Huwwara, Thu 4.10.07, Afternoon
Translation: Tal H.
19:30pm - 01:40am
At 19:30, A. – member of a well-known respectable merchants' family from Nablus – arrived at Huwwara checkpoint with his pregnant wife and baby
daughter. He presented his vehicle-entry permit to the soldier but was not allowed in because – as the soldier put it – he was a half hour late. He explained to the soldiers that he had been kept waiting at the Tapuach Zaatara Junction CP for a long time and that is why he didn't make it by 19:00.
Even his permit to enter Israel did not convince the checkpoint commander – "this is not valid here", he ruled. With A., another 4 cars arrived, and their passengers, too, were prevented entry on the same pretext. No explanations helped, and not one of them was permitted to enter. We have been monitoring Huwwara Checkpoint for over five years now, and for the first time we are learning that even the fortunate fewest of the few who are privileged to have permits to enter Nablus with their cars, must arrive at the checkpoint by seven p.m. (perhaps this is part of the implementation of the promises made by Olmert to Abu Mazen to show the Palesitnians some more humanitarian consideration).
The two truck drivers amongst the people waiting argued with the soldiers who responded by lashing out with their rifle butts and chased them off to the nearby taxi part,. When the people called the DCO for help, the checkpoint commander said "you can call the DCO all you want, you will not pass". When told that a pregnant woman and a baby are sitting in the car, he said: "Let them die as far as I'm concerned. What do I care…"
The three of us made dozens of phone calls all three of us made to the army hotline to explain plead and change the verdict. Sheri and Gil'ad of the army hotline promised to look into it and take care of the situation, and despite their efforts, they were constantly lied to. The soldiers at the checkpoint kept telling them that no one was waiting at the checkpoint. The night shift soldier at the DCO explained that he cannot send a DCO officer to the site because they finish their duty at 5-6 p.m. and can only make their recommendations to the brigade in charge, no more.
And surely soon everyone will pass, and actually there is no one waiting there and so there is no problem, and he knows A. who always raises hell (meaning he's a half hour late because of another checkpoint). We thought that A. himself might try to convince the DCO, but the latter only scolded him: "If you're half an hour late, you must wait until 2 a.m.", which later proved true. He said to Hanna: "We've got to teach them a lesson, or else they'll be doing this every day, and we've got our hands full as it is."
We have not met such crude, humiliating behavior of soldiers for a long time now. All the generals' and general aides' cell phones slept the sweet sleep of their owners.
At 25 minutes past midnight, Hannah woke up Dalia Bassa (health coordinator of the DCO) and asked for her help, and after Dalia was convinced of the facts, she joined the efforts for she realized the DCO whitewashes and the soldiers are lying and having a ball. Instead of a boring, eventless shift they chanced upon the opportunity to bully the weak and have some fun. Indeed A. kept reporting to us that every time the soldiers say on their communications sets "there's no one at the checkpoint" they crack up laughing and then tell the Palestinians that no order has been received to let them in.
At 1:10 a.m. A.'s wife decided to walk home with the baby, hoping some family member would pick them up on the other side of the checkpoint. A. did not dare leave his car in the checkpoint taxi park for fear that colonists would burn it at night or it would be stolen. Thus, too, the other three drivers who waited with him.
1:20 a.m. – We spoke to the DCO again. The soldier on night shift, Rabia, repeated that the soldiers deny anyone's presence at the checkpoint. This checkpoint is located exactly 3 minutes from the DCO at the nearby army base. We have been complaining for six and a half hours, dozens of phone calls, and it didn't once occur to him to send a DCO representative to put an end to the story.
1:40 a.m. – the order was given. Now abuse has to be extended just a little bit more: vehicle inspection. The truck driver had to pull apart the cabin, the soldiers rummaged in every compartment and under every car seat. Finally, each drive got his own personal wave-off to the sounds of "Fuck you, move already…"
The Eve of Simhat Torah (ending the Sukkoth holiday) one might add Enlightened Occupation and Purity of Arms.
Friday 5.10.07 evening – annex to previous report:
At 20:44 -a liver patient awaiting transplant called us, telling us he had to reach his Nablus hospital urgently in order to receive an injection. Because of his illness, he holds a humanitarian pass to enter Nablus in his own cab. Because the Beit Iba checkpoint near his residence is closed down at 8 p.m. he had to drive all the way to Huwwara CP, where the soldier told him that since he arrived after 7 p.m. he could not enter Nablus. "You'll spend the whole night here", the soldier said, and would not consider all the medical documents he was shown. The arsenal of orders and procedures does not require the soldiers to call their superiors to receive instructions in such cases. 7 p.m. and that's final.
M. called the DCO directly, and after half an hour, the order arrived to let him through.
Since Beit Iba and Beit Furik Checkpoints close at 8 p.m., and Huwwara Checkpoint closes at 7 p.m., one could say now that the closure on Nablus has actually turned into a siege for nearly half of every 24-hour time span.
A complaint will be filed with the army hotline.
Huwwara, Thu 4.10.07, Afternoon
16:10- Yitzhar Junction- the checkpoint wasn't manned.
16:12- Huwwara Checkpoint- About 30 pedestrians were waiting in line for the inspections. Three inspections posts were open and so was the humanitarian line for women and the elders. The average time it took to pass was 5 minutes.
There was an x-ray machine. Drivers and their passengers were sent with their packages and luggage to the machine. The soldier at the watch tower kept yelling at the soldier who were inspecting the cars that one of the drivers that was in line tried passing through the checkpoint earlier with a package but was refused passage and was now trying to pass in a cab. We couldn’t see what he was carrying with him (we had seen in the past that soldiers wouldn't allow them to pass with motor parts), but we did see him returning to Nablus.
16:12-16:20-Four vehicles were standing the line heading to Nablus. It took 8 minutes till the last car past.
16:17- Two young men were detained for ID inspections and were released after several minutes. One of them was escorted by the checkpoint commander to the cell. The commander talked to him and checked his cellular phone, but he let him go after a couple of minutes. I asked the young man whether he had any idea why he was detained, he said "I am a Bingo", for four months now they have be detaining him each time he pass there.
The DCO representative was holding a knife in his hand and explained to the solider standing next to him why it was dangerous. Apparently this was the knife found in among the other object that belonged to the man in the cell. He would have to wait until his ID was inspected at the "highest authorities". We were told he had been sitting there for 10 minutes.
16:30- A military police woman was giving out orders to a minibus driver: "Open the door!", later, however, I heard her greeting a different passenger, "Marh'aba", "Mazal Tov". I observed her behavior and learned that she was just a loud type, a manner of behavior that her friends might like. But in the checkpoint this is an offensive behavior.
16:35- Six vehicles were at the entrance to Nablus. We couldn't see the line exiting Nablus. A young pedestrian was hopping to make more use of his time and decided to put his bag in the x-ray machine before he enters the pedestrian line, he was reproached and sent to the line. A porter spread all his luggage on the dusty road.
A privet car came from Nablus, the passengers weren't familiar with the new regulation, according to which the passenger are taken out of the car about 20-30 meters before the place where the car is inspected. The police woman explained the regulation to the driver while yelling. The family seemed embarrassed from the tone of her voice.
16:49- A jeep arrived, a commander and the checkpoint commander went to the cell. I was observing the pedestrians line that was entering Nablus. They asked me to leave (even though many Palestinians were passing through there). I said that I wasn't standing in their way and that I had a right to be there. He took his cellular phone out and called the police. The commander talked to the detainee for a couple of minutes and headed off. The checkpoint commander told Debra that the soldier had found three knives, each one the size of 6 fingers in the detainees luggage.
I went to the detainee to ask for information. He was a sixteen year old from the village Aqraba. The teenager explained to me, with his poor Hebrew and hand gestures, that the knives were sharp. I tried helping and offered to call his relatives and tell them he was arrested. He said he couldn't remember their numbers. I tried getting his ID number from the Humanitarian Center, so I could inform the Red Cross, but they couldn't find it.
16:59-The teenager was taken for a physical inspection and was released.
17:00- The police woman and soldier stood on the road leading into Nablus and inspected those entering. They checked only their bags but not the IDs (Where they using the "someone gave me something to pass on" trick?). People had to pour out their bags on the dusty and dirty road.
17:02-The checkpoint commander noticed that in the filed behind the checkpoint was a truck heading to Awarta. He sent a jeep with some soldiers quickly to stop the truck. We could now see the truck driving slowly in the field, it was escorted by the jeep (on the road). They led the truck to the checkpoint and the commander talked to the driver. The plat number of the truck was: 460091, it was a Volvo. The phone number on the truck was: 052-2813712.
The detainee was still in the cell when we left (on our way we tried getting his ID number for the last time through Humanitarian Center- but it was no use). I called the Red Cross after a couple of days and asked that they find out whether he was arrested or released on that came day. I still didn't get an answer (the teenager seemed embarrassed when I said I wanted to help him. I really hope he was released. In retrospective it seems like one of those "someone asked me to pass this package" incidents).
{What bothered me for a couple of days after the shift, was that on Thursday two events occurred in the checkpoints we visited or were near them: After we left: at Huwwara checkpoint a cab driving a man with kidney failure was denied passage even though they had all the permits needed (see Naomi L's 'report). And on that day that had probably closed the road leading to the Palestinian villages in Alfai Menashee. Two difficult events that stress out the occupation and which demanded from our volunteers to work hard for the last couple of days and take care of them. Our observations are merely incidental and we manage to collect very few information during our shits. }
Beit Iba, Jit, Thu 4.10.07, Afternoon
15:00 Beit Iba Checkpoint
15:00 - 15:18 - 16 vehicles in line to enter Nablus. The 16 th car passed after 18 minutes.
30-40 pedestrians in line at the checkpoint itself. In the hut for entry to Nablus a group of youngsters are sitting, having waited a long time for the bus in which they arrived to reach inspection.
There is a line of adult men and women. Those entering Nablus are also being checked. Three men are asked to wait for their ID check: "Get into the jora already," but before they can the IDs are returned and they leave after being duly humiliated.
Between 15:05 and 15:15, 90 pedestrians crossed the checkpoint (in other words, at rush periods like today, more than 500 people pass in an hour). The checks are continuous and people don't wait more than a few moments. From time to time a big group comes (perhaps off a bus) and then there is some pressure and sometimes an argument about place in line. The soldiers resolve the noise by shouts of irjah!
15:00 - 15:31 - ten or more vehicles in line out of Nablus. And five more in the humanitarian line. The tenth vehicle in the ordinary line passed after 31 minutes. Seems that the soldiers are taking care to alternate between the ordinary and humanitarian lines. The checking time in either direction is about a minute on average.
A truck driver with balloons of cooking gas wants to go to Qusin. The soldier throws his ID and permit back and says that he cannot pass. The driver picks up his documents from the ground and goes off to talk to the checkpoint commander: he is equipped with all the required permits, including entry to Nablus. He goes to the pedestrian checkpoint and waits long minutes until the commander, who is checking pedestrians in a side line, frees himself. By the time the driver returns to his vehicle, the soldier who had been at the checking station was relieved, and his replacement lets the truck pass immediately. In answer to my question, he says he does not understand why the driver did not pass immediately without an order from the checkpoint commander.
15:15 - a detainee is put in the pen. A man standing in the pedestrian line calls to me to ask that I go over to talk to him. I approach and try to start a conversation, but the checkpoint commander drives me back and calls the police. I phone the public relations officer of Central Command with the complaint that the checkpoint commander is preventing me from carrying out my role, even though I am not interfering, not speaking to the soldiers or to the commander.
15:28 - five vehicles waiting to enter Nablus, the last of which passes in six minutes. When we leave, there are 10 vehicles in the ordinary line coming out of Nablus and nine in the humanitarian line.
An older man who passed with his car asks the soldier at the checking station how late the checkpoint is open, so he can come back to Nablus. The soldier says: "Nine! One minute after nine prohibited!" To us he says that the checkpoint is open from 05:00 till 23:00, but cars till 22:00. "But so he won't be late I tell him earlier." We decide to check in the near future whether the checkpoint does indeed stay open for these hours.
15:45 - we leave to Huwwara, even though the detainee has not yet been released. We can't talk to him because the commander prevents us from approaching.
Small consolations - the army has done something to prevent mud erosion by spreading a net on the slope under the lookout tower.
16:00 - Jit Checkpoint is not manned.
Ar-Ras, Jubara (Kafriat), Thu 4.10.07, Afternoon
Ar-Ras checkpoint
14:10 – A minibus on its way south has been detained for the last 20 minutes according to one of the passengers. I asked the checkpoint commander for the reason, and his answer is that they are not detained. I go on asking what the pile of ID cards is doing on the counter. The commander turns to his friend and asks him if he has detained them. When the show is over he returns the ID cards to the driver and the minibus goes on its way.
Jubara checkpoint (gate 753)
14:53 – The soldier is holding lists probably with names of those allowed to enter the village. The two people in the car hand their ID cards and the soldier leafs through the list for quite a while until he finally finds their names. He returns the ID cards and they drive away.
The village of Shufa on road 557
14:20 – In the light of the report on blocking the exit from the village with an iron gate, we entered the village to check whether there was such a blockade and were happy not to find any. What the report had said probably concerned an iron gate situated on the army patrol road. We asked a few youngsters who were sitting beside the road about the blockade and they said there wasn't any. We also learned from them that the entrance to Izbit Shufa (the houses closest to the border passage) was from road 57 (Anabta junction in the direction of Tulkarm). We tried to imagine what the area had looked like before road 557, constructed on a big rampart, came into being, and now close the villages Shufa and Safarin had been before it became necessary to travel via Beit Lid or via Tulkarm in order to get from one to the other, by taxi, of course.
14:45 – At Anabta there is no line because cars are not checked (perhaps due to a shift change).
17:30 – On the way to Qalqiliya checkpoint, the roads are empty. The Moslems are having the meal to break their fast and the Jewish people are celebrating the Rejoicing of the Law.
We can see from afar that Qalqiliya checkpoint is empty and we don't enter. There are no soldiers at the entrance to Azzun. When we get to Eliyahu Passage, we remove all the Machsom Watch signs and pass without even an eyelid flicker on the part of the soldiers.
Container (Wadi Nar), Ras Abu Sbitan (Olive Terminal), Thu 4.10.07, Morning
Zeitim CP: 06:50 - Most of those crossing are pupils - at a rate of 10-12 per minute. Around 07:00 there was a pause, although many people were inside - no way to tell why. Then the rate of crossing picked up again.
The Container: 07:50 - Unimpeded movement. When we arrived, a bus was being checked, later detained, then released 10 minutes later. A private vehicle arrives from the direction of Sawahre and turns into the road descending beyond the grocery store. Because of the CP's construction, the driver is complelled to drive against the flow of traffic for a few meters. The soldiers shout at him, he continues slowly, and arrives safely at his destination.
Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za'tara (Tapuah), Wed 3.10.07, Afternoon
Translation: Hanna K.
13:30 – 16:45
13:30 Za'atara:
From north to south about 8 cars, from East to West 15 cars.
Burin:
A CP next ti which there is a hammer.
13:45 Huwwara:
Crowdedness at the CP is terrible, noise and shouts of the Palestinians and the soldiers, there are three checking lanes and one humanitarian queue, but at times some of the posts are not manned, it was not clear whether this was due to a formal break or whether the soldiers just left the post and took a recess. This of course increased the crowdedness and the nervousness of the people in the queues, people who are anyway very hungry, thirsty and tired at the end of a fasting day.
The soldiers were on the whole relatively courteous, the commander. lieutenant M. an affable person who listened to us and answered politely, but even so there was a number of soldiers who behaved rudely towards the persons passing at the CP and towards us. Exceeded all the others a woman soldier called D. whose screeches could be heard from afar and whose checking tempo was very slow.
When we arrived there was no DCO representative on the spot, and after a few telephone conversations with E. from the DCO Y. arrived and helped us with a few cases we referred to him but after a few minutes he announced that he had to go somewhere else, but he didn't leave a telephone number and said he could be reached via E. from the DCO, which later proved to be untrue.
At 2:45pm the car queue became very long, and at 3:30 when we returned from Beit Furiq there was a terrible congestion in the checking queue and the noise and shouting were deafening, in the detention cell there were a few detainees who were held there because they left the queue. The persons who left after being checked were furious and told us about the disgraceful attitude of the soldiers, and they mentioned especially a red-headed soldier whose name they didn't know (the CP commander didn't know to whom they referred), one of the soldiers emerged with a torn bag and said the soldiers had done this.
Suddenly the noise and the shouts became more intense, the passages were closed and two bound man were led by the soldiers to the detention cell, one of them was on the verge of fainting and the other wounded in his head.
The people who were on the spot said he had been hit by the soldiers. All This happened without the presence of a DCO representative. We phoned Ellen as Y. had told us to, but she claimed she had not way of contacting him.(we herewith address colleagues who are able to reach the higher echelons and ask them to try and do something in the matter, it is not possible that in such a sensitive place, expecially in the Ramaddan period, there should be no DCO representative the whole day long).
We contacted the humanitarian Center and they promised to take care of the matter, after a short while the company commander appeared (we don't know whether this was as a result of our phone call) there was an investigation and we saw the wounded man point to one of the soldiers. At the end of the investigation the wounded man was released from his handcuffs but was put into the detention cell. When we asked why, the company commander said he had to complete the inverstigation. We do hope it was a fair one. During the event the passage were closed, a further aggravation of the terrible suffering that the population that has to pass through the CPs has to undergo.
3:15 Beit Furik:
The traffic is sparse. We are told that there is no passage for people who are not inhabitants of Beit Furiq and Beit Dajan.
16:46 Za'atara:
The CP is nearly empty. .
Ar-Ras, Beit Iba, Jubara (Kafriat), Wed 3.10.07, Afternoon
Translation: Judith Green
14:40 – Jubara
A line of about 15 vehicles in the direction of Israel, but moving.
14:55 – A-Ras
At the exit from Jabara to A-Ras the pedestrians wait for a one-by-one inspection, and pass through. No vehicles at A-Ras. Whoever arrives from Tulkarm is checked quickly. Going into Tulkarm, there is no inspection.
We see an older woman walking in the heat with a huge bundle on her head. Dalia offers her a ride. When we stop near her house in the village of Jimal, the woman is so thankful that she invites us in. In her house (which includes a room for the animals: goats, donkey and a horse), she brings us refreshments, even though everyone in the house is observing the Ramadan fast.. Ahmad, the brother of the woman we helped, tells us that, a few days ago, some soldiers came at 2 AM and took away his and his son's work permits. This was after his son (Mahmud) was caught working in the vicinity of the fence with his brother's work permit (Hacham). Now Ahmad and his two sons are left without any income (Ahmad actually was working in Israel). Then the woman gives us some necklaces and, after a few photographs, we leave at 15:45.
16:20 - Beit Iba
No vehicles at the entrance to Nablus. The cars are checked one by one, but relatively quickly. At the exit from Nablus a bus is checked without taking out all of the passengers. On the next bus, the men are taken out for inspection. At the checkpoint were 3 volunteers from the World Council of Churches.
There were 2 detainees: one, a policeman, 33 yrs old, from Jenin. He says that he has been in detention since 11:30 because he refused to give the soldiers his uniform. The soldiers confiscated his cellphone and his money. His hands were handcuffed behind his back. He complained of pains and showed us that the handcuffs were very tight. The soldier refused to loosen the pressure a bit, on the grounds that the policeman had attacked a soldier. The volunteers said that they had telephoned the Humanitarian Hotline. We call again, and are told that the case is being handled.
The second detainee was 24, from Azoun. He travelled on the forbidden road to Kuchin. In addition to the 2 detainees, every few minutes a group of youths were brought in for about 20 minutes. A soldier (Alex) stood next to the inspection booth and, every few minutes, would ask the soldier who was inspecting the bags, "Send me one". The soldier picked randomly one of the people going through the checkpoint and sent him to Alex. They would be taken for inspection into the cell for a few minutes and then released.
We called Naomi concerning the handcuffs.
16:40 - At the entrance there is a line because of the inspection of a wagon with bundles. A truck is inspected and sent back – not allowed through.
17:00 – The checkpoint is empty except for the soldiers, 2 detainees, the foreign volunteers and us. We call the Hotline again, they say they will get back to us and that the incident is being investigated. Dalia asks the checkpoint commander about the policeman, and he answers her that he is waiting for the police. Naomi says that the DCO claims that they are responsible for the case.
17:30 – the fast is over, we remind the soldiers to give the detainees, who haven't drunk all day, some water. The detainees refuse to take the water from the soldiers and we bring them our water. The young detainee is forced to "water" the handcuffed policeman. The policeman is groaning in pain and tries to loosen the strong grip of the handcuffs. He asks the other detainee for help. The soldiers notice and separate them, saying "Each one at another end of the bench."
17:45 – The international volunteers leave the checkpoint.
18:00 – The policeman let Naomi know that they have given notice that they are not taking the policeman. The DCO says that an order has already been given to release the detainee and that he in fact has just been released. The checkpoint commander says that he will release the policeman only when he gets an order from his officer, and that such an order has not yet been given. Dalia tries to get the commanding officer, but he doesn't answer. The young detainee is released after 3 hours. The soldier tells him that he can go home, but without his car. It is dark and there are no taxis.
18:45 - We leave the checkpoint. The policeman, who has been detained since 11:30, has not been to the bathroom and is still fasting since yesterday, still in handcuffs. We think that the order to release him is stuck in military bureaucracy, in order to punish him. Perhaps when we leave the area it will be easier for the soldiers to release him. We take his phone number.
In the evening, Miki calls the number and somebody else answers the phone; apparently it is not the correct number.
Beit Iba, Jit, Wed 3.10.07, Morning
Natanya translating.
Summary: No checkpoint at the crossroads of Jit.
Two rolling checkpoints at the crossroads of road 60 with road 557 and at the entrance to Beit Lid against those coming to Chomesh.
Checkpoint of Beit Iba is horribly routine. Horit P., a veteran of Machsomwatch is amazed at the efficient and skillful way the checkpoint is handled. This is the great success of the occupation forces. Everything proceeds like a well oiled machine with everyone knowing exactly what to do and there is no need for the movement of a finger or a look for the conquered to act the rituals they are used to.
Checkpoint Jit: no soldiers.
Beit Iba: 6.55 – 8.30
The car lane. There are car lanes though not yet paved,. There is one lane at the entrance which leads directly to Kuchin as if this were a normal country but this lane is blocked ….who was the genius who organized this?
As in the last weeks few cars entering or exiting Nablus because of the problem of obtaining permits from the DCO and to there are never more than 3-4 cars in any direction and this is in spite of the fact that the checking is slow and inefficient. 4 soldiers including 2 sergeants and a military policeman and all four check one car, taking advice from one another. Each driver gives his id and also his passengers, these are checked by phone, everything is checked, this includes ambulances which probably pass a few times each day and also a doctor who works in Qalqiliya and also passes each day.
Many buses today and the young people alight and go through the pedestrian lane and then wait for the bus on the others side and this takes 10 minutes. A woman with a babe in arms and a little girl of about 3 is forced to alight with her baggage and to go through the pedestrian lane. There was a sergeant who was more humane and sent her through without checking her and she goes to wait for the bus on the other side.
A large bus with large containers containing liquids is not allowed to pass to Nablus. The truck is Israeli and the driver says that the liquid is dangerous and therefore cannot go through the back to back at Awarta and he has a permit for Beit Iba. He says this is not in writing but the captain at the checkpoint knows about this and lets him pass. The sergeants will not let him pass or speak to us and tell him to turn around and so we conducted the conversation by phone. We asked the commander to try to check the matter with his superiors. He refused. The driver says the company will arrange the matter with the DCO. A representative of the DCO arrives 15 minutes later at 7.30 and this was too late for him. We saw the dog tgrainer arrive and only one car being checked.
At the pedestrian lane the sergeant checks efficiently and most of those entering are students. Two soldiers check the young men, one the women and older men and one checks by phone anyone whose name comes up on the list. Even though now and again a crowd of people arrive, probably having alighted from a bus and everyone is in the checking area which is crowded with building materials which have not been in use for months they go through quickly and disappear. In humanitarian cases such a woman leading a blind person he sends them through without checking.
A woman of about 50 arrives with a Jordanian passport but no visa or id and says she is on her way to the hospital in Nablus. She is not allowed to pass but we bring in the DCO representative and he says this time and only this time he will let her through,.
Bethlehem, Etzion DCL, Wed 3.10.07, Morning
Rachel Crossing, Al-Nashash, Nebi-Yunis, Etzyon DCL
06:30 am Rachel Crossing
The curfew is complete as a result of a Jewish holiday. Most of the people passing are church or hospital employees or people with health problems. Only one checking booth is open and everything seems to be running smoothly. We met one woman and this is her story:
She is having very difficult financial problems and has turned to the official welfare organizations in Bethlehem in order to receive financial aid. The clerk in the office, on realizing that the woman was Christian, insulted her and turned her away, telling her that they did not help “pig eaters.” The woman turned to the manger, but was turned away by her too. She then turned to a Christian minister who told her that she was indeed on the list of welfare recipients and he did not know why she was rejected.
07:30 am Al-Nashash
Very little car traffic. We are unemployed.
07:50 am Nebi-Yunis
We were waiting for a Palestinian who called Yoske the evening before and asked for help. He did not show up, and did not leave a phone number to contact him.
09:10 am Etzyon DCL
Everything is locked. Behind the building we saw a number of elderly people who wanted to get an entry permit in order to visit El-Aktza the coming Friday. When we called the DCL we were told that an officer would soon come out to take care of their request.
Daily reports
Every morning and afternoon, shifts of women go out to some 30 checkpoints within the West Bank and on the seam-line between Israel and Palestine, to monitor and document IDF and Border Police conduct, and safeguard Palestinian human rights.
MachsomWatch women also visit the Civil Administration "District Coordination Offices" (DCOs) where Palestinians need to apply for documents and permits, checkpoints along the separation barrier (where high tech terminals have recently begun to operate under civilian management), and the military courts where Palestinian detainees are brought to trial.