Beit Iba, Jit, Wed 7.11.07, Morning

Summary

Cars enter Qusin freely.

An Israeli woman and her children are prevented from meeting their father/husband in Nablus. Today they were done a favour.

The commander helped two handicapped people to pass.

A trader in medicines gets his goods through in bags which he carries as he is not allowed out of Nablus by car.

The military police have their names in three languages on their tags.

Beit Iba 8.45 – 10.00

Building of the new checkpoint continues though there is no real change. We will be very limited in our line of vision of what is happening.  All the roads are now sealed. Two lanes in both directions. The road to Qusin is open and is it really possible that the road to the village is open?

Today those entering Nablus on foot are not checked. Those leaving go through the turnstiles. Here everything is checked.

We saw how a trader in medicines got his goods through. 10 large bags filled the tables. From there he took them five to a hand to the taxi. In a normal country he would transport them by car but here he cannot get a permit to get out of Nablus with a private vehicle. Who knows what will be demanded from him for this privilege and he will have to renew the permit every 3 months? And this with all the bureaucracy and the secret service.

The car lane is now next to the pedestrian lane where there are many soldiers checking the few cars which have permits.

Today Lieutenant Colonel Doron is here. He is responsible for the military police and with him is a group of captains and soldiers.  Because of him a woman and her two daughters of 3-4 are allowed through. They had been visiting her husband who lives in Nablus. They had been threatened with the police. She was frightened and in tears. "What? Am I a criminal  that I wanted my children to see their father?"  Only after a long discussion of all the captains was she allowed to return to Israel and told that she would not be able to see her husband again and next time she would not be allowed into Nablus.

An innovation. The Military Police have their names tags in three languages.

A man limping badly and leaning on a cane comes along. It is clear that he will not be able to get to the taxis. A soldier comes up to him and somehow though it is not clear how a taxi arrives in a place where it is usually forbidden . The soldier helps him to get in. Later an old woman who can hardly walk arrives with a young woman who is carrying a baby. We asked the commander, second lieutenant for help and he hurries to organize a taxi for her to as not to have to walk the whole way.

Today there was a dog at the checkpoint which sniffed at the goods that the porters were taken through.

We asked some people how life in Nablus had changed as a result of the presence of the Palestinian police but it does not seem to have made much difference but generally they are pleased at their activities.

Crossroads of Jit. 10.10

 No soldiers. A police jeep stands at the side of the road in the direction of Huwarra.