Passage Restrictions

Translation: Rachel B. 

"The sun shone, the almond tree flowered..." and the checkpoints are still there.
Finally, the Golani soldiers have left us and ... "the Nahal has gone out to the fields."

6:45 AM
There is no security check by the Border Police at the Shomron Gate. 
The entrance to Marda is open. The blockade at Zeita continues.

Za'tara/Tapu'ach Junction 7:00 AM
There are 7 cars waiting from the western approach and a very long line from the direction of Huwwara - about 60 cars.
At the checkpoint there are Reserve Duty soldiers and a fair number of female soldiers.  Also a dog handler.  The "segregation" continues: residents of Tul Karem and Jenin between the ages of 16 and 35 are forbidden to go through, along with those against whom there are specific warnings.

7:20 AM A third processing position is opened.
[Two young men, A. b. A. (24) and N. S. try to go through to Ramallah where they work.  But they are sent back because of the segregation.]
All the buses and some of the minibuses are sent to the plaza f to be checked.  Every bag is opened for the dog to smell its contents.  Luckily it's not raining.

Beita Junction 7:40 AM
There are dozens of soldiers and army vehicles.  They are not letting people go into the village and the market has been shut down.  The soldiers {say}: "There was some shooting here so we have ‘cleaned out' the area."

Yitzhar/Burin Junction 7:50 AM
There is no checkpoint operating.

At Huwwara:
The Nahal soldiers are much more easy-going than their predecessors.  They don't fight with us over the white line.  Since the shooting at the bus, there are new procedures - they check the ID cards of anyone going into Nablus.
{At the checkpoint} There is a scanner, a dog handler, and no detainees. The District Coordinating Office Commander arrives and goes to check if there has been a status change in the segregation order.

Awarta 8:10 AM
There are short lines of trucks from both directions.  While we stand next to the "café" and wait with Mohamed for oil and olives, a soldier arrives and informs us that we are in "Area A," which is forbidden to Israelis.  We promise to leave shortly and he returns to his station.  Mohammed says that now the checkpoint is "good."

Beit Furik 8:30 AM
A truck whose driver dared to go up the road that leads to the soldiers' position is waiting on the side as "punishment."  (The driver says that it has been more than 3 hours - since 6:30 AM, and the soldier says it's been since 7:30 AM.)
There are a few pedestrians and a line of 12 cars at the exit from the village.  The soldiers say they cannot open another processing position. 

Huwwara: 9:00 AM
Everything is as is usual. The District Coordinating Office Commander says there is no change in the segregation policy.
In the town of Huwwara things seems to be "business as usual." 

By now, most of the soldiers and vehicles have left the entrance to the village of Beita.  Those remaining at the spot block the entrance.  They say that the military action in the village has not ended yet.  They hope that by the afternoon they can open up the junction.

Tapu'ach/Za'tara Junction 9:15 AM
There is no line.
At the Shomron Gate the Border Police is checking people exiting from Israel.

    Eyal Passage 7:00
    We heard no complaints; the workers are pleased and say that the passage through is easy.
    
    Lower Jubara 7:15
    The gate is locked. We waited for 15 minutes but the soldiers did not find the key. No entry to the village.
    
    Anabta 7:40-8:30
    Still no exit from Tulkarm for male residents of Jenin, aged 18-35.
    We watched more than 10 people being sent back, which is strange since usually when separation lasts more than a day, the news spread and the restricted residents do not come to the checkpoint at all. We gathered some names for the Association for Civil Rights, for example a student who lives in Ramalla and studies at the University of Bir Zeit, who was sent back because according to his ID he is a resident of Jenin. The student presented a medical certificate to the checkpoint commander, stating that a bullet had hit his shoulder, but he does not have the right document to get him through - a hospital appointment.
    
    The queue of vehicles awaiting passage at the checkpoint is normal for the time and place - about 20 minutes delay.
    
    There is no significant queue at the entrance to Tulkarm, since there is no inspection of ID's. Usually at this checkpoint even cars with Israeli number plates enter without inspection.
    
    Qalqiliya 11:00
    Not a very long queue at the exit from the town. No special restrictions on entries and exits for Palestinian vehicles.
    As to vehicles with Israeli number plates - according to the explanation we received today, it consists of about 300 people, residents of Qalqliya, who have permits to drive Israeli vehicles. Contrary to what we assumed before, the permit is given to a person and not to a car, although he whose name appears on the list of permit holders, has to present a vehicle permit bearing his own name. It is permitted to a man/woman to drive a car registered under the name of his/her son/daughter but not in a vehicle registered under his/her brother/sister's name.
    Assuming that we understand this correctly, this arrangement is meant for Palestinians with an Israeli Identity cards (perhaps due to a marriage to an Israeli partner), who had been vetted by the Military Intelligence.
   The restriction may sound almost logical (because of the fear of the entry of vehicles with explosives to Israel)    apart from 2 simple facts:
A. One can transfer explosives from an Israeli car to a Palestinian one and vice versa.
B. An Isreali vehicle enters Tulkarm freely.
 
The checkpoint commander to whom we chatted claimed that we did not have enough information and that we saw the checkpoints 'through a straw' (ie from a narrow point of view). We reiterated that he too was in a similar position and he answered that as a soldier he was obliged to look through' the military straw'.
 

Natanya translating.
 
9.15 – 10.45
A short time after we got to the checkpoint limitations of movement were cancelled. 8 men who had tried to bypass during the period of limitations were detained in the jorra. Rina insists we can talk to them, the commander tries to stop her and uses the most effective way he knows…he closes the checkpoint. As far as we can judge this holding of a civilian population to ransom so as to stop us speaking to those detained is immoral and also contrary to orders. But it does not surprise us as this is the same commander whom we saw beating a Palestinian and continued to kick him when he fell to the ground and lay there. This beating also took place in the jorra and we did not dare to go towards it.

Translation: Rachel B.

A very cold and rainy morning.  At the Tapu'ach Junction checkpoint, there are almost no cars waiting.

Beit Furik: 8:30 AM

There are about 6 cars waiting to go in.  The number of people going in is very small. It is cold and wet.  
The soldiers approach the cars entering the checkpoint and do not expect the drivers to approach them.  
A body scan (raising the sweater or jacket up) and thorough check of the cars: trunk, 
engine and driver's cabin.

The soldiers are polite and smiling despite the bitter cold.  They speak to us in a very friendly manner.

Huwwara: 9:00 AM

The harsh weather takes it toll here as well. Very few people are coming or going and the "market" 
is not operating.  There are two processing stations and one "humanitarian" station.  
The scanner is not here and, therefore, all those being checked are asked to empty out the contents 
of their bags and every item is checked.

Two soldiers are standing at the detainee station and checking the ID cards of those entering - 
only young men, though.  We tried to find out who is covered by the segregation order but they did not want
to tell us.  The soldiers seem to be ignoring us and reply coldly and unwillingly that there is a security 
warning in effect.

 We leave early because of the cold and the very small number of Palestinians at the checkpoint.

Natanya translating.
 
General:  Segregation of young men from Tulkarm and the area of Jenin.  Even more than usual this complicates the lives of the people.

7.00 Azun- The western opening is open but the main entrance is closed also to pedestrians.  Jit is open.

7.25 Beit Iba- Because of the segregation all IDs are checked but women and older men are not checked usually after the intervention of the DCO representative.
A group of young men are gathered at the entrance. Some of them are from the village of Tolet, south of Qalqiliya and they cannot go through. The commander says that they have a list of the residents there even though there is no segregation of the residents of Qalqiliya and Jayous.  It seems that contrary to what is usually the situation the commander knows the geography of the area but has to go according to the lists. Nina phones the centre where she is told that the village should not be on the list and that this will be corrected. Not immediately of course but as it will go up the line of command.  There are about 14 detainees. All had tried to bypass and were being punished by being kept for  a couple of hours and while we are there their numbers grow to 18 . Every now and again the soldiers run to the hills to "hunt" those trying to slip by. Everyone knows the rules of the game and those who are caught know they have tried and not succeeded and go smiling to the enclosure.

9.30 We leave and the commander says he will free them at 9.45.
 
 

Natanya translating.

Opposite Ariel the work on the road is continuing. There are no guards to be seen at the hitching post and there are people there. At Marda the western gate is closed with curled barbed wire and the east is open. At Zeita the road is still blocked. At Zaatra there are 4 cars and the checking is swift and efficient. We did not stop.
 

13.50 Beit Furik.
A cold wind and heavy clouds. We spoke to the coffee seller at the stop car park where he has made a stand out of nylon coverings so as to protect himself and others from the cold wind and he is worried that the soldiers will make him take it down.   People say that today the checkpoint opened earlier at about 4.30. At the checkpoint itself is one car. The soldiers are indifferent to our presence but the commander asks us politely to stand further away behind the white line. From there we can see about 6 cars waiting to leave Nablus. But for some reason neither cars nor pedestrians are passed through. People entering Nablus are told to come in one by one or at least to take off their coats and turn around and only then to go up to the army police checking area.
14.10 Pedestrians start to go through and a woman complains bitterly that she had waited for two hours. A young couple, the woman pregnant, say they have waited an hour.
At 14.20 cars start to go through and we are told that the change in shift caused the delay. We phoned the centre and complained to Gali who said that when the shift changes the checkpoint is closed for an hour to an hour and a half. The car at the entrance is still waiting. We asked the commander about the delay and he said cars were coming through according to turn and because there had been a long line from Nablus he had given them preference. But he let the car which had already been waiting for 40 minutes go through. A man came though asking if this is how it would also be and saying we should pressure the prime minister to make peace.
 

14.20  Awarta. 12 trucks waiting at the entrance but the passage was fast and efficient.
 

Hawwara.
At the parking lot a man asked what was happening today as if the " usual" was not sufficiently humiliating and annoying.  The commander, a second lieutenant met us at the entrance to Nablus where he was standing with 5 people. Next to the turnstiles was an iron checkpoint and a soldier checking those entering Nablus. He is pleasant and says he has missed us but asks us not to photograph today.  The soldiers are fixing a tarpaulin at the side of one of the fences probably to protect themselves from the rain but the wind prevents them from doing this. The commander says that there are detainees who are waiting for the blue police and otherwise things are quiet.

Two men come up to us, one of whom speaks good Hebrew and is translating for the other. Yusef from Hawarra. His house and that of his brother which is the biggest in the village stands on the main road. On the night between Sunday and Monday soldiers came into the house breaking the furniture and mixing oil with the flour, broke windows and damaged their car and went beserk. They would not speak to the people.  We passed on the complain to Yesh Din and made a contact between Yusef and Azmi who is the investigator of Yesh Din.

There is a dog trainer who is not checking and is playing with the dog who has his mouth covered.  Some minutes later she gets to work. 

The young men say they wait two hours in line but the fast line with R. from the DCO passes quickly.

A regimental policeman asks us where we are from and when we say machomwatch he says why. This hurts me because it shows that there are people who think that all our work here and everything that we do is meaningless. We tried to explain that is about about basic human rights and not about the behavior of the soldiers themselves but it turns out that he believes that everything belongs to us so there was no point in going on.

Two men sign to us to come to them next to the humanitarian line and R. goes up and speak to them and they leave . He tells us that they had been waiting for the blue police who had not come and therefore he had freed them. He says that there is segregation and many alerts.
 

Za'tara.
6 cars. Tomer is there and send them through and from the west only three. No delays. The soldier are polite to us today and not hostile but there is a heavy feeling because of the severity of the past days.

.

16:15
 Beit Iba- there is a segregation policy today- from the area of TK and Jenin. This means men, aged 16- 35, cannot go southwards from these areas. (As they can't go north either, since north is Israel, not much ground is left for them). As this policy is imposed without advertence people are sometimes unable to get back on time, and cannot reach their homes. We witnessed this several times to day, as students trying to return home from Nablus were turned back. Elderly Palestinians try to pass through the 'humanitarian line', but upon arrival some discover that they are not old enough, and the soldier orders them to return via a tall concrete rail. One such man tries to cross once, and fails, so he squeezes back through the turnstiles.
Several students are waiting for a friend still in line, at the end of the cp and the soldier tells them to get out of there 'you can't stand here'.

Dozens of young men are standing in two files, waiting for bags and IDs to be checked.
The soldier at the 'humanitarian lane' speaks perfect Arabic. 'Look', says my friend, 'he is actually looking people straight in the eye!'
I try to do the same.
We left at 16:52
 
No cp at Jit.
 
 

Translation: Rachel B.

The cohort of soldiers at Beit Furik and Awarta has been changed and there is a noticeable improvement in the attitude towards the Palestinians and towards us.  However, there is a segregation (lwdyb) and very intensive checking resulting in a long line of cars (this is 2 days after the assassination of Moraniyah).

Zeita: 7:20 AM

There is a road block with cement cubes, 2 taxis and a group of people standing next to them.

Za'tara: 7:35 AM

There are 21 cars approaching from the west and 51 from the north.  The soldiers are Air Force Reserve troops. The (female) commander of the checkpoint approaches us, very open to our presence and aware of the suffering of the Palestinians. She tries to speed up the checking but, as was said, the processing is very intensive and the line is long.

Yitzhar: 8:00 AM

There are 13 cars in line.

Beit Furik: 8:30 AM

There is a long line of cars at the entrance to Nablus.  The drivers approach us and complain about the long wait. One driver claims he has been waiting an hour, another says an hour and a half.

The soldiers are Nahal troops. The commander comes over to us and requests that we stand at the edge of the checkpoint but does not make us leave and is willing to talk to us.  According to him, the long wait is due to particularly intensive searches related to security concerns.

Awarta: 8:50 AM

Nahal troops here as weel, who also do not ask us to leave.  There are many trucks approaching from the direction of Nablus, we cannot estimate their number.  A. A. tells us that even though there are many cars in line, the soldiers are "good" and check the cars as quickly as possible.

Huwwara: 9:00 AM

The parking lot is full of life.  Some of those going into Nablus are checked thoroughly, especially young men, but it is quick and does not cause long lines to form. At the turnstiles there are two lanes open for procession and a third is being fixed, with an ear splitting noise of soldering.

9:40 AM A Palestinians asks for our help. He is a car dealer and has to bring a truck to the garage but he has not been permitted to do so, based on the excuse that he has no permit for a truck.  He says: the situation is shit.  However, we can't deny that T., the officer from the District Coordinating Office who was there and whom we asked to intervene, does allow him to go through after looking into it.

10 AM A student who lives in Jenin was not allowed to go into Nablus.  All we could do was pass his information on to Miki F. who is in touch with the Association for Civil Rights.

Natanya translating.

 Prologue. 
A very black Thursday. It was horrible. One of those days which gives birth to more and more suffering and humiliation. This is the day after the publication of the assassination of Imad Morniah, the commander of the Hizballah. This day has been turned into a day of closures, arrests, obstructions and detention by Israel. The soldiers have turned the Shomron into a series of detention camps  where any passage from one to another is impossible. While the Israeli government is celebrating her "achievement"  ...we will pay the price in the future...the Palestinians are paying the immediate price.  In the atmosphere of hot alerts the feeling is that the army has decided to act in advance and show the Palestinians who will pay and to hint to them not to dare to join the terrorist activities which will follow. To our regret the car which we took had a problem and we did not get to the checkpoint of Tulkarm and so part of the report is based on phone calls which we received from Palestinians.

Limitations of movement.
-Men between the ages of 16-35 from Jenin, Tulkarm can not pass through the southern area of Zatara.

-Men of all ages cannot enter Nablus if they are not residents of the town or of the villages in the enclosure from about 16.30.
-The same restrictions for Ramallah (this from the DCO).

From the Palestinians and the DCO  we learned that all the checkpoints which closed on Tulkarm  are closed completely to any movement from 11.00 am.
The DCO says that they will open again about 16.00.
From telephone calls  we heard that they only opened at midnight. 
A taxi driver said that in the day time the army had invaded Anabta and arrested people.

The checkpoint on the road to Anabta Jenin a little before the village of Bizariyah is closed completely during the entire day ( as are those of Tulkarm). People who wanted to go back to Jenin could not do so  and as the entrance to Nablus was also closed to them their way home was blocked and 100s were stuck at Bizariyah for hours in spite of the pouring rain and the strong winds.

The only checkpoints which were open as usual were those which dafke bordered on Israel  and as usual we passed with no further checking.

2.45 The checkpoint on the road to Bruqin under the industrial area of Ariel was open.

2.50 Za'tara. 8 cars. Limitations of movement of men 16-35 from north Shomron. In the lot next to the checkpoint on a chair under an umbrella from which the rain poured down a young man was detained. He said he had a permit to be in the area but had forgotten it. Semadar asked the commander to translate and the latter showed a strong desire to free him quickly. But this did not help the suffering of the young man who waited until 18.00 to be freed.  We phoned the centre and gave his details and story but the commander was obstinate in saying he had no permit. At the same time he gave the details of the young man through the communication device and the centre said that someone would be sent to fetch him. It happened that we had clothes which we had been given to pass on  and so we gave him a thick sweater.  At 15.45 we met A. from the DCO at Huwwara whom we had called for and he said that he had to go to the crossroads at Za'tara to free someone from Gaza. We nearly had a fit when we understood that the young men was still sitting there soaked to the skin.

The end of the story was that A. from the DCO got to the checkpoint at 17.45 and immediately freed him and it turned out that he did have a permit too but this had not been renewed. We were told that this would be fixed immediately and that this had been noted. The young man belongs to the Gatah who were taken  out of Gaza when the Hamas had taken over there.

15.00 Semadar gets a phone call about what is happening in the area of Tulkarm. A rolling checkpoint in front of Birzatiyah. The place is after Anabta beyond the bend where there is a road going north to the village. The road crosses the village and joins the road 60 next to the village of Silat A-Zahar. After road 60 was closed this is the main road for people going to north Shomron and Jenin and to the villages north of Shave Shomron. The checkpoint has completely closed all movement north and south in the morning hours for long periods even until midnight.
At 15.00 we were told that 50 people were waiting on both sides, people who could not return home,.

15.45 Burin/Yizhar  no checkpoint.

15.48 Checkpoint of Huwwara.
We cannot see the end of the line at the exit. The x-ray machine and dogtrainer are there but the dog only checks the baggage compartment. Most of the time we were there it rained. The first hours of the soldiers who had replaced those of Givati. We did not see anyone from the DCO in the area.

There is a pedestrian line of at least 100 people at the exit from Nablus and soon it spreads beyond the shed. 3 checking areas. Everything is taken out of the pockets and the usual clothing check but people do not have to raise their shirts. People say they have waited an hour. We cannot estimate how long this takes as at about 16.30  two soldiers starts to check those entering Nablus and anyone not from there or the surrounding villages cannot enter.  This checking started not surprisingly when the number of people entering increased.  Mostly people coming back from work at the end of the week. Almost immediately a line of 50 people was formed. The rain was merciful and stopped for a few minutes. The soldiers whose first day it was at the checking are under pressure and the whole time are trying to being about order and threatening to stop the line and shouting "Back Back." At one stage one of the soldiers tries to explain to the people why it is worthwhile for them to stand in line comparing the fact that he is also standing there in the rain and ignoring the fact that his clothing protects him from head to toe from getting wet.  From his tone it is obvious that he is well meaning.  More and more people come as is usual on a Thursday in the afternoon  as people come back from the week of work or wanting to visit their families.

There is no place for the last in lilne and they of course press forward and the line turns into a mob. The soldiers go back little by little towards the turnstile. I am already on my third call to the centre to send someone from the DCO. Three soldiers shout to the people to go back and the commander frominside the shed lifts his rifle threatening to shoot into the air.  Afterwards he goes to the line and starts pushing people in an attempt to form a line.

16.50 More soldiers arrive and A. from the DCO.  He says he must go to the crossroads of Tapuach to free someone from Gaza and we are shocked to hear that the young man is still there. But A, decided to help release the pressure and only at 5.30 leaves. He had helped in truth to free the cars at the entrance to Nablus and  had informed people in the line that anyone not from Nablus would not be able to enter. Now the commander comes back and pushed people to stand in two lines. Women are not checked.  But a young man says he lives in a hired flat in Nablus and works in Ramallah. He is desperate. I ask A. from the DCO if Ramallah is also closed and he says the young man should go through Anabta, Bizariya  to Jenin. But he has no one at Jenin. And the other two places are closed in any case. He is so confused that he does not even know how to get to Jenin, we do not know what happened to him  We asked the centre if they could not help in this monstrous situation.

A young man goes to the commander and asks to be let through as he has diarrhea and cannot wait to get to a toilet but the commander is not convinced. He passes in 10 minutes when the checking is swifter. Even old people have to show their IDs to prove where they live.
This is collective punishment at its best. 
Maybe hot alerts or the soldiers know by heart the numbers of those who are wanted for questioning or to show who is in power and to humiliate and oppress. The soldiers do not even check the faces of the people with the IDs.

16.20 - 17.10 20 minutes to check a bus while the passengers stand outside in the cold and rain and the IDs are collected and the dog checks the baggage compartment.

We receive a phone call about a detainee at Beit Iba whom the soldiers have beaten and handcuff saying that he had attacked them.  A driver says that Anabta is completely closed since the morning and Zacharia says that 100s of people are stuck at Bizariya and cananoty get home.  We decide with heavy hearts to leave Huwwarra and go to Beit Iba and Anabta.

On the road to Bruqin the engine fails and we cannot go on. The rain does not stop and we think of the 100s and 1000s stuck at the checkpoints. Nadim phones a towing truck and we get a taxi with Zacharia's help and are taken and from there Nadim's brother takes us to Kfar Saba.

We see that Jit is not manned and Azzun which has been under closure since Saturday. At the Eiliyahu crossing everything is as usual . Nothing is checked so where are the hot alerts?