Beit Iba, Mon 22.9.08, Morning

 8:25  Beit Iba

A driver without permission to enter Nablus complains that he’s not even allowed to have the car checked, and has to drive a few kilometers just to enter on a road that has no checkpoint – nothing more than harassment.

Pedestrians entering Nablus aren’t checked.  Much pedestrian traffic.  Since most of the taxis don’t have entry permits, their passengers, even though they aren’t checked, have to get out, pass through the checkpoint on foot, and then take another taxi.  Simple harassment.

A soldier yells from the tower at the taxi drivers, “Get the hell back, get the hell back.  If you go over the line, we’ll throw you in the cesspit.”  And everyone must listen to his obscenities.

The checkpoint operates normally, the soldiers do their job, lines don’t get too long, neither of vehicles nor of pedestrians coming out.