Huwara lines: one of Israel’s degrading & deadly military checkpoints

Huwara Checkpoint: Wire Fencing Erected to Obstruct Passage

The Huwara checkpoint controlling exit from Nablus is notorious for long lines and hours-long delays, particularly on holidays. This roofed and turnstiled checkpoint, in place since the start of this Intifada, governs traffic flowing to Ramallah, as well as to the many nearby villages outside Nablus. It is one of many checkpoints within the Palestinian West Bank which severs Palestinians from surrounding Palestinians, towns from towns. University students, workers, and people seeking medical treatment or coming for shopping must cross Huwara, many on a daily basis. It is an established routine for Israeli soldiers to close the checkpoint or greatly delay checking IDs of the many waiting to cross through. [see B’Tselem: Checkpoints and Forbidden Roads and Information on checkpoints and roadblocks]

On Saturday, November 10, leaving Nablus I arrived at Huwara, around 2:40 pm, to lines which crammed and extended metres beyond the tin-roofed checkpoint area. On a good day, the lines would run a third to half the length of the area. The side passage, between the roofed area and the wire fence, is normally reserved for women and children to pass through for ID checking.

Thirty minutes after I arrived, the lines of waiting Palestinians had not moved; instead, they had grown, extending yet numerous meters further. Palestinians reported they had been waiting since 12:00 to pass through the checkpoint. At approximately 3:10, I called Machsom Watch to report the checkpoint problems. About 10 minutes later, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) soldiers began removing some additional wire fencing which had been strung across the outer passageway normally reserved for women and children. The fencing crossed from the outer wire fence to the iron rails of the checkpoint building itself.

After removing this fencing, this ‘flying checkpoint’ within a checkpoint, IOF soldiers finally began checking IDs of the waiting Palestinians. During the period between 12:00 and around 3:20, upwards of 300-350 civilian Palestinians were made to wait, some for 3 hours or more, their day disrupted by the arbitrarily-imposed blockage. The timing of the closure coincided with the return of many university students to their homes outside of Nablus, as well as the return home of those who had gone to Nablus for shopping and other needs.

The Significance of a Huwwiyye

Following the line-ups at Huwara, the taxi I rode in did as many taxis do when approaching further lineups like those at Zatara checkpoint less than 10 minutes down the road: it cut out of the Palestinian lane into the Israeli-only lane (a.k.a. the Express Lane) and then back into the Palestinian lane after passing some of the backed up cars. While this is a matter which would surely aggravate other drivers who had waited their turns in line, it is nonetheless a matter for those drivers to resolve or not. Instead, upon arriving at the soldiers’ booth, a soldier who had seen our taxi cut back in took all the huwiyyes (IDs) and, not returning them, ordered us to go back and rejoin the line at the end. With little choice, ID-less, the driver complied, returning about halfway then cutting back in. Again, upon arriving at the same soldiers’ booth, we were ordered aside, this time to the inspection lot (where cars are routinely disassembled in order to thoroughly search the vehicle and its contents). We were soon joined by two more taxis, then another, all having committed the same faux-pas.

The IOF soldier’s explanation was that driving in the Israeli-only lane endangered Israeli drivers and, thus, could not be tolerated. He refused to consider the reality of the long lineups, which plague the checkpoint daily, and their effect on Palestinians daily lives.

The Commander echoed the soldier’s explanation, also refusing the consider that these checkpoints which sever the West Bank at so many points serve the illegal Israeli settlements.

With my passport safe in hand, I had the freedom to leave if I chose, a freedom reiterated by the soldiers. Yet the Palestinians I traveled with had no such graces and were at the whim of the soldiers. The power of the ID, the ID not recognized outside of Palestine, is pervasive and an effective means of control.

**elderly man, ill, made to wait in the parking lot, a collective punishment for the taxi driver’s hopping lines.