Beit Furik, Huwwara, Tue 24.6.08, Afternoon

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Observers: 
Karin L. Chana K.
Jun-24-2008
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Afternoon
Seriously? Does this make us safer?

 Natanya translating

14:45 Huwwara

When we arrived the reception was a silent one. The soldiers did not respond to our greeting and when we tried to ask them why the checkpoint was empty (usually people wait about 20 minutes) they did not reply. On the other hand a driver of the "Masua Team, who was dressed half in uniform half with an ordinary shirt showed initiative and wanted to show his personal knowledge told us that we were no allowed to film. The checkpoint filled up and we kept on photographing. The commander, M., again said that we were forbidden to photograph and we told him that indeed we are allowed to do so  and that we were photographing civilians through the fence and promised not to photograph the faces of the soldiers. But he insisted that even from that distance he could make out the faces of the soldiers. We almost asked him in the tradition of childrens' riddles..."Look at the photo. Can you see the soldier?"

4.20 At Beit Furik
We met a man who had been detained for three hours and so the commander affirmed. He is a member of the Palestinian police and the commander said that he had committed an exceedingly severe traffic violation.  We were surprised and said that how could this be punishment when it was against the law for people to be detained as punishment. The answer was that had it truly been forbidden that regiment commander would not have allowed the punishment. After Karin's intervention we were promised that the man would be freed. 
The violation was that he had traveled on a forbidden road, the native, the local had stolen onto a road of the lords of the land, the Madison apartheid road.  Here "dafke" the commander started a pleasant conversation, asked what we were doing and politely explained to us that the land is all ours and Hebron has been so for 3000 years. He was not religious.
We left at 5.00.