Beit Iba

Beit Iba 9.1 AMObservers: Yvonne V, Efrat S, Adina A, Carrie (guest), Torit S (reporting)We decided to drive through Road 55 (near Qalqiliya and Kedumim) and encountered no problems.At the checkpoint, because of the elections, passage was very rapid. Most only show papers (and not photographs) and go through past. Easing of restrictions included passage into and out of Nablus for men over 18. The following were several exceptional incidents:1. a taxi driver from (Arab) Beit Lid wanted to drive into Nablus to a garage which fixes his type of vehicle and says previously he was allowed in if he left his ID at the checkpoint. The soldiers refuse and say it’s against orders.2. 3 cases of Israeli Arabs who want to enter Nablus. In one case a family say they want to visit a relative about to undergo surgery. We contacted Dalia Basa who asked for their names. The woman gave several names for the relativ, did not give the names of the family members, and then the entire family vanished. A physiotherapist from Arara I accompanying a Palestinian relative to a child development clinic in Nablus. Dalia enables him to go through after a long wait.3 women from the same family, one of whom wants to visit a gynaecologist for fertility treatment, She says he helped her in the past. The soldiers say she can enter only with a letter of referral or permit. The women leave.3. Two taxi drivers are detained for a long time after their IDs were take by a patrol jeep. The story is not clear: is the check particularly long or were the papers lost somehere between the jeep and the checkpoint. The IDs are returned after at least two hours.4. An elderly taxi driver is being detained because the commander says he caused trouble. His keys were taken with his ID.5. Although this has often been noted, it is important to stress how long people wait to be checked. A student from Jenin University waited an hour and a half. A man approached us in fluent Hebrew and complains that the promised easing of restrictions was mere public relations and that an extra checkpoint was set up at Shavei Shomron. He also complains at the soldiers’ conduct, particularly in the presence of women.