Nablus
Hawara and Saara A.G., S. H.
D.B.
At Ariel intersection about 100 olive trees have been cut down
opposite the
entrance to Ariel--perhaps in order to expand the road. Who can we
notify
about this? A horrible sight.
13:15 Zaatra Intersection (Tapuah)--their is a line of cars and
people I
both directions, but they pass at a more or less reasonable speed.
A soldier
too the ID of four people and called in our presence in order to
check them.
The people don't wait too long. He also tells us that today there
is
closure in Nablus (it turns out not to be true). This is a
"high court
closure" he says. The High Court ordered a closure he says his
officer told
him.
There is reasonable treatment of the passers.
There is no checkpoint at Itzhar intersection!
1:45--Saara--A special kind of checkpoint. There are 30 taxis
parked at the
corner of the road that goes up to Saara. The Palestinians are not
allowed
to drive on the road leading up the village and on to Nablus. After
the very
difficult climb there is a checkpoint at a crossroad. It's awful to
see the
women with children, old people, pregnant women, everybody as they
trudge up
the hill. The soldiers have taken over the second story of a
Palestinian
home while the Palestinian family continues to live on the first
floor. We
heard that they are being harassed in order to drive them away from
their
home. We should go in there at some point and talk to this
family.
Below, a taxi driver requests our help. At 12:30 a jeep (we later
found out
that the number was 703305) took away his ID and disappeared,
because he was
cleaning an oil spot on the road. The driver is
worried.
We went up to the checkpoint to see what we could do. A polite
officer
listened and asked to talk to the taxi driver in order to get a
description
of the jeep. (The taxi driver remained below because he is not
allowed to go
up to Saara as he is from Pundok.) We brought the taxi driver to
the
checkpoint. The officer made a few calls and within 20 minuets the
jeep
arrived and the taxi driver immediately identified him and the
officer
returned his ID to him.
When we reached the checkpoint there were two soldiers guarding
from above,
one checking documents and one is the commander. There are many
people
waiting in three straight lines, but the lines are not straight
enough for
the soldiers. All the soldiers (including those who are above
guarding)
give the waiting people a lesson in order. When the jeep passed
through they
moved to the side to allow the jeep to pass and the order was
disturbed. It
took another 20 minuets for the soldiers to be satisfied with the
straightness of the lines and to continue checking and passing. In
the
meantime more soldiers arrived and the time of passage was shorter,
but
still very very slow. When we left there were five soldiers
checking.
I had an argument with the commander of the jeep who became, upon
his
arrival, the commander of the checkpoint. He detained a Palestinian
man
because he didn't like the man's reading material (we later found
out). The
commander did not allow us to speak with this man and said that if
we did,
he would throw us out of the checkpoint. He produced a military
order from
the company commander stating that this checkpoint is a
"closed military
area" from the 18-11-03 to 18-4-04 (?). Is it really possible
that there is
such an order for five months and that it can be produced whenever
they feel
like it? The man, by the way, was sent on his way after 10 minuets
after his
papers were returned to him.
Hawarra (south)--There is a line of 30-50 that is progressing
slowly. One
soldier is doing all the checking alone and there is one other
soldier who
is guarding. There are 9 detainees below. They say they have been
there for
two hours. I approached a soldier and asked. He says that their ID
is being
checked because they don't have a permit to pass and he is actually
doing
them a favor by checking them and getting approval for their
passage because
he is actually not allowed to allow them passage. They are all from
Nablus.
I said that residents of Nablus are allowed to pass without permits
and he
said that I am mistaken. What is the rule? In any case, he called
again in
my presence to find out what is going on with the check and he says
he has
no answers.
Hawara North: Hundreds of people crowded in a narrow passage. Today
there
is no passage on the road and the crowding is terrible. There are 6
detainees.
There is a new unit that just arrived yesterday. In general they
are humane
and polite. They are nervous because of the attack yesterday at the
tunnel
road checkpoint and the whole time there is a soldier (sometimes
two)
pointing their rifles at the heads of the Palestinians. When we, or
their
commander commented on this, he lowered his rifle for a few minuets
but then
again pointed his rifle on the waiting crowd. One of the soldiers,
Joseph
wanted to arrange the crowd in a line and when he failed at this,
he
approached one of the uncooperative men with his rifle, shouted at
him to go
away, pressed the rifle to his head and hit him with a metal
detector (not
really hard).
Offer arrives; he is irritated and shouts creating more tension in
a
situation that was already tense. It's not the Offer we
know!
He announces that students from El Kuds University are not allowed
passage.
He lets them pass but says that on Saturday when they return, he
will not
allow them to pass until they bring the Rais (Arafat) to talk to
him.
There are 6 detainees whose ID are being checked. The soldier tells
them
that those who wish to return to Nablus can get back his ID and
they all
return except for one. After about 5 minuets they get a call that
one of the
detainees is urgently wanted. The soldiers run to search for him
but he has
disappeared long ago.
16:00 One of the soldiers closes the checkpoint until the people
move back
because there were many who sunk across when there was crowding and
pressure. The Palestinians don't move back. Offer shouts at them in
Arabic.
Nothing. He appoints a Palestinian to explain to them that they
will remain
there all night if they don't move back two meters. Nobody moves.
Not even
one centimeter. Who women plead, but don't move back. Offer
screams,
curses, pushes, really loses his senses. Nobody
moves.
After one hour they let the women pass. They also create another
line on the
road and a few people join it, even though it moves very slowly.
However,
the large group of men stand and don't move. Meantime, the fast is
over and
there is a shout of happiness and everybody lights cigarettes.
Offer screams
that those who smoke will not pass! In light of the fact that they
are in
any case not passes, it's funny to them.
We try to talk to Offer. He has no patience and says that he will
teach
them a lesson. Until they learn, he will not pass them, even if it
means
staying there all night. One of the soldiers says that Offer is
being more
difficult than anyone with the Palestinians. This soldier felt very
uncomfortable and kept trying to excuse what was going on with
explanations
about security. His commander, an officer, who was initially polite
and
easy, got increasingly impatient and screamed at the Palestinians.
The
Palestinians did not move a centimeter.
AT about 6 o'clock we left. We were annoyed at ourselves that we
had stayed
after dark. There was nothing we could do but respect those who
stood their
ground. An hour and a half after the fast they continued to stand
and not
move a centimeter.