Anabta

A huge red sign announces the way leading from here to the territory under Palestinian authority, area A. Even the soldiers function as traffic policemen. The road has been scraped, so the vehicles slow down until they stop in front of the checkpoint. A soldier in the airconditioned security position waves to them to move on. No vehicle is detained.  

1. Irtah 

Greeting us the workers hurry to the turnstiles. Some of them say: “When you are here everything is o.k. Yesterday there was a huge line and we had to wait for an hour and a half.” Due to a coincidence they believe we have powers we do not really have. Anyway, at least it shows that they appreciate the fact that there are people who care about them. Only one security position is open, but the passage through is very fast. 

17.00  Eyal

The gates are empty. The workers hurry through the checkpoint. A man says: “Now there are no problems, but you should come in the morning. It is still very hard.” One person tells us that this week he arrived at 4.00 and left at 7.00. Lieutenant Haviv from the Civilian Administration asks us if we have any complaints. We tell him what we have just heard. He seems surprised. According to him the company in charge functions very well, and he promises us that tomorrow he will check on the procedures.