We crossed over to the Palestinian side of the passage. Most of the shops in Al-Ezariya were closed, and the people in the street were all dressed well, the children in their best cloths, the boys in "bar mitzva" suits, the girls with many ribbons and colorful belts. All are carrying gifts to relatives, and the atmosphere is special.

It is Id El Fiter (Muslim holiday) and the passage is empty. We found out that the "easy passage" on Fridays during Ramadan is over, and now, whoever wants to visit relatives needs a special permit. Of course, most of the older people who tried to cross and visit families in Jerusalem did not know about it and though, as we did, that they will be allowed to have the holiday with their families. The few who arrived at the checkpoint turned to us, asking for help. We tried every possiblility - Elisha from the DCO, Zidki, the spokesman of the governing authority, the spokesman of the military commander of the region, MP R.C., and we discovered, again, that nothing is more effective than beaurocracy. These are the laws, and according to them the occupation will live or fall.

Families were sitting in the waiting shed, and when they lost hope to make the holiday with their family, festivities started in the waiting shed. We were happy to be included, and we ate sweets and drank coffee.

This mischief will be added to all the others done during forty years of occupation, and we succeeded in adding more hateful people to the long list of Palestinians who will never forget what we were doing to them during the occupation!

Ar Ras 14:20 – 15:07

In Jubara we stopped at the last house before the children's gate to drop off a holiday package to a teacher whom Tomi C.(MW member) has gotten to know. Smadar was able to speak to her in Arabic and she and her daughters were excited to receive Tomi's present and asked after her health. This helped us feel the holiday spirit of Eid El Fitr which was in the air .

At the Childrens' Gate we are told that only residents of Jubara are allowed in and those who have special permits. At the A Ras checkpoint there is a line of about 10 vehicles from Tul Karm being checked. The vehicles from Qalqilyia are not being checked. It takes about 13 minutes for the 10 th vehicle to get to the checkpoint. Some vehicles are stopped and the insides are checked as well as the IDs . Other vehicles are waved on. Some people are questioned as to where they are from and where they are going.

When we arrive a taxi is on the side while waiting for several of the passengers' IDs to be checked. The soldiers claim they had stopped the taxi a few minutes ago. While we are there the soldiers callein the ID numbers and within a few minutes they are released. The passengers are anxious to continue their journey and a soldier becomes irritated by their complaints and comes up very close to the driver in a threatening manner telling him to go back to his taxi. In general the soldiers are nervous. There is a misunderstanding when a soldier signals to a vehicle to come forward and a pedestrian thinks he means him so he comes forward and then the soldier who is checking pedestrians gets angry and aims his rifle at him. Cutting ahead on the vehicle line is not tolerated. The offending driver is lectured. Vehicles going to Jubara are allowed to come to the front of the line.

A soldier informs me that there is an alert. They are looking for someone from Tul Karm who is suppose to deliver something to someone in Qalqilyia. For the last few days Israeli Army forces have been in Qalqilyia and the soldier tells us that two Israeli soldiers were injured today. Despite this state of "alert" the soldiers are not wearing helmets.

We stop at the municipality in the village of A Ras to receive the list of people who have not gotten permission to get to their land which is on the other side of the fence. Hagar is working in the committee that is helping those who live on the "seam line" and suffer from the injustices of not being allowed to work their land.

As we head back to Jubara and on to Anabta we see a man from Jubarrah walking toward the A Ras checkpoint struggling with a huge, heavy carton and a large bag.

Anabta 15:21

At the moment there is no waiting line for vehicles going to or from Tul Karm. We are told by the soldier that checking is random today.

Journey of Checkpoints the day before Eid El Fiter.

Huwwara 15: 41 – 17:01
The the Jit checkpoint and the checkpoint at Yitzhar are not manned.
The parking lot at Huwwara is packed. Horns are beeping, people are rushing, cars, taxis and buses are blocking each other as they hurry on their way to and from the CP. There are about 10 soldiers walking away from the CP toward the army base as we enter. The CP is crowded with people and vehicles. The pedestrian shack is packed until the end. There are a lot of soldiers around including a lot of officers from the Matak. We are told that this is the first day for a Givati unit who has been previously stationed in Gaza.
Hagar is told by one of the Matak representatives , “We have to try to get the soldiers to understand that this is NOT Gaza.”
There are 8 vehicles on line to Nablus and an endless line from Nablus. The last vehicle I see coming from Nablus is a large minibus about 10th in line. It is an hour before it gets through from the time I spotted it at 15:55.

At 16:41 - this vehicle gets to the checking booth. The checking takes until 16:55.
Besides the vehicle which was thoroughly checked, all the passengers had their individual bags checked even though they had already put them through the x ray machine.
Vehicles stop some distance from the CP. Passengers step out and those with packages go over to the X ray truck to have them checked. The vehicles with just the driver inside them head to the checking booth. The vehicles are checked inside and out. This takes anywhere from one minute to 13 minutes.
The vehicles to Nablus are checked to see if the driver has a permit and an ID.

At 16:16 -a Matak representative comes to help out the soldier checking the incoming cars and to explain some of the fine points. The line moves faster. Many vehicles are turned away today because they do not have the proper permit. We spoke to some who had not been allowed in. They had had the mistaken impression that because it is a holiday, exceptions would be made.
The disappointment in the air is poignant. Vehicle after vehicle is turned back. The Matak representatives on duty at the CP do allow several people who had not been allowed in by the regular soldiers to pass through with their cars.
To add to the generous holiday spirit of the checkpoint, the police are stationed to the side. They randomly pick out a vehicle who has either just waited on line for the last hour leaving Nablus or is about to enter Nablus. The police are a presence from the time we arrive until 16:35.
At that time they drive through the CP towards Nablus telling the soldier at the booth that they are going on a patrol duty in that direction.
At the pedestrian area there were 3 checking booths that are open the whole time we are on the shift. There is also a side line for women and older men.

At 15:59 -a person waiting near the end of the side line, does not pass through until 16:25. A pedestrian who is near the end of the regular line at 15:55 doesn’t pass through until 16:55.
At the young men’s checking booth, pockets must be emptied and belts taken off.
While one man is struggling to put his belt on before leaving by way of the turnstile, a soldier shouts at him, “Get out of here. Out. Out. Out”.
The Palestinian is so absorbed in trying to get his belt on, or perhaps he doesn’t understand the word (“Ha'Chutzah”), that he keeps trying to get his belt in the pants loops and doesn’t move. The soldier eventually comes up to him and makes sure he leaves. The Palestinian continues to struggle with the belt and tuck in his shirt before descending to the parking lot. Later on in the shift the rule changes and belts are allowed to stay on but shirts must be lifted.
Smadar hears a man holding a baby in his arms say to the baby, “The most important thing is that by the time you are bigger, you will not have to stand at the checkpoints.”
There are no detainees. One man, who is always stopped and detained because his number is on the list, is let go after a few minutes. When a soldier sees him talking to Hagar after being released, he sends him back into detainment for a few more minutes.
As we leave at 17:00, there are very few pedestrians but there are 16 vehicles on line entering Nablus and a long line from Nablus . A Major with the words “Unit Headquarters in the field, Battalion Commander, Oren Iftach” written on the back of his vest is at the CP.

The village of Huwwara 17:10 – 17:20
Finally a note of joy. The village is crowded with vehicles and people rushing to the stores, bakery and felafel stands to do their last minute shopping for the holiday. There is holiday excitement everywhere.

Beit Furik 17:25 – 17:50
There are almost no pedestrians but there is a long line of vehicles leaving Nablus for Beit Furik. There are over 10 soldiers at the CP. There are 3 army jeeps present. One of them belongs to the Matak. Here too the soldiers are from the Gavati unit which has just been in Gaza. The Matak representatives are trying to explain the situation to the new soldiers. The commanding officer tells me he doesn’t yet see any difference between here and Gaza.
The 9th vehicle on line takes 15 minutes to pass through from the time I spot him.
At 17:46 -Hagar gets permission to go through to the other side to count the number of vehicles on line. When she returns and tells them there are 17 vehicles on line and everyone is hungary, they open another checking line.
Captain I. from the Matak tells us that we should ask for him when ever there is a problem. When we ask for his number, we are told that he is in Ra'ad’s office.
I. wants us to be nice to the soldiers, “They are good men,“ he says.
We are told that the checkpoint will close at 12 midnight.
When we pass by again at 18:00 after a look at Beit Furik, there are even fewer pedestrians and vehicles.

The roads and Road Blocks are practically empty. Very little traffic everywhere.

Anabta:

8 cars in each direction. The soldiers pass them through the road block rapidly and execute very few inspections.

At a certain stage the queue towards Tulkarm grew and we saw many UN cars as well as cars of several European diplomats.We did not manage to find out what was the event that brought them there. They passed through the road block very quickly.

We tried to find out from a soldier at the checkpoint  what were his criteria for dealying a car for inspection.The answer was more or less that he just selects them according to his 'gut feeling'. It looked like it too, though he was very nice and friendly with everyone.

Route 60 from Hawarre to Beit Iba 18:11 – 18:51

On our way to Beit Iba we pass a Palestinian bus and several cars on the side of the road. Some men are walking back and forth.   We stop and ask if there is something we can do.  It is totally dark out. They tell us that the bus is not working and they have called for a tow truck to come and pick it up.   However, they are worried because a few minutes ago a settler  passed by and told them, "Get out of here!" ("Tes tal kuu") and they don't know what to do.   We ask if they want us to stay with them.  They say yes.

 We stand on the road with them .  When the two trucks comes they have the hardest time getting the bus on the flat bed of the truck.   They finally give up with part of the bus hanging over the end and rush to their cars to take the vehicle to a safer place where they can try to get the bus all the way on without being fearful. As I stand there in the pitch black, moonless night on a rather deserted road in the middle of nowhere along with 2 other unarmed women, I wonder what it is we could actually do if settlers come again and threaten us. Not one single army or police vehicle comes by.   What an irony that 10 strong, young, capable men are dependent on  two old and one middle aged woman protecting them.  

Beit Iba  19:06 – 19:20   

As we arrive in the dark, we see 3 trucks on the line entering Nablus , two leaving Nablus and one from Qusin.

 As we approach the pedestrian area we see a few people and 3 goats on line waiting to enter Nablus. The soldiers are running around screaming and laughing.  It looks like a bunch of children playing tag. It turns out it is a drill.  This drill has to be done every so often we are told. The drill ends and the pedestrians who have been waiting on both sides are let in.   The officer warns us to stay 3 meters away from the pedestrian booth. We are told that vehicles and pedestrians will be allowed to pass through until 9PM.    Despite the fact that there  two of the soldiers checking the vehicle line are not busy once the 2 vehicles from Nablus have passed through, the vehicle from Koucheen continues to wait until the line entering Nablus has been checked and the two soldiers from that side notice it and wave it through. Then the CP is strangely empty.

 Translation: Rachel B.

An ordinary day except for the feeling of the holiday approaching (Eid ul-Fitr - the end of Ramadan)) and an increased presence of the army and police throughout the area.

6:25 AM

About 300 yards past the Shomron gate there is checkpoint set up by a combat unit of the Military Police.  Tayasir, our driver, thinks that something has happened.  About 500 yards past the checkpoint there is another police car.

6:30 AM

On the road to Ariel there is more traffic than the usual (perhaps this is because we have arrived about 10 minutes later than our usual time).

6:35 AM Ariel Junction

Heavy military and police presence - two military Jeeps, soldiers and policemen - more than the usual.

6:40 AM

Marda and Zeita {Checkpoints}are open.

6:42 AM Tapu'ach - Zaatara

There are 7 cars at the Tapu'ach Junction arriving from Ariel and heading towards Ramallah.  In the parking lot there is a bus, emptied of its passengers who are standing by and waiting.

6:50 AM Yitzhar - Burin {Checkpoint} is open.

7:00 AM Huwwara

The checkpoint commander is polite and puts no restrictions on us.  The District Coordination Office represantative is not present and the traffic is very light.  The parking lot is half empty.  The holding pen is empty.

7:20 AM

The District Coordination Office represantative arrives.

7:30 AM

A Palestinian car does not stop at the white line and enters the checkpoint very fast.  The soldier stops the car, tells the driver to back up to the white line and reprimands him. But he still checks his papers and lets him through with out any kind of punishment.

7:40 AM Beit Fureik

The place is almost deserted.  Very few cars pass through and there is no unnecessary harassment. 

7:55 AM

A man is detained at the checkpoint . He has been standing and waiting for 10 minutes already.  The checkpoint commander won't explain to us why the man had been detained. 

At 7:56 AM the man is allowed to go through.

8:10 AM Huwwara

Three quarters of the parking lot is full.  As opposed to the general calm and low volume of traffic{observed throughout the morning}, there is a lot of movement of military vehicles which is unusual (we counted 4 army Jeeps that came down from the direction of Shomron)

8:25 AM Burin-Yitzhar Checkpoint is unmanned.

8:30 AM Zaatara - Tapu'ach

There are 6 cars heading towards Huwwara from Ramallah. There are 15 cars coming from Ariel heading towards Ramallah and 5 Israeli cars waiting in their own special line.

8:35 AM Marda and Zeita {checkpoints} are open.

The roads and the checkpoint were empty.  Very little traffic anywhere.

8:00 - At the entrance to the territories at the Perot Junction, there was a police vehicle stopped to inspect a car with merchandise on it.  The rest of the cars were allowed to pass without inspection.

8:15 - the checkpoint at J'it Junction was not manned.

Beit Iba - the checkpoint was empty and quiet (and full of dust as usual).  Almost no one leaving Nablus.  Every few minutes one or two people would arrive and go through immediately.  At the entrance to Nablus there was a little more action, but also very few people;  they went through quickly with no delays.  The IDs of the men were checked, and the women only randomly, not clear according to what criteria.  It seemed as though they inspected a woman by herself and not when she was in a group.  If that is so, is it or is it not essential for the security of Israel?  Also the DCO officer, Y., and women from the Ecumenical organization said that it was terribly crowded yesterday at this hour, with hundreds waiting on the border of exploding in frustration.  It isn't clear why there was such a difference today.  The DCO thinks that after the University yesterday everyone had already gone home.

By the way, one of the representatives of the Ecumenical organization is a black woman from South Africa.  She says that the situation reminds her of her own situation, 11 years ago.  The constant need to identify yourself with IDs, in every place, and the restriction of certain areas into which blacks were not allowed to go.

Anabta - 8 vehicles in each direction, but the soldiers pass them through the checkpoint quickly and with little inspection.  At a certain point, the line lengthened in the direction of Tulkarm and we saw a lot of vehicles of the UN and those of diplomats from several European countries.  We couldn't find out what was going on, but they went through quickly.  We tried to find out from a soldier in the inspection booth what his criteria were to detain a vehicle for inspection.  The answer was, more or less, that it was according to his "gut feeling", and that is how it looked, although he was pleasant and friendly to everyone. 

Translation: Ruth F.

Summery:
It was very crowded at Huwwara checkpoint, it took a lot of time to pass and it was done with a lot of nerves, the soldiers used physical violence towards the Machsom Watch shift.

14:17 Za'atara- 
A Palestinian cab was standing by the side of the road for 10 minutes (so we were told), the checkpoint commander, Faras, from the BP took their IDs. For the next 10 minutes, the time it took him to hand them back, I didn't take my eyes of him- he went back and forth, came to talk to us ("are there any problems?") while the IDs were in his hands. He didn't make a phone call or anything of the sort. He had detained them for 20 minutes for his sheer pleasure.

14:30- Huwwara-
There were many people, it was very crowded in all of the lines, the car lanes were very long- both those leading inside and those leading out. People came out of the checkpoint angry and cursing. They have been waiting for an hour and half or even two hours. There were 3 detainees but they wouldn't allow us to see them. The atmosphere inside the checkpoint was one of heavy distress. It was very tense and we felt it could get violent.

Buss were being inspected: all the passengers were taken off and sent backwards into Nablus, about 20 meters away from the bus, they stood there waiting sometimes even all across the road which caused heavy traffic which wasn't light as it was, they continued until all the IDs were checked. Two IEAPPI volunteers (a peace organization founded by the churches) were standing on the side quietly. One of them had a camera but she wasn't taking any photos while one of the soldiers passed by her and threatened: "I'm going to break her camera".

The volunteer's partner stood on the other side and told them that there were 170 women on the humanitarian line and that the soldiers were inspecting it slower and more strictly then the men's line. From where we were it was hard to tell how many men were, but the shed seemed to be crowded and every once in a while we could hear a shout from there. All we could see was the mass of people. Every young man that came out had his belt in his hand.

The soldiers, with sergeant I. as their leader, tried forcing us to stand behind the white line which isn't near the checkpoint. I refused but I also wasn't standing to close either. I was by the cement bricks where the first white line was drawn trying to see what was going on.

A woman came out, she was very pale. A young Palestinian doctor took care of her- she was apparently gone through a dialysis and had sutures in her arm. She crowded in with the mass of people in the humanitarian line where she got pushed which made the needle come out. When she took her plaster off her arm looked terrible, it was blue and swollen. The doctor called for an ambulance, the soldiers kept sending them backwards, "Imshi, Imshi" barked one of the soldiers. We looked in vain for a chair she could sit on until the ambulance came.
Two other detainees were sent to the cell. Now they were five. After a couple of minutes two of them were released. One had been detained for 3.45 hours, according to what the IEAPPI volunteers said.

I saw I. enter the cell and one of the soldiers covered for him from the outside. Since we received complaints about I.s violence I stood in a spot from which I could see what was going on in the cell, which of course is behind the cement wall (which of course I can't pass)- about 1.5 km from the wall. I took photos of what was going on, you can't see I.s face since his back was facing me. He came out and yelled at me, telling me to go away, that I am disturbing him while he was doing his job, that he would call the police. I refused to leave as long as he was standing in a closed place where no one could see what he was doing to the detainees. Three other soldiers arrived and threatened me to stop taking photos. The solider explained to the Palestinians that it was because of me that they were detained, if it weren't for me being there they would have already been released.

The soldiers stood back and so did I.

I. sent us and the volunteers away from the checkpoint saying he wanted the humanitarian line move faster and that we would get in his way. Even though that made no sense, we stood back.

When we came back to the spot where we stood, behind the white line, he came back and demanded that we all go even further away, behind the last bricks, a place from where we wouldn't be able to see anything.
I refused and he said he was going to call the police, I answered that this was my right, that I wasn't coming near the soldiers, not talking to them nor bothering them. He later brought a second lieutenant called L. who claimed to be a policeman. Since he was wearing military uniforms I asked to see is ID and he showed me a military police ID and demanded that I leave the checkpoint (with accordance to I.s orders). They demanded that I step into the humanitarian spot and I refused that as well. So I. decided to take me into the cell which is on the other side of the checkpoint. He called two other soldiers from the MP and told them to take me by force.
 I sat on the ground, refusing to get into the cell. The soldiers, according to I.'s orders, caught me by my ankles and started dragging me on the ground which caused my shirt to rise and my back got scratched by the asphalt. They dragged me like this for about 20 meters, another soldier came and told them to stop because "it doesn't look good". My back is now covered with scratches and wounds. Israel told one of the soldiers to bring some plastic handcuffs, but for some reason they didn't (someone probably convinced them not to handcuff me, since that as well wouldn't look good). Then about 8 soldiers began consulting each other and decided to let me go. Israel came back to tell me that I was under arrest and that the police would be there any minutes (The whole event was documented by a photographer from Ma'ariv and the international volunteers).

Click here to see a short video of the events.

By the way, the first one who ran away from the soldiers and stood back like a good little boy was the photographer from Ma'ariv...

Afterwards a major called E. arrived, he was calm and listened to our version, it seemed that he also got the soldiers to calm down and told I. to stand on the other side of the checkpoint. Until the end of our sift, two hours later, I. didn't come near us.

Two of the detainees were released, we didn't see when. There was only one left and he was released by 17:00- he sat there for 2.5 hours.

At 17:30- the end of the fast, they put another detainee in the cell, he was released 15 minutes later.

A tall female soldier (K., I think) kept barking at the Palestinians, she came to a young and frightened woman, who was waiting for her sister, she stroked her stomach and said "Bebe?"- This woman had no status didn't even have control over her body- apparently she didn't understand French and kept looking at the soldier with a terrified look.

Afterwards she decided to make a student that had passed all the inspections and he came out of the last turnstiles, pass another inspection. Yalla, put everything outside on the floor, more and more, until she was satisfied.

She took a young woman in a veil to the inspection cell. The woman had three daughters, the older one was 9 and the youngest was 4. They were left outside all alone.

They pressed against each other trying to feel secure under the growing darkness. With my poor Arabic I tried communicating with them and managed to raise some bashful smiles. After 5 minutes their mother came out and took them.

I don't' understand, the inspection cell is behind the cell and there is a window that connect them- how could a woman take her clothes off while there is a man detainee on the other side of the window.

At 17:45 an elder man came to us pleading. "Could you help me?" he came from Nablus on the day before at 20:00 with his wife and kids in his cab. He was at the hospital (he kept saying Kupat Holim but when I talked to him later I understood that he meant "hospital") with his child so he was late. The soldier wouldn't let him pass and get back home which was at Tima (I hope i didn't get the name wrong). During the argument (if you could call the man's pleading that) the soldier raised his rifle and broke the window shield of the cab, while the family, including the children, was inside!!!

I asked him if he saw the soldier that did that and he looked around, then he pointed directly at sergeant I.

It was at the point that the police arrived and after a short talk with the soldier a policeman came to us, Shmulik Ben Hemo and sergeant O. that said he was replacing I. and that he would be the checkpoint commander. Ben Hammo told us that in future we were to do as the soldiers say even if their orders are wrong, and the even he does as they tell him. He suggested that we leave the checkpoint when the soldiers tell us to go and call the police to complain (right, so now we are suppose to start pestering the police...), anyhow he would much rather prefer it if he wasn't sent for... he wrote our names down, I told him that I would like to place a complaint for assault and he told me I could do that in Ariel.

I asked that he talk to the Palestinian and he told him his story. He also said that I. threatened to kill him and his children, then O. yelled "that's no true, he only threatened you, he didn't threaten your children". O. didn't deny that the window shield was broken, but said that there was more to this story.

Ben Hemmo advised the man, who is a cab driver and there for had the window fixed already, to come with use to Ariel and place a complaint, but the man wanted to go and "break the fast". I gave this information to Yesh Din and they will escort him while he places the complaint.
18:00 We left.
At Za'atara there were no line.