Beit Iba

Beit Iba Tuesday PM, 8.2.05Observers: Tami G., Ella H. (reporting)On the way there were a number of surprise roadblocks, but no lines of cars. We arrived after 2 PM. The checkpoint was pretty empty. No lines. A few people going in the direction of Nablus pass through with no problem, and also a few coming out of Nablus, who were checked more thoroughly, including raising their shirts. It seems that there is a closure and the exit from Nablus is forbidden except for humanitarian cases. A man who went through the checkpoint told us that he had to wait for 4 hours at the internal checkpoint. He complained that the internal checkpoint has no roof, and his shirt was wet. Around 3:00 the closure was over and suddenly the chekcpoint filled up with lots of people wanted to leave Nablus. The soldiers talked about a "warning", but it seemed that it was also not clear to them what they were looking for. A reserve unit was manning the checkpoint and, for a change, there was no shortage of manpower. The soldiers wanted the checkpoint to "flow". There were no detainees during out whole shift. It seemed to us that it was possible to make the passage more efficient if more soldiers were checking the documents and less were "keeping order", but D., the officer of the unit, told us in a friendly way that we were mixing in to his work and asked us not to do so. Cold and wet. Comments from those going through the checkpoint about the Sharm a- Sheik summit: "Today they are signing, so why is the checkpoint still here?" We left around 4:00, with the feeling that there hadn't been much for us to do here.