Farid Subuh, father of two, age 39, resident of 'Osarin
I live in 'Osarin, a village about fifteen kilometers north of Nablus. I'm a vegetable merchant. Every morning I drive in my car, a Volkswagon, to the villages in the area. I buy vegetables and sell them at the vegetable market in Nablus.
Today, Wednesday, 24 September, 2003, I left my house at around 5:00 A.M. My wife, Nu'am and my children, Suleiman, age 7 and Muhammad, age 6, came with me. I took my family to Nablus that morning in order to get the children clothes for school. We drove through the Huwwara checkpoint. When we got there, one of the soldiers checked my papers and my ID card and let us through. I drove toward the central vegetable market and sold my vegetables. When I finished, we went to get clothes and school supplies.
When we finished shopping, we got back in the car and started driving home. We got to the Huwwara checkpoint at around 8:00 A.M. I noticed that the soldiers who let me go through earlier to Nablus had been replaced. I stopped the car in front of the checkpoint, and the commander, who had tags on his arms, told me to show him my ID. I gave him my ID card and the special permit I got from the Israeli DCO which allows me to drive my car through the checkpoint. The commander checked my papers and then told me to park by the concrete blocks near the checkpoint. After I parked, the commander took my keys and said to me: "You have to wait." He also told me and my wife and kids to stand by the checkpoint.
About an hour later, I went over to him to see if there was some sort of problem because of which he wasn't letting us through. The commander said there was no problem, but that I wasn't allowed to pass today. I told him I had crossed the checkpoint earlier in order to go to Nablus to sell my vegetables and that now I wanted to go home. The commander said: "Don't argue. Today, you're not allowed to pass." He then told me to stand on the side of the road with my family. I know Hebrew, so we spoke in Hebrew.
At around 9:30 A.M., my children got hungry and wanted breakfast. My wife decided to ask the commander to let us through. He told her, in bad Arabic, that she and the kids could go through but that I couldn't cross with my car. My wife told him that we had passed through the checkpoint earlier and that we are a family. She asked him why he was trying to separate us, and why he wants them to leave their bread winner at the checkpoint. The commander yelled at my wife, saying: "Hush. Go away, before I get mad." He pointed toward Nablus.
About ten minutes later, I went up to him again. I said: "Stop tormenting us. I have to get home. My kids are crying from hunger and boredom." The commander said: "Take your papers and your keys." He told me to park the car on the side of the road and then took my keys. He gave me the keys and papers back and told me to go back to Nablus. He told me not to try to come to the checkpoint again. I said: "Take pity on me. Stop this suffering," but he motioned me to leave the checkpoint. I stayed put and asked him: "Why did you let me through in the morning if you're not going to let me go back home?" He told me: "I didn't let you through." He told one of the soldiers who was at the checkpoint to write down my license plate number and inform the soldiers not to let me through the checkpoint again.
I left the checkpoint and went back to Nablus to buy food for the children. From there I went to the 'Awarta checkpoint, which is about a kilometer away from the Huwwara checkpoint. When I got there, I asked the soldiers to let me through. They said I had to go to the Huwwara checkpoint because only trucks pass through at the 'Awarta checkpoint.
Now, I'm standing about 200 meters from the Huwwara checkpoint and I don't know what to do. I'm considering going back to Nablus and sleeping in a hotel.
Farid Suleiman Subuh is 39 years old. He is married and the father of two. Farid works as a vegetable merchant, and is a resident of 'Osarin . The testimony was taken by 'Ali Daraghmeh at the Huwwara checkpoint on 24, September, 2003.