Beit Iba

BEIT IBA, Wednesday 27 April 2005 PM Observers: Noa P., Naomi L. (reporting) colour=red>We had fixed an appointment to meet a journalist here , although this was not our normal day. We came early, before the regular shift's arrival , see below]In contrast with the relatively quiet procedures at the checkpoint, we saw some really terrible roadblocks. We learned from one of the soldiers that today there were roadblocks set up every five kilometers, and indeed the unbearable lines, and the time wasted in waiting in each of them, were obvious from the morning until late afternoon.13:30 –At Jit junction there was a roadblock where a bus waited and all its passengers stood at the side of the road, waiting for their IDs; several cars stood waiting behind it.13:35Five minutes ride from the checkpoint at Beit Iba, there was a roadblock where 40 cars waited while two soldiers checked incredibly slowly. Some people reported a wait of an hour. R. [the head of the local District Coordinating Office – the army section that handles civilian matters; it generally has representatives at the checkpoints ostensibly to alleviate the lot of the Palestinians] was not available the whole day. We called the brigade's second in command asking why the soldiers didn't call Beit Iba checkpoint to update information on people who'd just gone through five minutes before: but this officer's aide repeatedly stalled us with requests to call later. The operations officer, M. gave us a learned explanation that today "there are serious ' warnings', so....', but he said he would " take care of it". The checkpoint at Shavei Shomron was also in operation.Before we arrived at the checkpoint itself, we heard the shouts of "Irj'a l'wara, ya'la", etc. [all in very basic Arabic]. We saw the soldiers leave the inspection stations and push the people inside, within the turnstiles, stepping backwards: "Everyone back, one by one." There was no "humanitarian" line, as the brigade commander had promised in his letter to us of yesterday. There were about 80 people in the passage going out of Nablus, and enough soldiers in the inspection booths. The number of women and children was relatively large, but the soldier said, "We are not going to make an additional line now: there aren't enough people."After we'd taken up our usual places, it was obvious that the soldiers had received orders to work efficiently and let through as many people as possible and as quickly as they could , so as not to create long lines. The checkpoint commander worked very well.14:15The line was almost gone, there were less than 10 people, yet the soldier was shouting, "One by one!" Afterwards, he explained to us at length that the most important thing at the checkpoint was the checkpoint itself, the people who had to go through it came after that….. In a conversation with the soldiers, they referred quite calmly to the shooting incident the other day : "The man who was shot was making trouble; after all, they only shot him in the leg with a rubber bullet. The officer who fired is on vacation, but he returns to his job in a few days, there weren't any disciplinary steps taken against him." Later, we found out that the officer in question was a company second lieutenant of whom the wounded man said: "He's awful, even worse than T." [the company commander, and a very controversial usually harsh figure].15:00 An unbelievable state of chaos in the area of the taxis: buses and trucks, pedestrians and ambulances. Everything was a result of the aggressive behaviour of T. and his soldiers, and all to make order and "clear the road". One huge traffic jam, everyone stuck, horns blasting, shouts. We have no idea what would have happened had the energetic organizer himself suddenly have driven up with a screeching of brakes only to find out that all his work was for nothing. Amazingly though, even without his help, everything returned to "normal" after about 20 minutes.15:20 Passage out of Nablus was quick and the inspections were efficient. Clearly an order had gone out to get the Beit Iba checkpoint out of the headlines. Once in a while people were sent back, even within the turnstiles; women were checked quickly. A man with his wife and eight children, all under the age of 12, was asked by the soldier to identify all his children by name while the soldier read the names on the ID and confirmed that he wasn't smuggling out some baby who didn't belong to him.16:15 The afternoon shift arrived, as did the journalist. When we left, the taxi drivers complained about a huge traffic jam at Shavei Shomron and a wait of more than an hour. We did see a line of about 30 cars waiting on their way north. Further on, there was a roadblock at Jit junction, but only a few cars were waiting there. Observers: Raya Y., Sarah P., Hadas T. (reporting) colour=red>There were no detainees throughout the shift and only light traffic in both directions; sometimes the checkpoint was empty. Particularly noteworthy was the absence of families with children. It seems that they preferred not to move around during our holidays [this was the Passover holiday week in Israel>.A woman without papers tried to pass through, but was turned back. The soldier suggested that she wait a few minutes until her details were checked against what appeared on her birth-certificate, but she decided to return to Nablus.Private cars without permits were sent back to Nablus, even though they were transporting elderly or sick people. The telephone numbers we called did not answer and we had no way to help.At Jit junction there was a roadblock. To our question as to why, we got the answer: warnings [of impending terror attacks], closure [because of the Passover holiday, no Palestinians were allowed into Israel ].18:30 At the exit to the Jit - Jubara road there was a roadblock where everyone was checked, even those who had just passed through inspection at Shavei Shomron and Beit Iba.The appropriate offices did not answer. We bothered one of the DCO officers at home, during his time off, and he referred us to the brigade operations room, where they said the roadblock was because of "warnings". But from the way things looked – i.e. the kind of inspection being done and the "big-shots" who went through without being checked – the process was more one of harassment than because of security concerns.