'Azzun 'Atma, Mon 23.3.09, Morning

The gate was closed for an hour because the soldiers (Border Police) did not know how to handle it. On the other side of the fence crowded 100 workers who had to get to work as quickly as possible. Even though captains arrived, including the brigade commander, until 8.25 the checking of those who had arrived at 6.00 had not been concluded. One worker was injured when the soldier banged him with the iron gate.

The settler in charge of security from the settlement of Elkana is part of the soldiers who are handling the checkpoint. One of the officers says that the confusion has been going on for two weeks, almost every day. Therefore it is important for us to be at the checkpoints every day.

From the DCO of Qalqiliya help arrived only after an hour and a half when the confusion had ended. It is important that we have the telephone numbers of the Qalqiliya DCO officers and of the officer in charge of the passage because the humanitarian centre is not of much help in emergency cases.

The amazing thing is how quietly the workers accept the mess of the handling of the checkpoint which can cost them an expensive day of work. A stone thrown in this tense situation could end in the loss of life.

Details:

7.00 The gate has been closed for half an hour. From the side of the village workers crowd together after they had crossed the checkpoint on the north side of the village, including magnometer and computer checking. It is hard to say how many people there are because on the other side of the fence there is a slope which cannot be seen. We saw more than 100 people.

On our side the workers have come back from night shifts, Students who live on the north side of the fence on their way to school, contractors waiting for their workers.

A soldier explains that they closed the fence because the workers had not stood in the requested two lines. Of course, as the time lengthened more and more workers came and the possibility of order lessened. Everyone is in a hurry to get to work, it is already late and they are missing a day of work and everyone is trying to be first in line. In the meantime everyone who speaks Arabic including our Nadim try to persuade the workers on the other side of the fence to get into lines. We phone the DCO at Qalqiliya (S.).

7.25 Children are allowed into the village. Two parents who had to transport them were only allowed in after an argument. More cars arrive with bridade commander, the operations officer and the a sergeant. They consult one another but nothing moves. There is also an armed civilian with them, he is the man in charge of security from the Elkana settlement and he acts as a soldier at the checkpoint.

7.30 At last the gate is opened by the settler without the Palestinians having got themselves into line and he decides who will come in to be checked. The checking is very slow. In spite of the many soldiers only one checks IDs and permit and two women soldier copy by pen in an exercise book the details of each worker. The reason is that they want to be sure that the illegal workers will not be able to come through the gate. Which means that whoever is not written down in the morning cannot return in the evening. (By the way, the illegal workers come back without checking from west of Qalqiliya and this makes the way even longer for the residents of Nablus and for the contractors who transport them). But when so many people are waiting to be checked this is a stupid move to put it gently.

Half an hour later they also realized and the soldier wrote down names only randomly and the people were not delayed. And then the passage became quicker. After 8.00 20-25 people passed through in 25 minutes. But before then there were a couple of intervals when the soldier letting the people through the gate could not manage the lines.

7.45 Another interval. One worker came out with an injured face because the soldier had closed the iron bar on his face.

7.55 The workers who were coming back from the night shift were allowed to go home after they had waited two hours.

8.00 About 100 workers were still waiting to pass and now the checking was fast.

A man who had a cake in his hand was not allowed to go into the village. He had come back from work at Bnei Brak and his employer had brought him here. He lives in Nablus. The brigade commander explains that according to the rules he has to go back through Qalqiliya. In the end after we intervened and explained to him that he could sometimes use his discretion, he agreed that the man would be able to pass once the others had gone through.

During this time we phoned Qalqiliya DCO 6 times and they did not reply. Once when the soldiers at the checkpoint said that the gate was open when it was actually closed. I asked that someone should be sent (an hour after we had already alerted them to the situation). A private was sent and of course did not dare to give advice to the lieutenant colonel. He stood and watched like everyone else and told us to get away. At 8.25 E. the captain of the passages arrived but by then everything had ended and only 20 people were still in line. We left.  

Netti A., Nadim, Hamdan, Rina Z. (reporting); Natanya translating

The gate was closed for an hour because the soldiers (Border Police) did not know how to handle it. On the other side of the fence crowded 100 workers who had to get to work as quickly as possible. Even though captains arrived, including the brigade commander, until 8.25 the checking of those who had arrived at 6.00 had not been concluded. One worker was injured when the soldier banged him with the iron gate.

The settler in charge of security from the settlement of Elkana is part of the soldiers who are handling the checkpoint. One of the officers says that the confusion has been going on for two weeks, almost every day. Therefore it is important for us to be at the checkpoints every day.

From the DCO of Qalqiliya help arrived only after an hour and a half when the confusion had ended. It is important that we have the telephone numbers of the Qalqiliya DCO officers and of the officer in charge of the passage because the humanitarian centre is not of much help in emergency cases.

The amazing thing is how quietly the workers accept the mess of the handling of the checkpoint which can cost them an expensive day of work. A stone thrown in this tense situation could end in the loss of life.

Details:

7.00 The gate has been closed for half an hour. From the side of the village workers crowd together after they had crossed the checkpoint on the north side of the village, including magnometer and computer checking. It is hard to say how many people there are because on the other side of the fence there is a slope which cannot be seen. We saw more than 100 people.

On our side the workers have come back from night shifts, Students who live on the north side of the fence on their way to school, contractors waiting for their workers.

A soldier explains that they closed the fence because the workers had not stood in the requested two lines. Of course, as the time lengthened more and more workers came and the possibility of order lessened. Everyone is in a hurry to get to work, it is already late and they are missing a day of work and everyone is trying to be first in line. In the meantime everyone who speaks Arabic including our Nadim try to persuade the workers on the other side of the fence to get into lines. We phone the DCO at Qalqiliya (S.).

7.25 Children are allowed into the village. Two parents who had to transport them were only allowed in after an argument. More cars arrive with bridade commander, the operations officer and the a sergeant. They consult one another but nothing moves. There is also an armed civilian with them, he is the man in charge of security from the Elkana settlement and he acts as a soldier at the checkpoint.

7.30 At last the gate is opened by the settler without the Palestinians having got themselves into line and he decides who will come in to be checked. The checking is very slow. In spite of the many soldiers only one checks IDs and permit and two women soldier copy by pen in an exercise book the details of each worker. The reason is that they want to be sure that the illegal workers will not be able to come through the gate. Which means that whoever is not written down in the morning cannot return in the evening. (By the way, the illegal workers come back without checking from west of Qalqiliya and this makes the way even longer for the residents of Nablus and for the contractors who transport them). But when so many people are waiting to be checked this is a stupid move to put it gently.

Half an hour later they also realized and the soldier wrote down names only randomly and the people were not delayed. And then the passage became quicker. After 8.00 20-25 people passed through in 25 minutes. But before then there were a couple of intervals when the soldier letting the people through the gate could not manage the lines.

7.45 Another interval. One worker came out with an injured face because the soldier had closed the iron bar on his face.

7.55 The workers who were coming back from the night shift were allowed to go home after they had waited two hours.

8.00 About 100 workers were still waiting to pass and now the checking was fast.

A man who had a cake in his hand was not allowed to go into the village. He had come back from work at Bnei Brak and his employer had brought him here. He lives in Nablus. The brigade commander explains that according to the rules he has to go back through Qalqiliya. In the end after we intervened and explained to him that he could sometimes use his discretion, he agreed that the man would be able to pass once the others had gone through.

During this time we phoned Qalqiliya DCO 6 times and they did not reply. Once when the soldiers at the checkpoint said that the gate was open when it was actually closed. I asked that someone should be sent (an hour after we had already alerted them to the situation). A private was sent and of course did not dare to give advice to the lieutenant colonel. He stood and watched like everyone else and told us to get away. At 8.25 E. the captain of the passages arrived but by then everything had ended and only 20 people were still in line. We left.  

Netti A., Nadim, Hamdan, Rina Z. (reporting); Natanya translating

The gate was closed for an hour because the soldiers (Border Police) did not know how to handle it. On the other side of the fence crowded 100 workers who had to get to work as quickly as possible. Even though captains arrived, including the brigade commander, until 8.25 the checking of those who had arrived at 6.00 had not been concluded. One worker was injured when the soldier banged him with the iron gate.

The settler in charge of security from the settlement of Elkana is part of the soldiers who are handling the checkpoint. One of the officers says that the confusion has been going on for two weeks, almost every day. Therefore it is important for us to be at the checkpoints every day.

From the DCO of Qalqiliya help arrived only after an hour and a half when the confusion had ended. It is important that we have the telephone numbers of the Qalqiliya DCO officers and of the officer in charge of the passage because the humanitarian centre is not of much help in emergency cases.

The amazing thing is how quietly the workers accept the mess of the handling of the checkpoint which can cost them an expensive day of work. A stone thrown in this tense situation could end in the loss of life.

Details:

7.00 The gate has been closed for half an hour. From the side of the village workers crowd together after they had crossed the checkpoint on the north side of the village, including magnometer and computer checking. It is hard to say how many people there are because on the other side of the fence there is a slope which cannot be seen. We saw more than 100 people.

On our side the workers have come back from night shifts, Students who live on the north side of the fence on their way to school, contractors waiting for their workers.

A soldier explains that they closed the fence because the workers had not stood in the requested two lines. Of course, as the time lengthened more and more workers came and the possibility of order lessened. Everyone is in a hurry to get to work, it is already late and they are missing a day of work and everyone is trying to be first in line. In the meantime everyone who speaks Arabic including our Nadim try to persuade the workers on the other side of the fence to get into lines. We phone the DCO at Qalqiliya (S.).

7.25 Children are allowed into the village. Two parents who had to transport them were only allowed in after an argument. More cars arrive with bridade commander, the operations officer and the a sergeant. They consult one another but nothing moves. There is also an armed civilian with them, he is the man in charge of security from the Elkana settlement and he acts as a soldier at the checkpoint.

7.30 At last the gate is opened by the settler without the Palestinians having got themselves into line and he decides who will come in to be checked. The checking is very slow. In spite of the many soldiers only one checks IDs and permit and two women soldier copy by pen in an exercise book the details of each worker. The reason is that they want to be sure that the illegal workers will not be able to come through the gate. Which means that whoever is not written down in the morning cannot return in the evening. (By the way, the illegal workers come back without checking from west of Qalqiliya and this makes the way even longer for the residents of Nablus and for the contractors who transport them). But when so many people are waiting to be checked this is a stupid move to put it gently.

Half an hour later they also realized and the soldier wrote down names only randomly and the people were not delayed. And then the passage became quicker. After 8.00 20-25 people passed through in 25 minutes. But before then there were a couple of intervals when the soldier letting the people through the gate could not manage the lines.

7.45 Another interval. One worker came out with an injured face because the soldier had closed the iron bar on his face.

7.55 The workers who were coming back from the night shift were allowed to go home after they had waited two hours.

8.00 About 100 workers were still waiting to pass and now the checking was fast.

A man who had a cake in his hand was not allowed to go into the village. He had come back from work at Bnei Brak and his employer had brought him here. He lives in Nablus. The brigade commander explains that according to the rules he has to go back through Qalqiliya. In the end after we intervened and explained to him that he could sometimes use his discretion, he agreed that the man would be able to pass once the others had gone through.

During this time we phoned Qalqiliya DCO 6 times and they did not reply. Once when the soldiers at the checkpoint said that the gate was open when it was actually closed. I asked that someone should be sent (an hour after we had already alerted them to the situation). A private was sent and of course did not dare to give advice to the lieutenant colonel. He stood and watched like everyone else and told us to get away. At 8.25 E. the captain of the passages arrived but by then everything had ended and only 20 people were still in line. We left.