Za’atara Huwwara Beit Furik, Monday 23.07.07 PMObservers: Macky S., Nur B. (reporting)Translation: Hanna K.Yesterday the settles tried for the fifth time to reach the Homesh Settlement, from which they were evicted. The Israeli media reported on the march of the settlers, but the suffering that was yesterday caused to the Palestinians because of the event – the Beith Ibba CP was closed for traffic, as a result of which the pressure at Huwara was unbearable – this, naturally, remained without mention in the headlines of the Israeli media. The significance of this has to be understood – all the inhabitants of Nablus are allowed to leave the town through one CP only (the Beit Furik CP, as is known, only serves the inhabitants of Beit Furik and Beit Dajan).Today too many settlers moved about in the West Bank, we saw some already at the exit to Palestine near the Samaria gate, and others sticking up posters at the hitch-hike stations in preparation for the ninth of the month of Av, due the next day. Today too the Beit Ibba CP was closed for traffic and the congestion at Huwara was very near to develop into a disaster. Many Rolling CPs, including a special CP for the Itamar Settlement, cause today an absolute congestion for the legal inhabitants of the region. 13:45 – A Hammer, positioned on a hill, overlooks the fields of the village of Marda.13:40 – Za’atara (Tapuach) – 8 vehicles to the East and 2 to the South are waiting. The CP is activated by reservists who tell us that there are no passage restrictions or special alerts. A bus is detained, its passengers tell us that they have been detained here for a few minutes only, but that they have been waiting in a traffic jam at Burin for 20 minutes. The passengers of a taxi are made to leave it and a soldiers with a drawn gun orders the driver to empty the car trunk, the men perform the well known checking dance – shirt, trousers, socks – the women present the hand-bags and the parcels. A few minutes later they continue on their way. We quickly went to Huwara, after the taxi driver told us about a mess at the CP there.14:14 Burin (Yitzhar) – 16 vehicles are waiting in a traffic jam at the CP intended for those coming from Nablus, which is positioned on the road leading to the village of Huwara. The CP on the road leading to Yitzhar and Jit , intended for those coming from Jit, is also manned, there are two vehicles waiting.It is important to understand the influence of the great number of CPs on the freedom of movement of the Palestinians: those coming from Nablus will stop at the CP at Huwara, 2 kms later at the CP of Burin and about 5 kms further on they will stop again at Zaatara. The passengers of the bus whom we met at Zaatara, on their way to Ramallah, will also stop at the CPs around Ramallah. Those coming from the East will stop at the CP at Jit, and then at Burin and Zaatara. From taxi drivers we heard about long traffic jams at Jit.14:15 Huwwara – From far away one could see that the CP was even more crowded than usual. The queues behind the turnstiles are especially crowded, the shed is full of people, and the traffic did not slow down till 16:30. At the turnstiles, where there usually stands one man, three stand today. From time to time shouts are heard, and they are immediately silenced by the soldiers. Men who emerge from the CP look exhausted, they told us about a terrible over-crowding, and waiting-periods of two to two and a half hours, about elderly men who are squashed in the queue. “We are like dogs” says one of them. Another tells that when they asked the soldiers what they should do, the soldiers answered – go kill yourselves.There are three checking posts for men, the checking is a full one – lifting of the shirt so that the belly is exposed, trousers rolled down, socks – all this while in one of the posts it is a military policewoman who performs the checking. ID cards and bags are also examined. The secondary queue for women and elderly people is in action, in it too the congestion is very dense. A volunteer from Spain told us that she has been waiting in the queue for 45 minutes. At the end of the checking, the men dress under the shed at the other side of the CP, but they are chased away from there by Lieutenant A. They are allowed to stand at the “sewage pit” which is also shaded. Women, usually those covered by a veil, are taken from time to time for checking in the small cell. From the queue the cries of a baby can be heard. The commotion is photographed by two photographers of the Military Police.The representative of the DCO, who left about an hour after we arrived, but his presence was not felt before either, tells us that the Beit Ibba CP is closed and that’s the reason for the terrible over-crowding, and that there are orders to check everybody one by one. A. insists that the queues are not exceptional, those are the men who insist on crowding together, but he admits that the Beit Ibba CP is closed.Taxi drivers from the closed Beit Ibba CP arrived here in search for work. One of them tells us that at Beit Ibba the CP was open in the morning for about two hours (it seems from 7:00 to 9:00). They ask about tomorrow, in an attempts to prepare for another day of unemployment.14:55 – one of the posts is being shut down. A. says that there is a suspicious object in the square, and that the two soldiers who manned the post were sent to assist in the checking. They return after 5 minutes. The same post stops operating again at 15:40, this time for about ten minutes, for reasons of politeness and irregular lining-up in the queue. One of the soldiers turns the turnstile in such a way that those standing behind it are forced to move away. It’s for their good, A. explains, so that they get “breathing space”.At the center D. tried to tell us that the queue is due to a suspicious object. We made it clear that we were aware that the queue was long much before that. When we felt that a disaster was due here we again contacted the center. We suggested that they let the women and elderly people in the secondary queue pass without checking them, and that manpower would become free for the men’s queues. D. at the center was shocked: “to let people pass without checking them, are you mad”. But half an hour later this is exactly what happened – for about 15 minutes they let the flow of people passing through the side gate, pass quickly without examining them, and thus the pressure behind the turnstiles was alleviated.When we arrived there was one young man detained in the solitary confinement cell. At 14:30 -A. caught a young man, who too was detained. Both tried to leave Nablus by the entrance path. They were caught when they tried to jump over the turnstile. Both are students. A. forbids us to talk to them – there is a white line, and A. is a good employee, adheres punctiliously to each clause. A., the CP commander, insists on detaining them for 4 hours. An argument ensues about the detention time of the detainee who has been there longer – one of the men in the queue joins in, claims that he has been in the cell since 12:00, the soldiers insists that he has been there from 13:00 only. We complained at the military center.16:120 -A 15 year old boy is returned to Nablus. A.: he has no ID nor birth certificate. He just holds the stub of one of the parents’ ID card, in which he is indeed registered. A. opens one of the turnstiles for him, and the boy passes through it on his way back to Nablus.Vehicle traffic – at the entrance to the town there is a rapid vehicle traffic, usually there is a queue of not more than three vehicles, ID cards and other papers are checked. At the exit from town the queue is very long, from where we stand one cannot see its end. The driver has to stop his vehicle at a certain distance from the CP, the passengers have to leave the vehicle and continue to the CP on foot. The driver approaches the CP. The interior of the vehicle is checked, baggage and parcels are checked in the x-ray machine, the ID cards of the passengers are checked and only after all that are they allowed to continue on their way. It took 35 minutes for a bus, with 30 passengers, to pass. We could not estimate the waiting time in the queue, until they reached the checking post.16:40 Beit Furik – a sparse passenger and vehicle traffic in both directions. One of the soldiers orders us to move away. We refused. The CP was closed. The soldiers remained silent, refused to exchange a word with us. It seems that they welcome the excuse to go on a recess. Some read Mishna pieces, others read a newspaper. In a loud affected voice they read “they want to evacuate the north of Tel Aviv” – and also “look how the rate of the dollar has risen”.We complained to N. from the center about the closure of the CP. In such a case N. must contact the battalion, from where the soldiers at the CP must be contacted. And indeed, not much later one of the soldier’s phone rang “this time it was quick” he remarks. We finally moved away – the sight of the people standing silently and uncomplainingly is unbearable. The soldiers now that this is the most efficient weapon against us, and make use of it. But even when we moved away, it took them still about 3 minutes until the CP began operating again.16:55 – in the hitch-hike station opposite the Itamar settlement there are two soldiers. We saw them also on our way to the Beit Furik CP, but now they demand that we stop on the side. We received orders to stop you, they say, and question us from where we come, whether we took anybody with us from Beit Furik (the road is forbidden for non-Jews). Macky asked them whether they saw anybody on the rear seat. How come there is a CP here we ask. This is “a fishing net” one of them answers, you can understand yourself what that means. Then he adds “so that no Arab should pass here, enter there (the finger pointing at the settlement) with a kalatznikov. So it seems the CP is intended for the inhabitants of Itamar only.17:00 Huwwara – the shed is half full, the CP is calmer. A lively vehicle traffic in both directions. One of the detainees was released, the second is still there, lying on the floor of the detention cell. A., the CP commander: “he will be released when I’ll say so”, “there are rules” we said. “When I’ll say so” he answers.17:25 Burin (Yitzhar) – the CP on the road leading to Yitzhar and Jit is not manned. At the CP for those coming from Nablus, on the road leading to the village of Huwara, there are 5 vehicles waiting. A man and a woman are detained on the side for two hours already. The man appears on the short list. This is very strange, as at Huwara he passed without problem (and in fact he succeeded to come here) although the queue was very long, he tellsw us. The woman may continue on her way, the soldier says. But she insists to stay with her fiancée. We complained to D. at the center.17:450 Za’atara (Tapuach) – empty for those heading to the south, 2 vehicles are waiting eastwards.18:00 -At the exit from Israel to Palestine, opposite the Samaria gate, there is a Border Police CP.