Beit Iba

Beit Iba, Thursday, 2.11.06 AMObservers: Dahlia V, Nurit VL (reporting)Guest: Maha S07:10 Jit JunctionThirty vehicles waiting from the direction of the road from Shavei Shomron. Only two soldiers checking, slowly. Heavy rain is falling and it is very difficult to stand on the verge.. We phone the Centre and ask for a check and more manpower. We continue on our way, but after half an hour the Centre tells us that DCO officer as been sent, and extra manpower will be sent at his discretion. 07:30 Beit IbaMovement restrictions: 18–25 year olds prohibited from exiting Nablus. Only vehicles with permits may pass. As we arrive there are seven cars in line for Nablus. From Nablus the pressure is great. On the vehicle lanes there are two soldiers in each direction, and the inspection is fast – 2-5 minutes, apart from exceptional cases, like a wagon loaded with sacks which were opened one by one, holding up the traffic. At the pedestrian checkpoint: few passing from either direction. Perhaps the rain changed some plans, since it is difficult to plod through the mud and crowding. Seven or eight soldiers facing the pedestrian lanes in both directions. 08:15 – no line of cars to Nablus, and few the other way. Before leaving, we are approached by a group of taxi drivers from the villages of Naqura, Sebastia, Burka, Beit Amarin. They are angry that they are being forced to make a circuit via Anav in order to reach Beit Iba, and are being held up morning and evening, and all because no alternative road has been paved around Shavei Shomron (promised a few times, but with no chance that the promises will be kept in the near future). According to them, few received transit permits, the remainder are “prohibited” without knowing why? What is clear is that their lives have become even more difficult and their livelihood has certainly suffered. The matter needs to be dealt with. From some of them we collected details and phone numbers in order to check and try to help. 08:35 – we leave in the direction of Anabta.