Huawwra, Sunday 3.9.06 PMObservers: Noa P., Judit B., Smadar (guest), Naomi L. (reporting)At a road barrier on Yitzhar road just before Burin Junction:”The Palestinian holding this document is a Palestinian whose ID has been taken by Israeli army troops and lost. Please allow him to go through the checkpoint after going through a physical security check, and if any doubts arise as to the credibility of this document, please call no……………. and ask for ……………Document valid until 4.9.06, 24:00, at which time the Palestinian must obtain a confirmation from the DCO in his home town by filing an official complaint about the loss of ID by Israeli soldiers.”The above document is signed by Company Commander Captain R. L. of Shimshon Battalion 2005.And here is what happened:Omar, a taxi driver, did not think twice when he had a fare to drive from Hebron to Tul Karem. On the way back, around 19:30, at a roadblock on Yitzhar road near Burin Junction, he drove past the long line of about 40 waiting vehicles. He said he lived in the south Hebron hills (Yatta) and his father was ill in the hospital and he was in a hurry. None of the Palestinians waiting in line protested this, only the officer (second lieutenant) who checked his ID and has principles – he will not let anyone get around the line. No explanations helped, neither begging nor pleading by Omar and the friend he had with him, nor ours. This officer took the ID and insisted Omar go back to the end of the line and wait like everyone else. Our calls to the army ‘humanitarian’ hotline did not help either. In agony the man finally agreed to back up and wait, and asked for his ID. No, said the officer, you’ll go back to the end of the line, and then you’ll get your ID. Omar refused to budge without his ID. All that time the officer went on checking people and moving cars on and did not budge from behind the spikes on the asphalt.We made several complaints to the hotline, then left in order to enable the officer to get off his high horse, but – nothing doing. No ID, no release for Omar.After over an hour, because of our complaints to the hotline, a DCO representative arrived and instructed the officer to give Omar back his ID and let him go. Then we learned the ID had ‘disappeared’.The officer produced 3 different versions about its fate (we suspected it was lying in his own pocket the whole time, or passed on to the soldier at the securing post, with whom he had exchanged whispers while we were still there);-Version no. 1: he gave the ID to Palestinians waiting at the end of the line. let him go there and look for it. Omar went from car to car asking, and returned empty-handed. We were witnesses to the fact that the officer had never once left his post, certainly not gone to the end of the very long line whose end was out of sight, and certainly not handed the ID to anyone in the cars waiting in line.-Version no. 2: He gave the ID to a truck that had passed the CP-Version no. 3 came to us from the army ‘humanitarian’ hotline: the officer had placed the ID on the curb of the road at the end of the line. We were sent to look for it there. We looked and looked and of course no ID for, as we had witnessed, the officer had never once left his post so he could not have possibly placed it there. Later soldiers looked for it, equipped with a lantern, and of course they found nothing.Towards 21:00 the officer left, and was replaced by other soldiers. The whole brigade was already up and around, everyone looking for the “lost” ID. Brigade Spokesman and Regional Command Spokesman were already informed.As we realized this ID would not appear out of nowhere, neither from the officer’s pocket, nor from the curb or any moving truck, we asked to provide Omar with a document confirming his loss so he could proceed home to Yatta in the South Hebron Hills, through the seven CPs still to be crossed: Za’atara Junction, Abu Dis, Beit Jalla, Etzyon, Kiryat Arba and Ziv. Not counting ‘flying (surprise roadblock) checkpoints’.After talking to Company Commander R., the Sergeant wanted to write Omar a note on a piece of paper out of our notebook. We refused. Such a note, soldiers at CPs would surely say, could be written by anyone, and no soldier at any CP would ever honor. It was getting close to 23:00, closing time at the Abu Dis CP. But Omar has a problem. He knows not a soul around Nablus and has nowhere to spend the night. It is dangerous to sleep in the cab. We demanded a confirmation note printed on official paper and signed by the responsible officer with stamp and telephone no. for details. Company commander Roi claimed the DCO was closed and only a policeman would have such notes. We suggested he provide this document himself and eventually that is what took place. The document is quoted at the beginning of our report.we updated Adam, Civil Administration Spokesman, as well, and he promised to look to it that all CPs would let Omar through without any trouble. We also provided Omar with our numbers just in case.The next morning, here’s what we learned:-He had been detained at Zaatara for two hours-He had been detained at Abu Dis for an hour and a half, soldiers took from him both the note and his cellular phone so he could not call for help.-at 3 a.m. he arrived at Hebron and tried to sleep in his car until the break of dawn. Actually did not get any sleep at all.In the morning he went to the DCO at Hebron according to the instructions he had received from the army echelons. There he was told to come the next day, it wasn’t Yatta’s day at the DCO. We called the army hotline again and he was let in after waiting for hours. At 12 noon, he received a temporary document replacing his ID, as follows:1. I confirm hereby that the ID of Omar……. was taken from him on 3.9.06 at Yitzhar CP.2. This document is valid until 6.9.06 (96 hours after the above mentioned date)3. The holder of this document will apply to the Palestinian Ministry of the Interior until said date.Major Eyal Ze’eviDCO HebronNow the administration at the Palestinian Authority is striking because it hasn’t been paid, and no one knows how long this strike will last!We asked the army hotline why Omar’s document was valid only for three days when it is a known fact that he cannot possibly obtain a new ID, and the answer was that army regulation prohibit issue of any document for a longer time, this is the maximum, and besides, “a temporary documentary confirming loss of ID is a very serious matter and even the one that was given him is an exception to the rule. Usually it is only issued for 12-24 hours.”AND WHAT IS BEING DONE ABOUT THE ID ITSELF, AND THE OFFICER WHO MADE IT VANISH?? AH, YES. THIS IS BEING LOOKED INTO BY THE BRIGADE. We asked whether the soldiers have received proper information about the meaning of IDs in the lives of Palestinians? -Yes, of course…Army hotline answer: until the end of the strike at the PA, Omar will have to go to Hebron DCO every 3 days (hoping it falls on Yatta’s day), wait in line for half a day, and renew the temporary document. Nothing to be done about the fact that Omar is a cab driver and has already lost two days’ work.When we asked one of the soldiers (Shimshon “Samson” Battalion) if they were especially trained for their tour of duty in the West Bank working with civilians, he said: ‘Sure! In Gaza we never talked with the Palestinians, we just went ahead and shot them!”