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5763: Articles posted from September 2002-September 2003
Get the real situation in Israel every day.
MachsomWatch reports on the checkpoints and roadblocks in the Jerusalem and Bethlehem areas
Introduction
MachsomWatch started its observations in February, 2001 with three women and as of October 2002 numbers 80 volunteers in Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv and the Jezreel Valley area. Members include Jewish and Palestinian Israeli women aged from early twenties to over 70. Observations are conducted twice daily and a report is issued after each shift. When reading them remember that no Palestinian may enter Israel, nor indeed move freely around the West Bank (and Gaza), without a permit from the Israeli authorities. Presented here in edited form, our reports give a day-by-day account of the checkpoints. Many of them describe a routine that is devoid of drama, and bloodshed, and perhaps all the more for shocking for that. The sights we see, the experiences we undergo, together with Palestinians citizens forced to make their way across these obstacles are those of human heartbreak and the abuse of the most fundamental human rights: the right of freedom of movement, access to medical care, access to education. Full versions of these reports may be obtained from machsomwatch@hotmail.com
The checkpoints in and around the Jerusalem area are not primarily security devices for screening out terrorists wishing to enter the city or Israel proper. The Israeli government policy of curfew and closure of Palestinian villages (the closure policy began during the Gulf War of 1990-91) which has intensified over the years, continues to reach ever new heights. Many villages and cities are completely closed off, or, at best, have one small point of entry, inaccessible by and vehicles, including ambulances. The policy is aimed at restricting the movement of Palestinians, at curtailing, even crippling, the Palestinian economy and the fabric of Palestinian society. It is about redefining borders, national and municipal. Since we began our observations in February 2002, we at MachsomWatch have witnessed the terrible effects that the checkpoints have on the Palestinian population: the humilitation, frustration, arbitrariness and cruelty encountered there are stimuli to violence for an oppressed population. The effect on the young Israeli men and women who man these barriers is no less disastrous. .
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For readers unfamiliar with the geographical layout of the checkpoints, we attached three schematic maps showing the major locations attended by MachsomWatch-CheckpointWatch in the Jerusalem area.
In addition to the checkpoints themselves, the closure of the West Bank (and Gaza) is reinforced by a series of bureaucratic procedures. An understanding of these is essential to the reading of our reports.
The West Bank (and Gaza) is divided into three areas of control:
Area A - total Palestinian control - residents hold orange or green identification cards and must acquire special permits in order to cross the checkpoints into Israel, for medical care, work or educational purposes. These permits, as of September 2000, are issued only in exceptional cases, such as medical emergencies.
Area B - Palestinian administrative control, Israeli military control - Orange or Green ID's as above; blue Jerusalem resident ID's in some cases. Jerusalem residents who are not Jewish have limited rights to freedom of movement and access to services, they are not full Israeli citizens. They do not require special permits to enter Israel but may be detained for ID checks in the same way as other Palestinians; in some case they can be denied passage across the checkpoint. Not only this, but permits are required for movement between Palestinians towns and villages , including areas where there are no Jewish settlements.
Area C - Total Israeli control -ID's as in Area B
(These distinctions have largely been obliterated by the re-occupation of the West Bank, since April 2002).
Bethlehem (Checkpoint 300) and environs
Bethlehem checkpoint is a major boundary between former Area A and Jerusalem. Situated to the south of the city, it is bounded to the east by a shallow, barren valley and to the west by the Tantur Ecumenical Institute, situated in several acres of orchard and garden. Until April 2002, both the valley and the Institute were used by Palestinians from all over the southern West Bank as "bypass" routes, sometimes in full view of the military, sometimes under chase and fire by the latter.
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Pedestrians (almost no cars pass here now) must walk at least ¾ kilometer at each end of the checkpoint to reach transport pick up points. The route is open to the elements and leads to a narrow, metal-roofed covered corridor where ID's are presented for checking. The route is intended both for those entering and leaving Jerusalem so that when the flow of human traffic is heavy, there is jamming and confusion. The main route through the checkpoint, slightly shorter than the pedestrian route, is completely devastated. The brick paved sidewalks, traffic islands and asphalt have been churned up by the tanks. As of April 2002 the checkpoint is virtually deserted, very few blue ID holders pass as well as equally few foreign passport holders (clergy, diplomats, humanitarian agency staff etc.) for this reason, observers have began to tour the area around this checkpoint, accessed via the so-called Tunnel Road (Route 60) to the west (for use by Israelis only). This road is the main route to the southern West Bank where Palestinian villages and illegal Jewish settlements sit uncomfortably side by side. About 10 kilometers along the tunnel road is a major checkpoint leading westwards to a settlement, Kfar Etzion, where the local Civil (Military!) Administration has its offices. This is the body issuing entry permits to West Bankers, if and when it chooses to do so. All the Palestinian villages in this area, as everywhere else on the West Bank, are closed off by blockades of rocks, dirt, cement blocks etc. making passage by vehicles, including ambulances an impossibility.
Date: 29.09.02 - Morning
Checkpoint: El-Khadr, Gush Etzion and surrounding villages
Observers: L. E., M. R. Y. K., N. E., and Italian journalist
Following last week's report on IDF troops pointing their guns at al-Khader's school children and teachers, our team was reinforced today. However, when we arrived, at approximately 7.15 the soldiers were not there.
After nearly a month - the Jewish holidays - of almost total paralysis of movement and economic activity that was forced upon the residents of the entire rural district, al-Khader's western roadblocks were coming to life again, or at least so it appeared to us. Taxi drivers at the improvised cab station (behind the second roadblock) commented, however, that they can not resume their work since hardly any passengers can get to al-Khader's main junction. Indeed, most of the yellow plated busses and minibusses arriving at the junction from the direction of Hebron and/or adjacent villages in the Bethlehem region were empty or nearly empty. As we found out later, the neighboring village of Husan, the residents of which account for a substantial part of the taxi driver's clientele, has been - and still is - under curfew since last Thursday. It appears also that the army is restricting the movement of people from other locales in the southern West Bank to Bethlehem.
Shortly after arriving at the roadblocks we met with our acquaintance from last week, the al-Khader secondary boys school's headmaster, Hussein Najajra, who was waiting outside the school's gate, welcoming his students as they climbed up the dirt and dust heap (an additional, or side roadblock, "branching" from the main one that leads to the schools complex). Najajra told us that last week (Sukot) was one of the hardest he has known over the last months. The army imposed siege on the entire region preventing pupils and staff members who are not residents of al Khader, including himself, from reaching the school through the main junction/roadblock. Being a resident of Nahalin village, he was forced to 'infiltrate' into al-Khader through another, distant passage. A small group of boys (ninth graders) that were about to enter the gate told us about the repeated use of tear gas by the army and the countless obstacles they meet on their daily walk to school . Najajra then spoke about his determination not only to keep the school operating under the current impossible conditions but also to push the (extremely low) level up. He was appointed to the post of headmaster at al-Khader's secondary boys school during the first year of the Intifada. By then the level of students' achievement had seen a great deterioration in comparison with previous years, and a sole 14 percent of those who took the matriculation examinations passed. Ongoing presence of the army in the school vicinity, and repeated confrontations between soldiers and pupils lead to frequent shutdowns of the school. Last year - despite the
curfew that was imposed between the end of March and the middle of May (during which time schools were closed) the students scored better, with slightly more than 50 percent passing the matriculation exams. Now, with the continuation of the siege policy the future carries very grim prospects, according to Najajra.
While talking with Najajra and several other teachers, a seventeen year old handicapped and student of the last grade, entered the conversation. At first he spoke about the immense difficulty he encounters when he paves his way (to and from school)through the roadblocks on his crutches. At some stage, Hamdan said, he wanted to approach the military commander of the area and confront him directly. Then,'Atiah, a blind and partially crippled young boy, about 14-15 years old, appeared on the dirt pile, escorted by and leaning heavily on his sister. 'Atiah asked whether we came to lift the siege.
Date: 1.10.02 - Morning
Observers: O. K, B. M, Y. E.
Bethlehem: little traffic and few pedestrians crossing into Jerusalem. A border police jeep with 2 officers stopped people after the checkpoint and rechecked their IDs. As the wadi is being used again to circumvent the checkpoint, a few people were caught, but treatment was polite. The bulldozer is not at the checkpoint any more, but 2 tanks are still there.
At Husan village: no curfew.
El-Hader village : hundreds
crossing from Husan, Hebron, Nahalin and surroundings into Bethlehem: women, men and school children for whom a bus is waiting. No IDF presence at the inner barrier. As no army was present, the passage to the school at the checkpoint was free.
On the way back we were told that a transit driver had just been beaten and arrested and taken to an unknown destination by an army jeep, allegedly for parking in a forbidden place.
Abu Dis - to the south east of Jerusalem was until the beginning of August 2002, a checkpoint situated between the town of El Azariah (Lazarus of New Testament fame) (Area C) and East Jerusalem*. It lay directly under the Jewish cemetery at Mt Scopus. The checkpoint blocks the route of residents of Palestinian villages to the south and south east of the city which is the focus of all the services provided to the villages in that area - medical, educational, bureaucratic. Many residents hold Jerusalem ID's. As of August 6,.2002, the checkpoint has been abandoned (its remnants still scar the road) and in its stead has been set up in the heart of El Azaria, with a concrete wall some 150 meters long, 2 meters high, splitting the villages of Ras-al-Amud, Abu Dis and El Azariyeh which formerly formed one integrated, interconnected community. Now families are split, services sundered and access to West Bankers (Orange ID's) totally denied. The wall is part of the "Jerusalem envelope" a proposed fence that will be the "border" between Jerusalem and the West Bank. In reality, this is part of a policy of declaring Jerusalem as a totally Israeli issue, and for minimizing the Palestinian presence in the city. A more detailed report of the situation in Abu Dis can be obtained on request from machsomwatch@hotmail.com. Since August, 2002 the Abu-Dis wall has undergone, and udnergoes, several metamorphoses, which are reported in the daily briefings. The area of the checkpoint is a crowded and chaotic disaster area, with garbage, dust and a confusion of vehicles, which banned from crossing congregate on either side and wait for the transitees lucky enough to be permitted to cross.
Date: 30.09.02, morning
Observers: E. Y, A. K.
The passage at the mosque seems closed and the makeshift steps reduced to rubble.
The checkpoint was not tense but everyone was checked, even elderly women - only special permits allowed to pass. The commander of the checkpoint spoke Arabic, but insisted on Hebrew even to Palestinians, although he was very civil and refused a suggestion by one of his men that one of the transitees be hassled.
Date: 1.10.02 - Afternoon
Observers: R. H., R. W., M. Z.
Abu - Dis - The conditions at Abu Dis get worse from week to week.
When we arrived at 4:00 p.m., there were no Palestinians in detention. We noticed hundreds of young men cutting through houses and backyards to successfully avoid the checkpoint. There were 6 Border Policemen on duty at the intersection --plus a jeep, but not, as far as we saw, along the the length of the barrier - some 500 meters from the road, clear through the mosque. Some barbed wire was thrown over part of the barricade for good measure. There was a lot of movement -- a steady flow of pedestrians maneuvering their way over the wall in each direction.
We walked to the top of the hill, beyond El Kuds university. A large building there which was part of the university is entirely abandoned. There was once a passageway from the grounds to the other side of Abu Dis, but that is blockaded. Once again, the barricade doesn't prevent people from getting through. It just makes it more difficult.
Suahrah - We took a transit to the checkpoint at Suahrah, one of two checkpoints that people coming from Bethlehem must pass through. As soon as we got there, the Border policemen declared the area "a closed military area", but after a few minutes of discussion, they loosened up a bit. They were allowing vehicles through in both directions. Suahrah is one of two cehckpoints that people coming from and going to Bethlehem must pass through. We met several people who said that they work in Bethlehem and it can take them hours to get there, changing transits, and walking a good part of the way. (We have heard many complaints about this checkpoint at the head of the notorious 'Wadi Nahr", (River of Fire) a tortuous, precipitous route that Palestinians must use instead of the more convenient direct road from Bethlehem that goes via Jerusalem. To date, we have not witnessed any difficulties at Suahrah beyond the intrinsic difficulty of getting there, long delays for drivers etc. Ed. )
As we were about to leave, we saw 11 men (all middle aged) being held. There were more Border policemen on duty and several were singularly unpleasant. (One lectured us about all Jews being born with good hearts, and that our problem is that we are too kind to the Arabs -- all of whom drive Mercedes and live much better than he does). The person in charge was quite efficient, and all the detainees were released within about a half hour. (Meanwhile, hundreds more continued to pour in via back routes).
Date: 2.10.02, morning
Observers: Y. L-J, M. R
From 6:45 to 7:30 .the people coming from the Mosque passage were able to pass the checkpoint almost without control. Than all of a sudden the police changed their tactics, checking almost all papers. except for one older gentlemen and two traditionally dressed women). Among others they rejected teachers and doctors from the Mukassed Hospital.
11 Palestinian men were squatting before the wall, their backs turned to the public and their faces to the barriers. Two Border Police men were checking transitees, two others were guarding the scene, one from a rooftop, one from a tower. .
Shortly after our arrival (we don't know if because of us, but it might have happened also because of the visiting public) the 11 men were escorted to a field besides the checkpoint. There they were ordered to sit under a tree. When we left at 8, 15 a.m. they were still sitting there. M. called up Center for the Defense of the Individual, but they replied that the police were acting according to standard procedure.
Special Incidents:
We met M. S., activist, French citizen and former head of a home for children in El Azaria (the neighboring township to Abu Dis), She told us, that she had yesterday accompanied two children (4 and 7) to visit their father in the prison at Megiddo (a top security prison in the north of Israel). Before entering the visitor's department she had to leave her bag with 350 Shekel, documents, keys, clothing and food for the children with the guard. When she came back everything had disappeared. She later retrieved the clothes, food and her address book from the garbage, but the money was gone. A gentleman who gave her the money to get home, told her that it happened more often, that the property of visitors of Megiddo prison got embezzled. We advised her to inform the Center for the Defense of the Individual.
A-Ram, to the north of Jerusalem, straddles the road to Ramallah, some 7-10 kilometers to the north (with Kalandia intervening). It is a busy checkpoint manned by Border Police, with a booth for the soldiers on the western sidewalk and a watchtower astride the road. The road is lined with formerly prosperous shops, business and cafes, and the situation has caused great economic hardship. The checkpoint cuts the Palestinian-Jerusalem neighborhood of Beth Hanina in half laterally, causes tremendous vehicle jams (its not uncommon for drivers to wait an hour or more in line). Here we find an absurd situation whereby Jerusalem residents must cross the checkpoint to reach their own Jerusalem neighborhood.
Suny 2002* To the west of the checkpoint, on a lower road parallel to the main thoroughfare, there is a permanent jeep patrol of four Border policemen, usually bored out of their minds. There has been at least one case of sexual harassment by these policemen. (June , 2002). Only Beth Hanina residents living on that street can pass along it. As of September 2002, the road is frequently open. *(Refers to the landmark store opposite a steep, slippery path leading to the parallel road).
Kalandia - situated to the north of Jerusalem, 3 km south of Ramallah. The checkpoint bifurcates the area defined as greater Jerusalem by cutting off the Palestinian Jerusalem suburb Kufer Aqeb from the northern Palestinian neighborhoods, Beth Hanina and Shuafaat. The majority of residents of these three suburbs hold blue Jerusalem ID's, many work or study in Jerusalem. To the north of the checkpoint, south of Kufer Aqeb is the Kalandia refugee camp and the area of Semiramis whose status is unclear, and just north of that, Ramallah itself, under intermittent curfew. To the west is the air-strip of Atarot and the eponymous industrial zone, under Israeli control, and to the east and south the village of A-Ram where residents may hold either orange or blue ID's.
The checkpoint itself consists of a strip of road about 500 meters long, divided into four traffic lanes and one pedestrian lane, demarcated by a 4 meter high wire fence. Almost no traffic, except for trucks bearing basic goods, is permitted to pass. The checkpoint is bounded at either end by a series of concrete blocks and sandbags, with a covered hut used by the soldiers, some six or so at each position. There is a lookout post on a hillock to the east of the southern end and again along the eastern course of the pedestrian walk, and another some way along the traffic lanes.
Pedestrians and motor traffic alike, in their respective lanes, must line up some 15-20 meters from the soldiers barricade and await the signal to advance, one by one, from the soldiers. A nominal camouflage net is carelessly stretched over the pedestrian waiting point but gives little shade. A water tank at each end of the checkpoint is usually empty of water. The area is filthy with refuse, and the unpaved road is dusty in summer, a mud bath in winter.
Tora Bora a bypass route from the checkpoint to Kalandia refugee camp, half a mile to the north. The circuitous route is somewhat longer and leads via a quarry. Since April of this year, the entrance to the quarry has been blocked by a wall with a narrow gate. Sometimes the site is guarded by an armored vehicle, sometimes by one or two soldiers. Sometimes it is not guarded at all. However, the route can be watched from various military vantage points and patrolled so that even on days when it is open, it is not "safe."
Jaba'a is a village some two miles east of Kalandia situated at a crossroads on a road ;leading northwards to Nablus and south-eastwards to Jerusalem. The village, in area C, has been totally closed off by the military by barbed wire, blockades and earthworks. Residents frequently breach the blockade but vehicles cannot enter the village. At the former entrance to the village, at the crossroads, there a frequent mobile checkpoints. We receive many complaints about behavior of soldiers here, and have ourselves witnessed deliberate delays and rudeness towards Palestinians there. |Some of the local taxi-drivers are Jaba'a residents. (See Ada Ushpiz in Ha'aretz, 28.06.02 (Hebrew edition).
Date: 30.9.02, 16:30-18:30
Observers: T. S., N. E., M. M., M. A.
Aram - Approaching A-ram we noticed considerable environmental deterioration. When we returned from Kalandia there was a delay of up to one hour. the border Police refused to provide a reason for this.
Kalandia - At both ends of the checkpoints, humanitarian volunteers were on duy together with Border police units. (This is one of the first times that Border Police units have been seen at Kalandia. The usual presence is IOF conscripts. Ed.) There were severe complaints from the soldiers about the Border policemen
- Two pedlars were detained for disobeying orders. We called the Moked and they were later released.
More difficult problems were presented by the taxi drivers at the southern end of the checkpoint (Jerusalem side) where drivers park along the roadside. Drivers were frustrated and angry with incoherent orders regarding parking places. According to them rules change from hour to hour, day to day and licenses and ID cards are confiscated preventing the the drivers from working. The Border police caused damage to at least 2 cars, (as a punishment for "rule-breaking) and the drivers will lodge a complaint via the Moked. Accurate information about these confiscated licenses is not provided (Border police blame the soldiers and vice versa) and the drivers waste precious time trying to locate their papers.
We were very saddened by the responses of passers by who accused us of being ineffectual.
Date: 1.10.02 - morning
Observers: A. D; A. K; N. E; R. H and guest: G.
Kalandia North - Ramallah open during the day, relatively calm traffic of pedestrians and cars (in contrast to the onslaught on the taxi drivers Sunday afternoon and night). Kalandia is manned by a paratrooper unit and two 'humanitarian' volunteers: Abraham in the South and Gil in the North.
Kalandia South - we witnessed how a small everyday incident developed into a "security affair" and experienced how helpless we are and all the authorities we call for assistance, when it comes to a stubborn show down in a "power game" on the side of the soldiers!
At 5 o'clock three young men approached the soldiers for ID check. There was almost no pedestrians' traffic and so the youngsters went together. The soldier sent them back and insisted "one by one". The youngsters did not accept this logic and began to argue. The argument grew louder and louder. More soldiers came into the "ring" and vivacious body language was employed. But the only physical contacts we could observe were pushes on the chests of the young Palestinians by the soldiers. After a couple of minutes of total confusion, in which we were declared to be the reason for this flurry and the checkpoint as closed military area, the three Palestinians were handcuffed (!!) and detained near the soldiers. We started to make phone calls to the Moked, to Ofer etc. but to no avail.. Twice we called Gil, the humanitarian from the northern checkpoint, who declared it "children's quarrel" and tried to put an end to it , without success. In this "children's quarrel" one side had the guns and the handcuffs and the determination to "show them" . From the Moked we received messages to retreat from the scene for a while, so as not to anger the soldiers. We did - but with no results. In the meantime the soldiers and their commander Eran had to find a pretext for the prolonged detention of the men and they had to be declared "dangerous". So they called the police to arrest the three, because they had attacked the soldiers and tried to capture their guns. As witnesses to the event we were very surprised at such presentation of the facts and we declared that nothing of this kind had happened. The answer was a lecture about our ignorance in security matters!
At 8 o'clock N. called the commander of the Civil Administration, Amir, and he promised to put a stop to the situation. Even this did not help. At 9:30 the Palestinians were still detained in Kalandia. However, next morning the Moked called and told us that the boys were home.
Date: 02.10.02 - morning
Observers: R. W., M. H., R. M.
A-Ram - There are many people and cars going in both directions at a fast pace. The commander is there motioning cars to proceed quickly. He says he wishes that Ofer (the legendary humanitarian volunteer from Kalandia) was there to control the soldiers - 5 of who are huddled in the booth and laughing.
Kalandia North - A humanitarian volunteer plus a group of soldiers from the Military Police are present. They appear to be helpful and polite to all. Two MP's were very interested in our work. A photographer from the London Sunday Times was photographing the action. Two men were stopped who were carrying cartons of CD's. After being questioned and checked, they were allowed to proceed, since it became clear that they had simply closed their store and were transferring the goods.
Kalandia South - All the taxis seem to have returned to this area, parking along the sides of the road in the direction of the quarry. It could be described as pandemodium with horns tooting and taxis stopping and letting people out or picking them up.
A Palestinian alerted us to go to Sunny 200 ( landmark indicating a narrow, steep path leading to a road where a mobile checkpoint has been located. Ed.). There were Border Police there, who examined our ID's very carefully. One Palestinian was waiting, for 15 minutes he said, for his ID to be checked. He said he had no complaints about his treatment from the soldiers.
It may be noted that on three occasions (one soldier and two Palestinians) we were told that the treatment is better when we are present.
Date: 04.10.02 - Evening
Observers: R. B, A. K, I. M. and visiting M. from Italian press
Special circumstances: The day before the feast of Mohammed's Ascension
Kalandia - The checkpoint was unusually busy, many Palestinian buses, 10 wedding cars, many people walking, trucks with produce, many pedestrians in both directions and many APC (armed personnel carriers), army jeeps, blue police cars and about 20 soldiers patrolling the checkpoint. We hadn't seen Kalandia so busy since "the good old days" when not only blue ID owners could go through.
At 17:40 we saw 2 prisoners being released at the Kalandia checkpoint from an Israeli bus that had a very clear sign "air conditioned" , their handcuffs were removed and they were allowed to go into Ramallah.
One new humanitarian volunteer, Gil gives us his phone number in case he can help from one end of the checkpoint to the other. We haven't tested his will or ability yet.
At 5:55 all the additional army personnel left and things went back to "normal". On our way to Jerusalem we hear the 7:00 p.m. news where it is announced that an undercover unit apprehended a Palestinian in the middle of a demonstration in Ramallah and obviously this was the purpose of the heavy patrolling at the checkpoint, to keep things quiet.
Date: 3.10.02 - Morning
Observers: M. M., H. A.
A very quiet morning. No curfew in Ramallah.
Kalandia - All quiet.
A-Ram - regular flow of traffic. The Border Police office in charge, justifies his reputation for a well run checkpoint. Three women with three small children (one pregnant) request to pass to go to the hospital in Ramallah, although they have no permits. The soldier claims that they want to go and beg. The commander is called in and allows the pregnant woman and one other plus her child, to pass. The soldiers scold him that he was doing it because of fear of
MachsomWatch! We thought that it was not fear but the wish for recognition.
The night after this "quiet" shift it was announced in the late news broadcast that there were shots at A-Ram.
Date: 5.10.02 - Morning
Observers: I.K., M.S., N.L., N. M.
A-Ram - U-tern before the checkpoint was closed by the wire and transits and other cars were forced to pass over shasee breaking road division. We spoke with a commander in charge of this checkpoint (pleasant druze) and he explained that this was done to prevent transit drivers coming from north to bypass the checkpoint using the passage arranged for army vehicles. He said that a child was killed in that way. When we asked how transits are supposed to turn towards Jerusalem the very narrow passage between cement blocks just by, the central observation point was pointed. After we saw how a new transit destroys its body, and additional small argument took place, the wire was half opened. A woman with a child with "wrong" ID was prevented from going to Mukased Hospital. Additional argument on her behalf with the same pleasant commander enabled her to go where she wished. Another soldier explained that a group of terrorists established a very good relationship with A-Ram soldiers and passed through A-Ram several times freely. Later on they were caught in Lod placing explosives. Soldiers were afraid that the woman with a child can be exploited by terrorists, as if blue ID women cannot be used for evil purposes!
Kalandia: Very busy place (Ramalla was open and no checkpoint in Jabba ). The checkpoint was arranged "properly" with a narrow long passage arranging people in one line. The lack of special passage for people with special needs like caring small children, carrying heavy load, old people, etc., was very obvious. One man with a big TV said he cannot stand in line and after our intervention was allowed to leave his TV in front of the passage (under the guard of a soldier observing passing people from above), and then he entered the line of waiting people. On both sides of the checkpoint there were at least 4 soldiers two of them mature. The movement of cars was efficient particularly for those going southbound. Quite a lot of "wrong" IDs were allowed to pass if they had at least "magnetic cards". Magnetic cards are a precondition to get a permit. Only people who are "clean" from the Israeli security point of
view can apply for these cards at "Civil Administration". We met Bir Zeit students (young women) who were turned back for this reason. Girls told us that they ideologically refuse asking for a magnetic card.
Sawahra: We went to Azariye through Maale Adumim and at the car garage we arrange with a very kind person Iyad (052-913040) to go with us to Sawahra checkpoint. It is rather a long , terrible road through which one can reach Bethlehem. There was a small movement of cars at this checkpoint, cars were checked and allowed to move, few cars in each direction sequentially. We saw few people going a very steep slope up in order to bypass this checkpoint. We were told that a bad time is around 8 in the morning.
Machsomwatch@hotmail.com
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