'Awarta, Beit Furik, Huwwara, Za'tara (Tapuah), Thu 19.2.09, Afternoon
Translation: Hanna K.
A very hazy day.
13:47 Samaria Gate:
In front of us 7 vehicles leaving Israel, the Blue Police registers the details of a loaded truck. We are told that in the last year the ptactice is to ascertain the certification and to register the contents of each truck; to check on its return whether it is empty. On the way back too we saw a truck standing on the side to be checked.
14:05 Marda, the 2 gates
are open, Zeita as usual closed, on the way back it's the same.
14:09 Za'tara CP -
From the west there are 4 vehicles waiting to be checked in one checking point,
From the north - 10 vehicles waiting in on checking post
14:18 Awarta CP - 9 vehicles are waiting in one checking post
14:20 Beit Furik CP -
Vehicles pass almost without stopping, from time to time they are checked but there are no delays as in the past. At the shed there is a young man waiting together with the soldiers. We are told that his ID number appeared in the shortened list. After checking he is allowed to continue, he went by minibus to Beit Furik.
There is a dead donkey in the field near the CP not far from the new 'traffic sign' at the CP indicating in Hebrew and in Arabic that it is forbidden to turn left in the direction of Alon Moreh (a photograph will be attached separately) this is the first traffic sign of its kind authorizing the apartheid road which we saw till today, we meet Israeli surveyors (all Russian speakers) and understood from them that at the exit from the CP, in the direction of Beit Furik: at this junction a square will be built!
14:45 Awarta junction - there are 10 vehicles waiting to be checked at the exit from Nablus
14:48 Huwwara CP -
A very lively traffic of passers-by. Waiting time under the shed: 20 minutes.
There are 3 checking posts for young men. There is a side queue for women, children and elderly men.
We meet the people of "Betzelem" who come to collect testimonies about the serious injury inflicted on Mahamud Awad who was beaten cruelly by a soldier at the CP.
We see through the grilles of the fence that there is a detainee in the prison cell. We searched for the DCO man and were told that he was at the vehicles circuit. There the CP commander told us that the detainee was a "dripper" who passed at the Madison route and was detained for an hour.
We though about the use the army makes (and acquires for its needs) of language - in terms like: bingo, straw-widow -
Cynicism? Consciousness:
Answer: Cast Lead
In the two vehicle lanes at the exit from Nablus there are long queues whose end cannot be seen.
The checking time differs from one vehicle to the other. The passengers stand outside the vehicle while it is checked, then they lift their shirt, turn around, then they are allowed to enter and they receive their IDs back. The x-ray vehicle has just now returned from repairs.
We see an argument between the soldiers and the driver of a private car. The checking time and his passage at the CP - 10 minutes. We didn't have the opportunity to know what the problem was: and then we saw the driver's wife leaving the vehicle with a baby, wrapped in blankets, in her hands. Only after the suspect bundle in her hands was checked the vehicle was allowed to go on its way.
He left quickly
Till the next CP
(a photograph will be attched separately)
In the lane for vehicles entering Nablus there is hardly any checking. But empty trucks are told to go back and their drivers are obliged to pass at the Awarta CP. They are forced to pass through a narrow and defective road in the alleys of Huwarra in order to reach Awarta
According to the CP commander: Israeli Palestinian from Jerusalem are allowed to enter Nablus and to leave it on foot - every day.
On Saturday every Palestinian who is an Israeli citizen is allowed to enter Nablus and leave it in his car.
We saw busses arrive, stop, people leave it (and pass through the turnstiles at the entrance to Nablus) and the busses continue on their way. These are busses for which the Huwwara CP is a station on their way to Tul Karem.
1703 Za'tara CP -
There are 22 vehicles from the north waiting to be checked (from Nablus, Huwwara) at one single checking station. We called the Center and T. promised to take car of the problem even thanked us for the update. From the west there are 3 vehicles waiting to be checked.