Translator Orna B

Jubara  Road Block 14:30

No queues at all. Vehicles are waiting for a very short time and then pass. We visited the family of Abu Hatem and brought them pastries that Tami had sent them for their holiday.

A-Ras Road Block15:00

Traffic flows freely in the direction of Tulkarm with no inspection. At the exit from Tulkarm every car is checked rapidly, especially the driver. His paper is taken away from him for comparison with the soldier's list, and then returned to him. A cab that has overtaken is sent to the end of the queue. The driver refuses and then his paper is taken away from him. He has no choice but to yield and return to the end of the queue. When his turn comes his paper will be returned to him. (Let that be lesson to him for next time).

15:15 We leave inthe direction of Anabta. At the children's gate about 15 are awaiting inspection. They are returning from Jubara to Tulkarm. They are inspected one by one and then pass.

Anabta 15:45

Everything flowing in both direction. No apprent problems. We leave in the direction of Beit Iba.

Translation: Nina S.

7.15 – Za'atara/Tapuach
The junction is open, no lines of cars from any direction. A border police soldier is trying to “impress” and demands we retreat to 50 meters of the CP, Nina tells him he has no authority to do so. Another border policeman, F. tries to be pleasant and to moderate.
7.30 – Yitzhar junction
There is no CP
7.40 – Huwwara
About ten man waiting behind the turn styles. There are two checking lines and a “Humanitarian”. The cleaning person wonders around the premises. Checking is fast and efficient.
8.00 – There is only one checking line, nobody is waiting.
8.30 – Beit Furik.
No pedestrian lines, some cars are waiting to cross into town. A few minutes after we asked why there is a wait, the cars were passed.
A lorry with goats arrives and its passengers are asked to alight and go to stand in the pedestrian line. It is strange that in Huwwara entrance to town is free, the people sound bitter and angry.
9.05 – back to Huwwara, As we arrive, we hear over a loudspeaker a call “charge procedure”. For about 10 minutes all is stopped, people are cleared out of the CP and the entrance path. Ten minutes later the procedure is cancelled.
9.45 – about 20 people are waiting behind the bars. There are 2 checking points, “Normality” of the CP has been reestablished, belts re taken off as before.
The humanitarian line is empty. Cab passengers are asked to alight until after its checkup. It takes about 10 minutes to check baggage that is lying in the road, there is no screening machine.
10.05 – The line moves, Y. who is stationed at the CP, checking entering cars, is easy with his check, and when the occasion occurs he asked car drivers to give a lift across the CP to the elderly and ill who are entering town. A dog trainer is checking a car long and thoroughly.
10.20 – Zaatara junction.
There are about 40 cars in line from the north. It seems that checking is efficient and the line dwindles fast. In the parking lot a bus is parked, 30 of its passengers are standing outside and waiting to get their IDs back. F. says they have been waiting only 10 minutes and asks us to let him do what is necessary without disturbance. When I approach to photograph the act of ID release and their return to the waiting, the soldier next to the army police girl, “poses” for a photo. The people waiting do not look entertained; they are worried about their daily work for which they are late.
10.30 – The action is over and the bus leaves.
On first sight it seems a calm morning that did not indicate the violent afternoon.

Translation: Galia S.

Irtah

07:00 – Despite the late hour, there are many vehicles of Israeli employers and workers waiting for transportation. Nevertheless, there are no complains other than the one concerning the delay in the "rooms". One of the workers wants us to know that he and other Palestinians believe in the importance of values like human rights and equality among people of all religions.

The Agricultural Gate 753

Two youngsters who had no entry permit to Jubara were allowed to enter after the soldiers had had it checked on the computer over the phone.

Ar-Ras checkpoint (Farm 8)

07:20 – Empty in both directions. A single car that comes from the direction of Tulkarm passes without inspection.

Anabta (Einav)

07:40 – 07:55 – Thirteen cars from the direction of Tulkarm. It seems that the inspection is slow, because many get out of the taxis and pass the checkpoint on foot. One taxi driver is sent back. The soldiers claim that he has passed the line. He denies, but eventually he gives in and returns to the end of the line. Another driver who has passed the line is sent back. Taxi drivers would rather not waist precious time on waiting at the checkpoint. They lose the customers who pass on foot and take another taxi. The soldier who stands guard at the post keeps aiming the weapon at the drivers looking through the sight of the gun. We are sorry we forgot the camera.

It is possible that our presence here has expedited the inspection. Within 15 minutes the line has almost disappeared.

7.15 – Zaatara/Tapuach
The junction is open, no lines of cars from any direction. A border police soldier is trying to “impress” and demands we retreat to 50 meters of the CP, Nina tells him he has no authority to do so. Another border policeman, F. tries to be pleasant and to moderate.
7.30 – Yitzhar junction
There is no CP
7.40 – Huwwara
About ten man waiting behind the turn styles. There are two checking lines and a “Humanitarian”. The cleaning person wonders around the premises. Checking is fast and efficient.
8.00 – There is only one checking line, nobody is waiting.
8.30 – Beit Furik.
No pedestrian lines, some cars are waiting to cross into town. A few minutes after we asked why there is a wait, the cars were passed.
A lorry with goats arrives and its passengers are asked to alight and go to stand in the pedestrian line. It is strange that in Huwwara entrance to town is free, the people sound bitter and angry.
9.05 – back to Huwwara,br> As we arrive, we hear over a loudspeaker a call “charge procedure”. For about 10 minutes all is stopped, people are cleared out of the CP and the entrance path. Ten minutes later the procedure is cancelled.
9.45 – about 20 people are waiting behind the bars. There are 2 checking points, “Normality” of the CP has been reestablished, belts re taken off as before.
The humanitarian line is empty. Cab passengers are asked to alight until after its checkup. It takes about 10 minutes to check baggage that is lying in the road, there is no screening machine.
10.05 – The line moves, Y. who is stationed at the CP, checking entering cars, is easy with his check, and when the occasion occurs he asked car drivers to give a lift across the CP to the elderly and ill who are entering town. A dog trainer is checking a car long and thoroughly.
10.20 – Zaatara junction.
There are about 40 cars in line from the north. It seems that checking is efficient and the line dwindles fast. In the parking lot a bus is parked, 30 of its passengers are standing outside and waiting to get their IDs back. F. says they have been waiting only 10 minutes and asks us to let him do what is necessary without disturbance. When I approach to photograph the act of ID release and their return to the waiting, the soldier next to the army police girl, “poses” for a photo. The people waiting do not look entertained; they are worried about their daily work for which they are late.
10.30 – The action is over and the bus leaves.
On first sight it seems a calm morning that did not indicate the violent afternoon.

Irtah

07:00 – Despite the late hour, there are many vehicles of Israeli employers and workers waiting for transportation. Nevertheless, there are no complains other than the one concerning the delay in the "rooms". One of the workers wants us to know that he and other Palestinians believe in the importance of values like human rights and equality among people of all religions.

The Agricultural Gate 753I

Two youngsters who had no entry permit to Jubara were allowed to enter after the soldiers had had it checked on the computer over the phone.

Ar-Ras checkpoint (Farm 8)

07:20 – Empty in both directions. A single car that comes from the direction of Tulkarm passes without inspection.

Anabta (Einav)

07:40 – 07:55 – Thirteen cars from the direction of Tulkarm. It seems that the inspection is slow, because many get out of the taxis and pass the checkpoint on foot. One taxi driver is sent back. The soldiers claim that he has passed the line. He denies, but eventually he gives in and returns to the end of the line. Another driver who has passed the line is sent back. Taxi drivers would rather not waist precious time on waiting at the checkpoint. They lose the customers who pass on foot and take another taxi. The soldier who stands guard at the post keeps aiming the weapon at the drivers looking through the sight of the gun. We are sorry we forgot the camera.

It is possible that our presence here has expedited the inspection. Within 15 minutes the line has almost disappeared.

 (14:00-17:30)

Sheikh Saed

Major road works were carried out at the bottom of the CP and a truckload full of gravel was unloaded almost in the middle of the road. The Commander A. allowed us to enter after we had been refused by one of the many civilian security guards. The security guards are "not allowed" to talk to us, but this is no army instruction, but the rule of their bosses apparently.

Two houses next to the CP were being fenced off and they now have to climb over rubble to reach their doors, since they can no longer use the access road to the village via the CP. All inhabitants to the left of the village road, closest to Jebel Mukabr have blue ID’s. Most have left: there used to be more than 3,000 inhabitants, only a little over a thousand are left.

A driver in possession of a green ID, but illegally driving a car with yellow number plates took us over the smelly stream of sewerage to the Sawahre-Sa’ad CP. He is afraid to get close, because he might be arrested.

The CP has undergone considerable changes since we visited last. It has become totally inhuman, the doors, turnstiles and passages are all electronically controlled. Someone spoke to us from the ceiling to allow us to pass and even to return.

Some workers and two young women were the only pedestrians passing. The two large yellow gates that close off the road were closed. The civilian security guard looked rather frightening. The soldiers were friendly.

our driver can get only to Abu-Dis and the Zeitim CP and to the South not beyond the Container. He is too young to obtain a magnetic card and work permit for work in the settlements and said that a permit for Jerusalem is only possible if someone is seriously ill.

We drove via the America Road to Ras El Amud and from there to Abu Dis.

It was empty at the Pishpash. It looked as if the wall has not yet been erected on the premises of the Monastery, but we were not allowed to check it out from where the soldiers’ booth stands.

Via Beit Fageh we drove to the Israeli side of the Zeitim CP which was already empty – only two women with a few young children trudged through the fences.

We marveled at the landscaping. The end of the fast was near. This was very apparent when we got into a huge traffic jam exiting via A-Tur. We passed a huge colorful market with enormous activity across Damascus Gate near the Bus Station.

05:30 – 09:30 

Sansana CP: We arrived at 05:30. We saw workers coming out on the Israeli side, and at the Palestinian side, approx. 150 people were lining up outside the installation. Each time a batch of 10 people entered the “sleeve”. The inspection posts worked efficiently. The checking of each one did not take over a minute. At 7 o’clock all the workers passed. But the whole atmosphere, even when the inspections are quick and efficient, is depressing. The place looks more like a prison, with its fences, pillbox and guns all over.  The young soldiers exercise their power, domineering over the Palestinian workers, who have to suffer silently the rude behavior; after all they have to earn bread for their families. The soldiers yell at us: “If you don’t leave the CP, we shut the passage!” The Palestinians, on the other side, mutter: “Why don’t you come everyday and earlier and afternoon? You don’t help at all.” I think to myself, that at least I show my solidarity by protesting against the manifestations of the occupation.

Roads 60, 317 and 356All the barriers, the dirt heaps, the cement cubicles are in place along the roads and at the entrances to the villages and towns. There were no people, not in the fields (waiting for the first rain), not on the ways, perhaps because of the early hour or because of the Ramadan. Tomorrow is the eve of the Eid el Fitr feast.

Hebron
Harseena Hill: Children go on foot 2 km each day to and from school. The road that leads to their homes is an apartheid road. A Palestinian vehicle is forbidden from moving from H1 zone to H2. BP soldiers inspect our Ids and in the meantime we go and visit the family whose house clings to the BP base. We wish them a Ramadan Karim. The camera that B’tselem gave them protects them and the young girls are not harassed sexually anymore by the soldiers.
Pharmacy CP: The children run through the CP to the Ibrahamiya School. The soldiers let a handicapped child in a wheelchair through a side passage. A military jeep arrives with food for the soldiers. They eat their food not in front of the fasting passers-by. Ramadan. We appreciated the humane gesture. 
Tarpat CP: The female teachers pass the CP from a side entrance. The children pass through the installation without problems. We noticed, and the Principal of the Cordoba School confirmed, that fewer children arrive to the fully occupied side of Hebron. The “willing” transfer, through constant harassment, succeeds, and more and more families abandon the area.
Tel Rumeida CP: Passage without problems.
Pillbox near the Jewish Cemetry: We gave the grocer, at the nearby grocery, our phone number, in case of arising problems. “It’s a ghost town, inhabited by the devils”, remarked our driver, Mounir.

Cave of the Patriarchs CPs: No detainees

Beit Iba 15:55

  - We approach the check point but we can't get there because of the long line.  About 70 vehicles are stuck.  The main reason is the bypassing of the taxis.  In each direction, there is only one line and, if someone by-passes, they close the passage to the cars coming from the opposite direction.

We walk on foot to the checkpoint.  Next to the booth for vehicle inspection, I turn to the soldier and say shalom.  He doesn't answer.  I try to get him to talk, but with no success.  Anyway, it isn't pleasant for him and he mumbles something (maybe - shalom), without looking at me.  I left him alone.

At the pedestrian checkpoint there is the usual Wednesday mob.  About 13 people in the detention area.  We meet 2 European volunteers from the World Council of Churches.  One from Germany and the other Sweden.  They tell us that they have already called the Red Cross, since the detainees have been there for more than 2 hours already.  Matan, from the DCO, comes over to us and says that he asked for reinforcements, and, in fact, the checkpoint does start to empty out.

We spoke with the volunteers from Europe.  Their organization exists in many countries.  The project which they joined is for Israel and Palestine.  Now they are living in Tulkarm.  Their goal - observing the checkpoints and agricultural assistance.  They are astonished by the behavior of the soldiers, especially by one, whom they pointed out.  I watched him and saw how he enjoyed the power given him to rule over people.  When I spoke with a Palestinian who was standing nearby, waiting for his friend who was detained, this soldier forbade him to speak to me, and sent him far away from us.

I asked the soldier for his name, and he answered "Boreer".  I think he made it up on the spot.  HIs behavior was an example of hard-heartedness and evil.  Suddenly, he wanted to seem "humane" in front of his guests, so he smiled and flattered the Palestinians.  Immediately after, he returned to harassing them.

Michal spoke with the German.  It turned out that he and his wife were on a Sabbatical year and decided to spend it in this volunteer activity.  They were very pleased to meet us and to see that there were "other" Israelis...(That is what they said.)

I called the Humanitarian Hotline and spoke with Amit.  I complained that there were 70 vehicles which were not moving and also about the soldiers who were not in control, as well as about the detainees whose time for release had arrived after a day of fasting and before the family meal waiting for them.  Amit promised to take care of it and get back to me.  He didn't get back to me.

16:45 - The checkpoint emptied out, but the detainees were still waiting.  If it is allowed for the soldiers to keep them for 3-4 hours - why should they let them out earlier?

We said goodbye to  the guests and the Palestinians.

Summary:  Last week of Ramadan.  Last night a Palestinian will killed by the IDF in Nablus.

Almost no vehicles entering or leaving Nablus.  The main reason is that they are not granting permits which are needed at the checkpoint for every vehicles that passes through.  A pharmaceuticals salesman is forced to take his drug supply in a hand-cart through the checkpoint since he doesn't have a permit for his car.  It is also possible that the IDF operation is causing fear which paralyzes traffic.  And it could also be a reflection of the economic crisis.

Today was a bad day for taxi drivers at the checkpoint.  The officer carried out a war against them and gave out punishments every time someone came too close, in his opinion, to the checkpoint.

It is possible that, when the construction is finished at the checkpoint, we will have problems in getting to parts of the area which are now open to us.

There is no checkpoint at 'Ain Bidan.  No checkpoint at J'it Junction.

Detailed report:  pedestrian checkpoint

A lot of soldiers.  Also representative from the DCO.  Most of the time those entering Nablus move quickly, some are not even checked.  At the exit from Nablus there aren't many people at this hour and, despite the thorough inspections, including taking out everything from packages, there is no line.  The problems arise in the afternoon, when the students come out for the holiday.

8:15 – Two men in suits (lawyers) are having a conversation with the checkpoint commander.  Two weeks ago, they protested against a body search and having to raise their shirts in public, and the argument is continuing today.  The checkpoint commander wants to prove that he can force them.  Even though no one who arrived today was made to raise their shirt, the argument ended with the commander and one of them going to the cell and there, behind closed doors, he apparently undressed.  And in this way the commander proved that he could force anyone to undress, but the Palestinian also was not publicly shamed.  Is this the face of an "enlightened" occupation?

8:20 – A man from Deir Sharaf, near the checkpoint, forgot his ID at home.  His driver's license didn't help, nor his worker's ID, both of them with photos.  A Palestinian cannot pass through without an ID (they explained that he could enter Nablus, but not come out).

The soldiers called to someone waiting in line, someone they call Avi, and he came up with another soldier to the hill above the checkpoint, where they could not be seen.  After a few minutes they returned.  We don't know what went on there.  The soldiers assure us that is acting on his own free will, and that they know him.

A Palestinian gives a gift of two full bottles of olives (it is the beginning of the harvest) to the construction manager.  He says that he gives the Palestinian 5 shekels every day.  It seems that there is a complex relationship at the checkpoint between the masters and the pawns.

When we arrived one taxi driver was already in detention.  While we were there, more and more joined him.  When we left, at 9:30, there were six.  The transgression, so-called, was always that they had come to close in their attempt to "hunt" for clients.  In this condition of severe economic crisis, what wouldn't they do in order to make a bit of money?  They know that they are taking a risk, but their need of money takes precedence.  Here there is a youth of 20, who probably never knew poverty in his life, playing with them to show who is in control.  He holds them, according to him for 3 or 4 hours, taken out of their work day and their pitiful income (a few dozen shekels a day).

8:50 – A man arrives with an 8 yr old child.  He says he is his nephew.  He has his birth certificate in his hand.  The DCO representative compares him to the ID of the man, in order to confirm that they are related.  And then, with incomparable justice, he allows the boy and his uncle to enter Nablus, but explains to them that they cannot come out again, only if one of the parents comes to the checkpoint.  Can someone explain the thought behind this draconian rule?  (Apparently, the passage between areas of the Palestinian Authority to that of Israel is considered a passage between states, and according to the treaty that Israel has signed, it is not permitted for a minor without papers to pass through, in order to prevent kidnapping).

Anan (or Adnan) Nasser, a journalist working in Nablus, says that during the night the soldiers killed a Palestinian in Nablus.  He says that yesterday afternoon there was chaos at the checkpoint, and people were kept there beyond the hour for breaking the fast and forced to eat their breakfast meal at the checkpoint.

Inbal calls attention to the fact that the way they are building the pedestrian checkpoint, we will have problems in approaching to see what is going on at the exit from Nablus, and we won't be able to speak with the detainees.

Vehicles checkpoint

During our entire shift, very few cars went through the checkpoint.  We are used to the phenomenon (there is a policy of decreasing the number of permits), but today it was very conspicuous.  Anan Nasser says that people are perhaps afraid to enter Nablus because of the military action last night.  The taxi drivers say that is simply because of the economic crisis. (could also be because the checkpoint at 'Ain Bidan is unmanned and any vehicles can go through).

We counted how many vehicles came and went from Nablus every quarter hour, the second largest city in the territories, with a population of about 140,000 and three roads out.  At the exit, 5 vehicles and one donkey cart went out.  At the entrance, one truck and a line of 5 vehicles.  There were long stretches of time when there were no vehicles in either direction.

In contrast, we constantly see donkey carts, piled with merchandise, going back and forth….donkeys don't need permits.

8:30 – Four dogs and their trainers arrived.  Today they will do exercises, at the expense of those going through the checkpoint, for whom the dog is impure and pollutes everything that it touches.  Even the fact that it is Ramadan doesn't help them.

9:00 – A dog inspects a taxi.  The passengers move over to the other side of the road.  The inspection takes 8 minutes.

9:20 – A private car with a passenger from a drug company comes to receive a shipment.  Since he doesn't have a travel permit, nor does the car which is bringing the shipment, he sends a worker with a hand-cart to bring the drugs back and forth.  He is fed up with the occupation authorities.  As usual, he expresses his disgust to us.  He doesn't know which of his complaints to make first, which is the worst, whether it is the checkpoints, the prisoners, the refugees ---the checkpoint is open to vehicles until 19:00, and to pedestrians, until 20:00.  After that, they are prevented from going in or coming out, prisoners in their own city.  He finishes off, "We want to rule our own homes".

Mahmud Nasser, from Radio Nablus, reports that there is no checkpoint at 'Ain Bidan, as has been the situation through most of Ramadan.

J'it Junction:  no checkpoints.

07:15-09:00
At the vehicle checkpoint the checking of the cars coming out of Nablus, which are not many, is very thorough. A machine of some sort is inspected minutely and the driver is  requested to unscrew some of its parts.

At the pedestrian checkpoint there is a routine that would be funny were it not so plainly hard on the Palestinians.

There we meet two new Ecumenical envoys belonging to the Accompaniment Programme to Israel and Palestine, a middle-aged Swiss man and a young woman from Sueto, South Africa. The man has taken some pictures, the soldiers threaten to break his camera and call the police. I intervene, telling both him and the soldiers that taking photos is allowed, the soldiers are sure I'm wrong. I call the Humanitarian hotline and ask that the soldiers be informed that it is so. The man is a pleasant, mild person. He continues to shoot Palestinians, but not the soldiers.  "They are so young," he says, "almost like my sons."

The checking of the people coming out is thorough as usual, stuff is dumped out of the bags onto the table.  At the entrance the checking is random but we observe with amazement the behaviour of the checking soldier. He takes the ID, glances at it and then at the list hidden by the banister of the booth, reaches out as if to hand it to the waiting man, pulls it back, waves it in the air, stares at the sky and hands it back. This self-amusement takes seconds, but he repeats it time and again.

It seems that the main concern of the soldiers today is ascertaining that children accompanying their parents are indeed their children. This odd rule prohibiting under- sixteen-year-old children enter Nablus without a parent and without the stub of the ID or a birth-certificate that proves it, is an old one. The connection of it to security still has to be proved. Today the soldiers seem to think this is the main security risk. A mother is sent to fetch this stub, a woman with a toddler is undrgoing a cross-examination  and so does a sub-teen to make sure the woman accompanying him is indeed his mother. When we ask what does this have to do with security we get a lecture, the gist of which is the importance of the checkpoint. Once, the soldier tells me, he insisted that a mother show her baby, she refused, and eventually he saw that the baby was dead.  "Two weeks ago'" he adds' "one of your friends said she'd rather see a soldier hurt than a dead Palestinian." He gives us her age (60), her name and city of residence.