International Checkpoint Watch - Daily Observations

Date:  29 July 2001                                          Time:  17:00

Place Observed: Surda Checkpoint

Number of Soldiers Present:  Several; did not get a clear view of the checkpoint as our view was blocked by a bend in the road and we were reluctant to get much closer. 

Soldiers Names, ID #’s, License Plate #’s, Etc:

Events Witnessed:  

5:00              Groups of worried and angry people stand outside a group of houses about 200 metres past the Best Eastern hotel in the direction of Surda. The Best Eastern is located on the edge of Ramallah near the checkpoint.  One of the nearby houses (inhabited) had a gaping hole in one wall where it had been hit by a tank shell earlier in the day, and the house next to it had been burned and gutted.  News reports had indicated that two Israeli soldiers and a Palestinian bystander had been injured in a gun battle earlier in the afternoon at Surda.    

We are told that at this point no cars are being allowed through the checkpoint but people are crossing on foot.  We can see pedestrians climbing up the hill towards Birzeit.  Part way down the hill towards the checkpoint, a  group of young Palestinians are gathered (they appear restless but are not engaged in anything 'confrontational').   After considering the situation, we determined that our presence in this scenario is probably pointless and reckless given that the shooting could start again at any time, so we leave.