Beit Amin, Habla
Day shift after a previous shift (Shoshi and Leora), which almost overlapped.
06:00 We arrived at Habla just as the soldiers opened the gate. The opening is partial, of one side only (it is dangerous to open the gate wide) and each time a cart or va ehicle wants to pass they have to open the gate wider, and immediately one of the soldiers returns the gate to its previous position…
In one of the first groups (of five) there were 6 Palestinians and the soldier demanded that one of them take himself back (order has to be maintained!), which caused a quarrel between the Palestinians. The soldiers naturally did not give in. In the end the turmoil abated, one Palestinian withdrew and would arrive with the next group of five.
On our shift as well, more Palestinians arrived than we are used to see (we didn't count, but the numbers reported on by Shoshi and Leora matched our estimation. The Palestinians who pass here disperse to various places of employment and one even told us that he was going to the hospital (he has a reference).
07:00 Two minibuses carrying female teachers from Habla to Arb El-Ramadin arrived one after the other. The teachers descend to be checked and return to the minibus. Within a short time the minibuses will return with the pupils. We managed to see only one of them, because we set out to the Oranit gate.
07:50 We arrived at gate 1447, again very angry about the closed gate near Oranit, while the one that's open is at the end of a winding ascent (we measured: 3.5 kms) in the direction of the fields of Oranit. The Palestinians are coping with the situation, and two cars which have permits run back and forth (for a fee) with workers who crowd into them. The soldiers are the same ones we've met before at Habla, and one of them stands at his post with a drawn sub-machine gun, directed at the Palestinians, who stand in line (absolutely disciplined…), and call out one their ID numbers. One Palestinian is detained when the soldiers detect something irregular in his card. They begin phoning and consulting each other, and don't shut the gate in the meantime. My attempts to go and find out what the problem was came up against a brick wall of hostility.
08:30 We left without knowing what was decided concerning the detainee.