Beit Iba

BEIT IBA, Tuesday 30 November 2004 AMObservers: Lirona, Maya M., Shlomit S., Elinoar (reporting) We arrived at 08:00 (after starting our watch at Jubara and Irtah) and left at 10:30. The checkpoint was still manned by a reserve unit, but unlike the easygoing demeanour of the soldiers last week, today everything depended on the temperament of the specific soldier. One of them seems to cringe at what he was doing; even apologized when he couldn't let people pass. The checkpoint commander, Lieutenant N., introduced himself and told us to "speak only to me ". O., the representative of the District Coordinating Office (DCO) [the army section that handles civilian matters; it generally has representatives at the checkpoints ostensibly to alleviate the lot of the Palestinians] was virtually neutralized by the commander, who treated him like one of his subordinates, amd rebuked him when he "wasted time" listening to people and talking to them. "Send him home, you can't talk 17 hours with one person", N. told him. Specific ComplaintsThe ID card of a taxi driver had been confiscated here a month ago. We filled in a special form, and gave him the number of the Centre for the Defence of the Individual [Hamoked] . A Palestinian, who "grew up in Bat Yam", told us (in fluent Hebrew) that his daughter, a 16-year-old, had been arrested three months ago on suspicion of planning a bombing. He'd not been not allowed to visit her in Ramle prison, nor to send her clothes. We gave him the same phone number as well as those of two lawyers dealing with such cases.