1500 Jalameh CP
We brought a boy and a girl and their mothers back to the CP after treatment at Rambam. At this time of day, women workers are coming back from work in the fields. Women aged 30 and more walk tall and carry sacks full of vegetables, onions, and potatoes on their heads. The parking lot is completely full of cars belonging to Israeli Arabs. Here and there we see couples all dressed up on their way to the West Bank. One of the women tells us that she met many Israelis in the new mall in Jenin.
The CP is clean and maintained neatly without ostentation or showiness. There is a wide partking lot; there are sheds and benches for those who have to wait, a facility for soft drinks, and rest rooms.
1540 A'anin CP
We arrived at closing time. According to the soldiers, 19 people went through in the morning and 15 returned in the afternoon. A small concrete bridge has been erected near the entrance to the CP. The soldiers say that in the future they will add some wooden benches to ease the wait. In the meantime, a telephone and a few forgotten cables hang down and swing back and forth. The olive grove at the entrance is full of metal and plastic pieces of junk that were left there because people were not allowed to take them through to the village.
1600 Shaked-Tura CP
It is very hot. A few people go through. The passage itself is effected quickly without undue delays, even in the hut. All told, it takes only a few minutes. We are told that on the day before there was a wedding in Tura with the groom from Tura (West Bank) and the bride from Daher el-Malek (seamline zone). After the ritual in the afternoon, the soldiers detained all those at the celebration at the CP for almost an hour. They wanted to get to Daher el-Malek to continue the celebration in the bride's home; one of the guests was handcuffed.
1630 Reihan-Barta'a CP
In the Palestinian parking lot many drivers are waiting for the workers to return from their day's work. The CP lot is full of private cars that belong to workers, so there is only a slim chance of earning a livelihood from rides. After hours of nerve-wracking waiting, the drivers get a chance to earn only very little. Now a few of them are praying on a rug in the shed. We try to find out some details about the expropriation of land - in order to change the route of the fence as we were told. The drivers are reserved and do not tell us any more. They do not know and perhaps they are afraid to talk about it.
At the Ameriha CP on the road to Jenin, a military observation post is being built. That is what we were told.
The workers coming back from work -- a few dozen -- go through in half an hour. Only a few go through to the West Bank. Mostly families with little children. For visits? One pickup truck loaded with cartons of snacks and drinks is now waiting for womorrow's inspection.
It is very hot, tiring and quiet. A depressing atmosphere of 'this is the way it is and there is nothing to do about it'.
1700 We left.
