Beit Iba, Jit, Thu 15.1.09, Afternoon
3:47PM About 26 vehicles on line from Nablus in Beit Iba. Most of them are private cars. Vehicles entering Nablus do not have to be checked and drive right in.
About 10 young men waiting on line behind one turnstile. Their IDs and parcels are checked by the MP in the checking booth. In order to pass through the metal detector they must remove keys, belts, cell phones and sometimes shoes.
On the side line where women and older men wait everyone's IDs and bags are checked. There are only 10 on line here as well.
4:00PM Three older men are being detained. I wait for the commanding officer to come over to ask him about the detained men. When I ask the commanding officer why they are being detained he says he does not want to talk to "Watch". I tell him that I was here 2 weeks ago and then he was very cordial. He says that since then things have happened with "Watch" that he doesn't like. He is angry right now at Hagar for standing on the south side of the CP where it is easiest to see the traffic. He calls the police and tells them that a "Watch" woman is standing in a sterile area.
At that moment we get a call from a Palestinian who tells us that settlers are throwing rocks at passing Palestinian cars about 400 meters east from the Jit intersection. We leave Beit Iba and head for Jit.
Jit 4:20PM - 4:45PM
There is an army jeep stopping traffic heading east at the Jit junction. Traffic is allowed to pass in the other direction. We ask what the problem is. We are told that Palestinians are throwing rocks at settlers in the area.
We wait to see if everyone trying to pass through is stopped. They are including settlers who start to kick up a big fuss. After 20 minutes the soldiers pack up and leave.
We pass through and see that there are army vehicles all along the road and soldiers are placed on the hill on the south side of the hill every few meters. We see large stones that have been thrown on the road. We get to the entrance to Havat Gilot and there are about 10 army and police vehicles .There is a car belonging to a settler as well. He has stepped out and is talking to one of the soldiers.
After making a U turn and heading back to Jit, we stop to talk to soldiers from the DCO who have parked their jeep along the side of the road. The soldiers tell us it was in fact the settlers who were throwing stones at Palestinian cars and they were still keeping watch to see what would happen.
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