'Anin, Barta'a-Reihan, Tura-Shaked, Thu 7.3.13, Afternoon
Translation: Dvora K.
15.00 A'anin CP
People from the village of A'anin arrive and go through immediately to the seamline zone, on foot and by tractor. One of the tractor drivers tells us that 120 permits have been issued last week. His permit will expire on March 22. He has already submitted a request for renewal to the Palestinian DCO, but there he was told that they do not know when the Israeli DCO will take care of it. This man has an olive grove of 120 dunam between the CP and Umm-Reihan and from past experience he already fears that the permit renewal will be delayed for two weeks in which he will not be able to go through this CP.
15:40 Shaked-Tura CP
There is very lttle traffic in both directions, as is normal at this hour in this CP.
16:00 Reihan-Barta'a CP, seamline zone side
Few workers arrive at the CP at this time but there is relatively a great deal of traffic of families with children, in both directions.
16:15 The line of workers returning to the West Bank from work in the seamline zone and in Israel is growing. Many carry sacks of oranges. One of the workers offers us two especially delicious oranges. The passage is quick, even the passage of women students and of a few families from the West Bank to the seamline zone does not cause delay. For a minute they close the turnstile and immediately a queue forms. When they open it, the queue disperses. One person tells us that in the morning the passage in Taibe ( the Irtach, Shaar Ephraim CP) is terrible. 'It is worse than for animals', he says. He asks us why we cannot help them there.
16:45 we leave the CP where there is now no queue. People going down the sleeve
ask us if the CP 'is good today'. We hope it is and that it will keep on operating 'in an orderly fashion'.
On our way home we pick up a resident of A'anin, who has a permit to work in Israel, and is in a hurry to get to Bank Hapoalim in Umm-el-Fahm. He has a carpentry shop in A'anin and he works there with his brother and his cousin. He is the only one of the three who has a permit to work in Israel and he works for both Arabs and Jews. He looks and sounds satisfied. He leaves his car at the Reihan-Barta'a CP on the Palestinian side. He says that the trip from there to A'anin takes a quarter of an hour. There is no need to go through Jenin; there is a shortcut through Arqua and Yamun.