'Anabta, Mon 1.3.10, Afternoon

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Place: 
Observers: 
Riva B., Ptahya A. (reporting) Translation: Galia S.
Mar-1-2010
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Afternoon

15:30 – At the turn to Beit Lid we see the most unusual sight: A Border Police jeep is standing there with 4 soldiers who stop all the vehicles that go in and out. There are 8 cars, mainly cabs, when we stop there. Documents are taken for inspection and a long wait ensues. People in one of the cabs say they have been waiting for about an hour. A sick young man is taken out of the cab and left to stand in the cold while the soldiers pretend to be immersed in the checks. They won't let us come closer and are, of course, unwilling to talk. We call the IDF Humanitarian center as well as the Tulkarm-Qalqiliya DCO [District Coordination Center of the IDF Civil Administration that handles passage permits]. A few minutes after our arrival, they stop delaying cars that get in or out altogether. At this hour of returning to the villages there are quite a few. The young man is the only one left. Understanding that this is not going to end anytime soon, the cab in which he came left after about 20 minutes. For some reason, 45 minutes later, the soldiers carry out an inspection on the young man's body. During all that time we keep calling the Humanitarian Center but to little avail. The woman soldier there who empathizes with our concern says they have called all the brigades but no one has got a clue what is going on there, neither do they arrive. We are determined not to leave the place before he is released. 

Eventually, at 16:20, when we finally make it to talk to Grisha, as we talk, the young man's mother arrives crying. She yells and begs the soldiers until they finally let both of them go. Another old Palestinian woman has succeeded in making the Border Police soldiers climb down after having put themselves in a position they didn't know how to get out of. Earlier when we asked the people in one of the cabs if they knew about similar cases, they said such things happened once in a while but not at the same time. It's interesting although not surprising that in the brigades they know nothing about it. When we leave we tell the commander we are ashamed. Pictures of this unnecessary event are enclosed. 

Anabta 

16:23 – The checkpoint is unmanned and the traffic is flowing. 

Irtah 

16:30 – The passage is closed due to the closureinfo-icon. Eyal passage is closed as well.