Huwwara, Mon 22.9.08, Afternoon

Natanya translating.

Because there was not enough womanpower we went both to Beit Iba and to Huwwara only.

15.10 We got to Huwwwara where the parking lot was full, pedestrians and traders with loaded stalls.
At the usual entrance to Nablus the traffic moved  freely but there was not much of it.. Cars were checked randomly and there were no particular delays even of cars with yellow license plates.  The men's lane was very full but was being handled as usual.
In the morning a soldier had been attacked and hurt very badly in his eye. (In the morning a soldier had been hurt very badly in his eye).
Going up the stairs we met Lyn, a young Norwegian woman who belongs to the World Council of Churches. She was on her way to visit a friend.  At about 2.00 she had arrived at Huwwara and had stood with other women. The line was full and people made no progress. They stood for about an hour and Lyn said that she had used the time to photograph what was happening.
One of the soldiers saw her and called her, took the camera from her and emptied it of the pictures.
She said that she had seen a young Palestinian detained. She said that he had been put handcuffed into the isolation and had been beaten by the commander. She phoned the humanitarian centre  and had also informed Machsomwatch. I
t seems that an hour previously there had been an incident. The commander for some reason had not allowed an elderly blind man to pass through the humanitarian line. A young Palestinian had intervened and had then been pushed and hit by the commander. We found him handcuffed in the cell with signs of the beating on his face and red marks round his waist.  He said he had a bag which had disappeared in the commotion and in it was Mohar ( bridal price) of 11,000 shekel. The military captain investigated as we asked and said that the man's relations had the bag but THE MAN HAD COME ALONE. We spoke to the DCO representative who reported this to Faris. Elisheva reported to Zaharan who already knew about the incident. But no one knows where the bag is.
In the meantime we saw the movement of a hand from the isolation.  The commander went to speak to the detainee. He told him to sit in the corner of the cell. The man tried to explain something but the captain shouted, " Sit, I am not listening to you. I will fuck your mother if you don't listen to me." 
After some minutes the DCO representative together with the captain took the handcuffs and and took him to the other side of the checkpoint evidently to keep questioning him about the bag which had disappeared.
Then he was again put in the isolation and handcuffed.
In the meantime the military police arrived evidently summoned by the commander who said that "we had caused a commotion"(!?).
The captain was surprised that we did not stand in the place which the army had allotted us. He got a short explanations and accepted that we did not agree.
17.00 We phoned to the detainee, after we had left the checkpoint, Adham of the DCO replied. The man had still not been free and the matter of the bag had also not been cleared up, even though the DCO, the commander and the military police kept telling us that they were investigating.
They treated the matter seriously.
19.10 This time the Palestinian answered the phoned and said that he was to be freed and gave us the phone number of the DCO who was next to him.
The DCO representative said that the brigade commander said that people could be detained for 3 hours and over.
Muhammed was freed without his bag.  Later when we spoke to the man who had been hurt and was now at home we suggested he photograph his wounds and that he should get medical documents. We told him he could make a complaint about the attack.