Reihan, Shaked, Wed 7.9.11, Morning
08:10 Shaked-Tura checkpoint.
About ten cars , most of them going in the direction of the West Bank, had crossed over. Inspection time 3-5 minutes. A fellow arrives with a medium size package of cloths that he had bought in Jenin, a few pairs of pants and some shirts. He wanted to cross the gate at the Seam Line zone but he was denied passage with the parcel and he was forced to give it to somebody who went back to Jenin.
10:00 We left the checkpoint, to our surprise it was still open at this time.
10:10 Reihan-Barta'a checkpoint
At the vehicles' inspection post we declared , as requested, that we carry a bag of hand-me-down cloths. We were permitted to take it in. In front of the checkpoint there were five pickup trucks waiting for inspection. In the shed at the Palestinian car park was a 14-year-old boy lying on a mattress. One of the drivers told us that the police had picked him up from the Wadi-Ara road and dropped him off at the checkpoint yesterday. It turns out the kid is a resident of Ya'ata from the vicinity of Hebron . We were unable to find a car that goes to Hebron but in one of the taxis that went to Tul Karen was a resident of Ya'ata. The boy wouldn't give his parents' phone number but the man called someone from the family. We paid for the taxi fare and the boy agreed ro get into the cab, with great difficulties.
In our opinion it is very wrong for the police to abandon a child so far from his home without an adult to look after him and without food. At least at the checkpoint's shed there is a mattress a a faucet of drinking water.