the heat is inhuman, the sun is scorching and the people are suffering. A pickup truck comes to a stop about 100 meters form the cement blockades, and two women descend, they t hen struggle uphill up to the blockades and wait for about 10 minutes till the soldier bids them. They approach him together, he yells, “one by one”. These were the only pedestrians during our time there.The checkpoint motor traffic for the most part – cabs, vans, many trucks and tractors. Here, again, no one speaks Arabic and there is no DCO. Slowly, slowly, the line elongates, 10 cars are now waiting on the eastern side towards Ti’assir and 6 cars on the western side towards the Jordan valley. The average wait is 25 minutes. The soldiers inspect the vehicles slowly and meticulously (removing the merchandise from the trucks)/ the Palestinians declare that due to our presence their wait is “so short”, they ask-beg us to come more often.13.40 – the soldier closes the gate. I shout why? And he responds “Cant you see I am drinking now?”