Rihan

Rihan, Monday, December 13, 2004, PMObservers: Chani, Carmel, Shula (reporting)14:00 - 16:00Summary: Ugly behavior of soldiers toward the Palestinians. The passage regulations for transfer of merchandise are more rigid. The trend of stifling and freezing transfer at the checkpoint continues.This is how our shift started today:The new soldiers at the CP received us in a hostile manner: "You are not allowed to speak to us, and we are forbidden to talk to you."The CP commander (a staff sergeant) confirmed that message, and when one of the soldiers failed to keep quiet and almost answered one of our questions, he was yelled at: "Shut up!" -- meaning: Do not dare talk to them.Throughout our entire shift, the Palestinians were treated rudely and roughly. When the CP commander and most of the soldiers (male and female) spoke to them, they expressed impatience and anger, for example: "I told him to fly away from here and he keeps coming back..." It seems that it didn't occur to them that their role there is to serve the population at the CP, comprised of human beings just like themselves, except for one donkey who was requested to leave the site at once.What is allowed:To transfer in, five boxes of vegetables and groceries, and five containers of oil. The soldiers at the CP who noticed one overloaded box teased the Palestinian: "What do you think? that we don't see that you poured the contents of the sixth box on top of the fifth?"What is not allowed:To transfer in anything that looks like "merchandise" - meaning commercial quantities. The staff sergeant waves his hands, saying :"Ya'alla, Ya'alla, this is merchandise, get back and that is it!" The Palestinian turns back and a few minutes later shows up with one less box. The soldier counts in Arabic, saying in a patronizing way: "Oh, good, Now its okay. Now drive away.". Many drivers come and go, leaving and returning until the quantity in their cars satisfies the soldiers. Arab Israelis are not allowed into the Palestinian Authority territory. "That is the law" says one soldier. Most of the time the checkpoint is vacant, and in general, looks more and more desolate. Where are all those in need of crossing the border? Says the District Coordination Office: "They've finally realized that they have nothing to do at the checkpoint." This is how today's shift ended:Captain Y. arrived and in accordance with the hostile atmosphere, ordered us to stay away. We stepped away and bumped into the battalion commander and the brigade commander, who greeted us warmly. In a short conversation, we conveyed the main points of our experience today. They were surprised to hear what we had to say and promised to take care of the situation.