'Anin, Thu 13.12.07, Morning

06:30 Aanin Checkpoint
The checkpoint opened at 06:00 and the soldiers are "okay." A few score residents passed and the gathering is at the edge of the checkpoint close to the Aanin exit.A woman from Um el-Fahm is waiting at the checkpoint to cross to Aanin for a visit to her sick mother. She has no permit and is refused and sent back home.A quarter of an hour after we have arrived, the soldiers close the checkpoint in the face of masses of people waiting on the other side (40 people and three or four tractors). We hear the shouts of the disappointed crowd. Hasty communication with the DCO, the Humanitarian Center and the Brigade – and the checkpoint reopens at 07:15. 

07:10 Shaked Checkpoint
Some tens of workers on their way from the West Bank are passing through the checking hut ("three minutes"). From the Seam Zone to the West Bank, mostly students. The little one haven’t come. The teachers’ strike begins today. 

07:30 Reihan Checkpoint
Sewage is flowing from the army base (near the upper parking lot) along an artificial channel parallel to the sleeve that leads into the terminal. Why isn’t it being dealt with? The DCO promises to check and find out what "the story" is. Let’s see how long it takes.The checkpoint, which has opened at the regular hour, is full of life: lively traffic, apparently because of the coming Eid el Adha (Festival of the Sacrifice), perhaps also because of the strike. Apart from workers, there are families with children – in both directions – and woman students on their way from Bartaa to university. One person: "This is a lousy checkpoint. Go in and see how many people are in the rooms," he says as he is swallowed into the terminal. M. parts from us happily - he has transport to Jenin.More than ten pickups are waiting to be checked, three are loaded with sheep. 

Serious Violence – based on testimony of the brother and uncle
40 days ago a resident of Bartaa was arrested – a taxi driver together with his 2006 model taxi – at Amriha Checkpoint (on the Jenin Road next to Mevo Dotan). Soldiers in a jeep ordered him to drive to the Rihan vehicle checkpoint. There a group of soldiers, investigation specialists, were waiting for him, due to an informant. They put his car into the closed checking compound, drove him away and took the car apart brutally: they ripped the upholstery, dismantled the seats, and tore the doors off... Others handcuffed the driver, laid him on the floor and beat him while interrogating him. The security guards and DCO representatives were present. M., the DCO officer, tried to protect the driver but all he managed was to summon an ambulance for him and that after he lost consciousness following the violent events.After total destruction of the car, in which nothing suspicious had been found, the police apologised to members of the family and handed them a paper confirming payment of compensation after repair of the car. According to the brother, the repair cost 70 thousand shekels – and who has the money to pay that up front? Meanwhile, the taxi and driver are idling at home. Both he and the car are devastated from the force of the experience. The ruined car was photographed by an assessor, and the prints were given to a lawyer. The driver, suffering from intense pains and nightmares, stopped working and the livelihood of his family is vanishing.According to the uncle, this is the third time that they persecuted his nephew because of some informant. They have also damaged the car twice before. 08:50 – we left.