Beit Iba, Talluza

TALLUZA & BEIT IBA, Sunday 19 December 2004 PM Observers: No'a P., Yehudit B., Chen., Naomi L. (reporting) Guests: E. and M. colour=red>As a result of the eight-day curfew on the village of Talluza, north of Nablus, and at the request of a group of international volunteers that we demonstrate our presence there, we decided to include the village in this shift. We travelled over incredibly damaged roads, narrow, with potholes, ruined and crumbling, with the remnants of the stones that the soldiers had left from their unannounced roadblocks . Breathtaking landscape, and in the distance the red-tiled roofs of [the Israeli settlement of ] Elon Moreh, like an open wound. It was like a roller-coaster ride, until we arrived at the end of the world, where anything goes and nobody cares. At the exit from Asira Ash-Shamaliya we came across the first checkpoint, manned by three friendly soldiers with their rifles aimed and at the ready, and a tank-track vehicle , checking all who came to Talluza. When we asked why the village had been under such a long curfew – which, according to the soldiers had just that very day finished – they said there'd been an explosive belt in the village, and they'd not been able to find it. Today, everyone was allowed through, the soldiers said – including bread, milk and medical supplies, as well as doctors. Unlike the Brigade Commander, they did not deny that the village had been under curfew for eight days. They let us through.At the edge of the village we came across some villagers who told us what they had been through over the past few days. Some of the young men, who were not members of any organization, had been taken for questioning, and nobody knew where they were. About 40 young men had been taken out of their houses, marched to the centre of the village with their hands tied, and kept there for hours before they were released.One of them said that he'd worked in Tel Aviv for 14 years, and had better friends there among the Jews than in the village. He had never seen such degradation: the soldiers had shouted and cursed, the men were freezing cold and weren’t allowed into their homes, the soldiers went in and conducted searches. He was unemployed, and it was very hard for him to support his 15 children. ‘What sort of democracy do you have?’ he asked, and a lot more difficult questions. No’a photographed this heart-breaking monologue, and we shall preserve it as evidence of the misdeeds of the ‘most humane army’ in the world, which denies that such things have ever happened. Simon, one of the international observers, told us that the army had left the village, and the entrance was open, so we left for Beit Iba. We were amazed to see how the people of Talluza and Asira, who live only 10 minutes’ journey from Nablus, have to travel such an illogical distance, which takes them hours, in order to get to Nablus via the checkpoint.In the light of the cosmetic improvements which have recently been made in the checkpoints, we feel it is essential that we go into the villages, demonstrate our presence, and take evidence of the terrible things being done there, unseen and unheard . What happens at the checkpoints is but the tip of the iceberg!Beit Iba 15:30 — There were two men in the detainees’ area; they were released as soon as we arrived. Traffic through the checkpoint was lively, a few people were detained and released relatively quickly. [Detainees are, typically, men aged from 16 to 30 or 35 who have no passage permits; recently, young women, too, have been detained. The detainees' ID details are phoned through to the General Security Services (GSS, also known as the Shabak or the Shin Bet, the Hebrew acronym for the GSS) for checking against a central list of security suspects and the answers are then relayed back to the checkpoints. This cumbersome process can take considerable time, and that can be prolonged even more if the soldiers wait to accumulate a batch of ID cards before passing them on to the GSS , or if they behave in a similarly tardy manner at the end of the process, waiting until they have a batch of GSS clearances before they release individual detainees. Meanwhile, the detainees are virtually prisoners at the checkpoint where the soldiers retain the ID cards until the entire process is completed]. A., the representative of the District Coordinating Office (DCO), said: ‘Soon there won’t be anything for you to do at the checkpoint ’ [ the DCO is the army section that handles civilian matters; it generally has representatives at the checkpoints ostensibly to alleviate the lot of the Palestinians]. A man coming from the direction of Qusin was caught with a mule carrying all kinds of metal. Two "conscientious" soldiers, threatening him with their rifles, brought him to the detainees’ area, and the mule was tethered by the side of the road. The checkpoint commander warned: 'He'll be here until the checkpoint closes.’ Big groups of people waited outside the exit for a bus caught between the slowly advancing trucks. A zealous captain, the company commander, asked us to park opposite the checking station ‘so that I can look after you better.’ He was occupied in punishing the bus driver, who had finally managed to edge his way past the line and reach his passengers – who had already paid their fares. Unfortunately, the company commander had just arrived in his jeep, and had blocked his way. ‘Four hours’ detention, that’s the law.’ We asked which law: those passed by the Knesset, or international laws? In which statute book were these laws written , and who enacted them? "OK, an order" he replied. "The army gives orders, and 'they' know them, and have to carry them out." "But the people have already paid their fares," we said. "I can’t think of everything. Let them take a taxi," came his rejoinder.16:50 —The mule owner was released, after we'd told the checkpoint commander that the man was freezing with cold: in any case the Israeli army was always victorious , and he could use his judgment and let the poor fellow go before the end of his punishment.17:18 — Five minutes’ journey from the Beit Iba checkpoint there was an unannounced road-block where a dazzling spotlight had lit up about 10 cars. The people in a taxi there , one of whom we'd met in the detainees’ area, had been waiting in the cold and darkness for about 20 minutes. As soon as we arrived they were released. We asked the soldiers why it had taken 20 minutes to check them. ‘Because any minute a yellow Mitsubishi will arrive and shoot at us.’ A joke for the lads. And that puts paid to the weighty argument that it is impossible to defend the soldiers at the checkpoint, where there is no light, and only a spotlight can light up the people being checked. In fact, the spotlight was so dazzling that it was impossible to see who was approaching the area. There's still no electricity at the Beit Iba checkpoint , so it was closed at dusk, 17:30. The only people who get through after that are those who can prove they live in Nablus – and that , too, is of course subject to the soldiers’ whim. Naturally, "humanitarian" cases are also subject to their "judgment".