Reihan, Shaked, Tue 18.3.08, Morning

07:45 Shaked-Tura Checkpoint

Apparently the children, students, and teachers have already crossed, some to the Seam Zone, others to the West Bank, to Tura, Yaabed or Jenin.

Two flocks of goats are already through, one by the gate on the Seam Zone side and the other between the fences.

Twenty people are still waiting on the Tura (West Bank) side, apparently going to work.

One car is being checked for five minutes, then it passed through. Pedestrians enter one after the other into the x-ray facility. Check lasts a minute.

We are told that there is a list of permit holders, and each one knows his place on the list, so the traffic is fast.

08:00 Reihan-Bartaa Checkpoint

No one waiting either side. The flow through the terminal is steady. Only drivers waiting for work, and trucks with produce. Not many trucks waiting, and on each, apart from vegetables or other goods, the 50 trays of eggs that are permitted. Reihan cars crossing into the Seam Zone are being checked in fours under the roof.

We met our acquaintance I., who told us about a traffic accident he had. The insurance doesn’t cover the damage of the person responsible, and the repairs cost a lot of money.

We chatted for a long while with Muhammad A. about education and culture in the villages and about another book that he is writing.

The landscaping is progressing: on one of the squares a basket in the shape of a seesaw, or perhaps a seesaw in the shape of a basket (ceramic). And rocks with what appear to be steel helmets holding baskets of flowers. Creativity is rampant, but "all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand (Macbeth, Act V, Scene 1).

09:00 Old Bartaa Checkpoint

The gate is locked and no one is there. The yellow notice board on the gate does not mark opening hours or telephone numbers to call. There is only a newly paved path leading to a high red-and-white painted antenna.

We sought to pass through the village. On the eastern entry road, work is in progress to widen and pave two lanes and lamp poles are already in place between the lanes.