Beit Iba, Tue 25.12.07, Afternoon

  Beit Iba. The renovations are almost finished and the place looks clean but maybe this also encourages the soldiers to keep the place clean and sterile from the presence of the women of Machsomwatch. When we arrived the commander told us that we were forbidden to stand near the turnstile and had to stand in the lane leading to the checkpoint. Therefore we cannot see what is happening inside and we also cannot see where those who are detained are kept and so cannot know what is happening there.

We saw that there were two queues, one  humanitarian  which serves both  men and women so that they keep brushing up against one another. Checking is slow as people have to undress and the wait is about half-an-hour long.  We spoke to the representative of the DCO  and asked him to prevent the friction between the men and the women in the humanitarian queue. He said that he had noticed this and was on his way to the commander to speak to him.  After that there was a change but it was only a slight change.

In the car lane there were about 10 cars in both directions and  checking was fairly quick.