International Checkpoint Watch - Daily Observations

Date:            21/12/01                                  Time:  18:30 - 20:30

Place Observed:  Deir Istya and Kifil Hares (Nablus Area)

Number of Soldiers Present: 

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

Events Witnessed: 

Palestinian civilians used by Israeli Military as "human roadblocks."

18:30-  An International Checkpoint Watch member received a phone call from a resident of Deir Istya (Nablus area), stating that Israeli soldiers are forcing  Palestinian civilians to park their vehicles at the entrance/exit of Deir Istya and Kifil Hares in order to block any movement of local vehicles from the main road, now mostly used by Israeli settlers.  Four volunteers of International Checkpoint Watch drove to both villages after hearing the news..    

Upon arrival to Deir Istya, ICW volunteers did not see any vehicles blocking the entrance.  Residents stated that the detained man had just left.  They stated that he had been driving on the main road and was forced by Israeli military soldiers to park his taxi at the entrance of Deir Istya.  The soldiers confiscated his keys and left without explanation, leaving the taxi to block any ability for civilians to leave their village by vehicle.  Residents of Deir Istya stated that a family member of the taxi driver managed to deliver a second copy of his keys, and the man had left to his village a few minutes prior to the arrival of ICW volunteers.  We were told that the man had been punished in reprisal for an action taken earlier that morning by both international human right activists and Palestinian villagers from Deir Istya who attempted to remove a roadblock put in place by Israeli soldiers months ago.  The roadblock had been and continues to prohibit their access to work, food, and/or medical care.    

ICW volunteers arrived to Kifil Hares to find a van full of tangerines blocking the entrance to the village.  The vehicle was parked on top of a roadblock that had been partly removed by international human rights advocates and Palestinian residents of Kifil Hares earlier that morning.  The owner of the van, Nasser Yousef * and his brother, from Birkin village, had been sitting inside the van.  Mr. Yousef stated that he was on his way home when Israeli military soldiers stopped him and ordered him to follow their vehicle.  He stated that he was lead to the entrance of Kifil Hares roadblock and was ordered to drive onto the top of the partly removed  roadblock.  He stated that an Israeli soldier had confiscated his keys and left without any information of intent.  Mr. Yousef stated that they had been waiting in the cold since 17:00 in the hope that the soldier would eventually return with his keys.  He stated that he has eight children and had been traveling since early morning to purchase fruit and return to his village.  He stated that all main exits from his village had been blocked by Israeli military several months ago, forcing him to maneuver from village to village on dirt path roads just to get a vanload of fruit to sell and provide for his family.  

ICW volunteers reported the incident to an Israeli military District Coordination Office (DCO) representative from the Bethlehem area.  The Israeli military representative then spoke directly to Mr. Yousef and asked him for a statement.  The representative informed Mr. Yousef that the matter would be taken care of.

ICW volunteers and the two Palestinian men sardined into the small ICW vehicle to seek refuge from the cold and wait for Israeli soldiers to return with Mr. Yousef's keys.  Mr. Yousef was then contacted by the DCO representative from Tulkarem and informed that he was making an effort to locate his keys.  Forty-five minutes after initial contact with Israeli representatives, two Israeli military jeeps arrived from the Nablus area.  An Israeli officer formally introduced himself to Mr. Yousef and stated that he was returning his keys.  Israeli soldiers and ICW volunteers then helped push Mr.Yousef's van out of the muddy roadblock.   Mr. Yousef continued on his way home at 20:00, three hours after he stated his keys had been confiscated by Israeli soldiers.

ICW volunteers are asked to refrain from providing any personal opinion or emotional statement regarding incidents that they witness in their documentation, allowing for the "facts to speak for themselves."  I would like to make an exception to this request in a need to personally express the grave human rights violation that ICW volunteers witnessed on the evening of 21/12/01 and to better explain the emotional difficulty in witnessing such an abuse against innocent civilians.

As I personally could not physically tolerate the cold for more than ten minutes and had to seek refuge in our car immediately, I wondered how Mr. Yousef and his brother were able to cope with both the physical abuse of being forced to wait in the cold and the emotional abuse of being at the mercy of an Israeli soldier they had never encountered before yesterday.  Mr. Yousef was neither a resident of the village of Kifil Hares nor did he participate in resisting Israeli occupation by removing the roadblock earlier that morning with international human rights activists or Palestinian residents of the village.  It is clear that Mr. Yousef's only crime yesterday was being a Palestinian.  Pictures available upon request. 

This report and video footage will be submitted to the Israeli authorities in the hope that the soldier responsible for confiscating Mr. Yousef's keys will be held accountable for collective punishment and violation of human rights. 

*Names of all parties involved have been changed or omitted to protect them from potential reprisal.  Names of parties involved will only be provided for official legal and/or accountability purposes.   Names of victims will only be released with their permission.