Huwwara

HUWWARA, Sunday 12 December 2004 AMObservers: Shelly M., Shirili P., Lee K., Arza A., Sharon V., Ditza Y. (reporting) Guest: Tamar colour=red>07:30—On our way, we passed the "fruit" checkpoint at Qalqiliya where there was a line of some 15 to 20 people and a number of vehicles heading for Israel.08:00 to 11:30 — Huwwara There were many people waiting on the two lines: one line of men waiting to go through the turnstile (one of the turnstiles has been fixed); and a line of women and old people outside the structure that leads to the checking stations proper [the turnstiles are not the simple variety such as one finds in a subway station, but high , revolving gates made of steel bars: each segment is barely large enough to admit one average-sized person; there is virtually no room to spare for anything that person may be carrying , whether a child or a parcel; passage for pregnant women or for the elderly is extremely difficult and frightening. The turnstiles are usually remotely controlled by the soldiers at the checking stations which may be some considerable distance away]. There were four detainees, one of whom said he’d been there for two hours. [Detainees are, typically, men aged from 16 to 30 or 35 who have no passage permits; recently, young women, too, have been detained. The detainees' ID details are phoned through to the General Security Services (GSS, also known as the Shabak or the Shin Bet, the Hebrew acronym for the GSS) for checking against a central list of security suspects and the answers are then relayed back to the checkpoints. This cumbersome process can take considerable time, and that can be prolonged even more if the soldiers wait to accumulate a batch of ID cards before passing them on to the GSS , or if they behave in a similarly tardy manner at the end of the process, waiting until they have a batch of GSS clearances before they release individual detainees. Meanwhile, the detainees are virtually prisoners at the checkpoint where the soldiers retain the ID cards until the entire process is completed]. 08:10 —Three detainees were released.Three students enrolled at a college in Nablus were not allowed in — those who are not enrolled at an-Najah University [which has special arrangements with the Israel army] have virtually no prospect of entry. Shelly called the army's "humanitarian" hotline and said there were not enough soldiers doing the checking. Shortly afterwards two more checkers arrived. Women and old people went through fast and the pace for men was also reasonable now .A bearded and skull-capped volunteer with the rank of colonel was in the area when we arrived, but left soon afterwards. 09:05 — There were about 50 men in line. A small number of women and old people were being checked by A. from 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] . He has always been courteous and respectful towards the Palestinians and even came over to talk to the detainees.A 16-year-old boy, accompanied by his cousin, an older man who was allowed through, complained of stomach cramps and seemed to be in pain. He was told that he would not be allowed through. We contacted Dalia Bassa [the official in charge of coordinating medical services in the Occupied Territories] who promised to check the case, but several minutes later the commander of the checkpoint himself came over and let them both pass. The commander was willing to talk to us and was humane towards the Palestinians, trying to help whenever possible. The other soldiers, too, behaved quite well with the exception of one sadistic woman soldier. We heard her arguing with the commander and insisting that a certain young boy should not go through. In the end the commander allowed him to pass. In another case she went over to a detainee who had dropped something in the "pen" and shouted at him.09:25 – Several metres before the checking position, the Palestinians were asked to halt, lift their coats and hold them spread them out and sometimes to spin around. Fatter people were sometimes told to lift their shirts. It was a grotesque sight.10:20 —There were now 20 detainees. One had his ID taken for checking quite by mistake but there was nothing to be done until the GSS check results were back. 11.00 – Most of the detainees had been released. An older man, accompanying his mentally-ill and dumb 18-year-old son, needed to reach the clinic in Nablus so that the youngster could be given a sedative injection. But the boy was not allowed to pass through. Before we could take action, the two left for the market, where the father was apparently encouraged to return to the checkpoint and appeal to us. People told us that the boy was violent towards his family which suffered greatly. They had to be at the clinic before 12:00. We contacted Dalia Bassa and also the organization of Physicians for Human Rights and R., the head of the local DCO, who all promised to help. Very soon, R. sent an officer who allowed them to go through to Nablus.11:15 – A young man whose mother was in hospital in Nablus was not permitted through to visit her. The checkpoint commander refused to help. He was advised to contact the DCO and ask for a one-day permit.