Beit Iba, Thu 25.12.08, Afternoon

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Beit Iba

14.40 – 15.55

Jit junction open.

Two positions open for checking vehicles exiting Nablus there are 12 vehicles in the line.

Today vehicles entering Nablus are also checked, at an additional post.

Two posts for checking pedestrians, together with a side lane.  The shed is almost empty, perhaps because of the holiday.  It is about a 13-minute wait for pedestrians.

An elderly man wants to exit Nablus but the soldiers don’t allow this.  He continues to walk and they shout and chase him.

Checking of a bus takes 8 minutes.  It is raining. The men have to descend from the bus and they get wet.

A soldier chases away a youth who is waiting for someone at the checkpoint.  The youth retreats about 3 meters and, after a few minutes, the soldier again chases him away to the end of the shed.

The checkpoint soldier complains to us that in the Machsomwatch website there is no picture of soldiers giving chocolate to a child or of  Palestinians “who were allowed to stand under the shed when it rained.”

A taxi driver is not allowed to enter Nablus.  He has a permit to enter via A-Sira.  This means that he will have to drive an extra 45 minutes.  An Israeli car that reaches the checkpoint is also not allowed to enter.

15.00  One of the magnometers is not working and the checking now involves taking off garments and turning around in front of two soldiers.