Reihan, Shaked, Sun 8.4.12, Morning

Translator:  Charles K.

photos:

Shaked-Tura checkpoint:  The banker and a student on their way to inspection before continuing to Jenin.

Pupils are on their way to school in Tura, the village adjacent to the checkpoint.

06:20  Reihan/Barta’a checkpoint

Dozens of laborers wait for rides on both sides of the road.  S.A., our acquaintance, arrives from the terminal with a small group, tells us that today people are going through more quickly than usual, in only a few minutes.  Six loaded pickup trucks wait on the road beyond the gate to enter inspection.  Cars are on their way there.  By 06:30, all the laborers have been picked up.  The security company personnel conduct a very loud conversation among themselves from their posts, including unrepeatable references to one of their mothers.

07:00  Shaked/Tura checkpoint

The gate opens exactly at seven.  The concrete barriers that had separated the vehicles from the pedestrians have been removed.   The children continue to bypass the checkpoint on the dirt path, the younger ones without being inspected, those aged 12 or 13 are now directed to the inspection room.  Meanwhile, a large truck arrives loaded with a generator and power station equipment.  The laborers wait impatiently at the revolving gates until all the teachers and students coming from both directions have entered the inspection room.  The checkpoint empties by 07:35.  At 07:45 the generator begins to operate loudly.  A man and a child are picked up by a volunteer from “Ba’Derech Le’Hachlamah.”  I also return to the Barta’a checkpoint to pick up three people going to Rambam hospital, but by 08:00 it turns out they’re not coming.