Beit Iba, Wed 18.3.09, Afternoon

Place:

Beit Iba

Tags:

Passage Restrictions

Observers:

Sarah F., Dalia G.

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Mar-18-2009

Afternoon

15:30 Road block next to Shavei ShomronCars pass through and there is no line; at the entrance, they check only IDs. We wanted to go through, that is, to go by way of the checkpoint in the direction of Beit Iba, but the soldier told us that is forbidden and returned us back in the direction from which we had come.

Sarra

The road entering Sarra was open. We went in and up onto the hill. There we could see that the entrance to Sarra itself was totally blocked, with hills of sand and cement. We met two Palestinians and asked them if they thought it was possible to continue on this road to Beit Iba. They said that the road does lead to Beit Iba, but we shouldn't go that way. Just now, they said, a car went by and immediately a military "Hammer" chased after it, and was still pursuing it. Better not to get involved. We accepted this and returned. It seems that there is no point in continuing to insist upon reaching Beit Iba. The question is- what will take its place?

Location Description

Beit Iba

See all reports for this place

A perimeter checkpoint west of the city of Nablus. Operated from 2001 to 2009 as one of the four permanent checkpoints info-icon closing on Nablus: Beit Furik and Awarta to the east and Hawara to the south. A pedestrian-only checkpoint, where MachsomWatch volunteers were present daily for several hours in the morning and afternoon to document the thousands of Palestinians waiting for hours in long queues with no shelter in the heat or rain, to leave the district city for anywhere else in the West Bank.
From March 2009, as part of the easing of the Palestinian movement in the West Bank, it was abolished, without a trace, and without any adverse change in the security situation.