'Anin, Barta'a-Reihan, Tura-Shaked

14:45 – A'anin Checkpoint

Several people, including three women and two children, are already waiting in front of the locked gate. They tell us that in the morning the soldiers are suspicious of anyone wearing three layers of clothing, as their intent might not be to work their land. The soldiers feel that two layers of clothing are sufficient. The Palestinians and we both feel that it is cold, very cold indeed, early in the winter morning. 

At 15:10 the soldiers had not yet arrived to open the gate. We called the Liaison and Coordination Administration who said they would see what was happening. At 15:15 the soldiers arrived and opened the gate.

At 15:25 the soldiers closed the gate, explaining that there was an incident at the fence and they had to leave, and would be back shortly. The incident ended before the soldiers managed to get there and they returned at 15:30.

Somebody was not allowed to take a bag of clothing, whic we had brought with us, across the checkpoint. The Palestinian brought it back and we attempted to convince the soldiers to let him take it. A sergeant explains that this is an agricultural checkpoint and clothing cannot be taken across. A policewoman claims that she is dealing with the Palestinian and becomes angry that I intervened. A woman is holding a bag of children's clothing. The sergeant looks to see if the clothing would fit her child. He asks someone to explain to the woman that this time she would be permitted to take the bag across, but this is the last time. No doubt our security was being preserved by this act…

By 15:50 everyone had crossed.

16:00 – Shaked – Tura Checkpoint

There is very little traffic, which is usual for this hour. A man crosses with a wagon and a donkey. The military policewoman gives him a friendly greeting. The garbage container is full and there is garbage scattered all around. Evidently they fired the Palestinian who was in charge of cleaning up the checkpoints – an effort to save money for the security budget.

16:30 – Reihan Barta'a Checkpoint

We entered the sleeve, which now extends up to the public toilets. A lot of workers are returning home from work. One man asks to enter the terminal in the direction of the West Bank.

We don't understand why he was not permitted to enter. Only a few people are crossing to the seamline zone. One person tells us that we should have been there in the morning, because there were a lot of delays and getting through the terminal took 45 minutes.

17:00 – On our way home at the T-junction leading to Tura Checkpoint to the east and to Um A-Reihan to the west, we saw a group of Palestinians standing on the side of the road with a group of soldiers and a Palestinian man. An army vehicle was parked on the other side of the road. We watched the soldiers handcuff the man and lead him into the car. We were told by the Palestinians that the man had no permit, but we did not know which permit. It was a sad picture.