11.02.2011                     07.Adar l, 5771

Abbau:

IDF to remove major West Bank checkpoint to enable Palestinian movement

Dismantling of infamous Hawara checkpoint will allow almost completely unimpeded travel between Nablus and Ramallah.

The Israel Defense Forces yesterday advised the Palestinian Authority that it is removing the Hawara checkpoint, near Nablus. The measure, which is to go into effect next week, will enable the nearly unrestricted movement of Palestinians between the West Bank cities of Nablus and Ramallah.
During the years of the second intifada the Hawara checkpoint came to symbolize Israeli restrictions on the movements of Palestinians; every day, thousands of Nablus residents waited in line for hours in order to be allowed to leave the city. It was at the Hawara checkpoint, too, that an IDF paratrooper – who was sentenced to six months in prison as a result of his actions – was filmed beating a Palestinian man, in the presence of the victim's wife….