Barta'a Checkpoint: "It doesn't matter with Bibi without Bibi, let peace come already"
14:50 – Tura-Shaked Checkpoint
A young woman and two young men wait in the shed. A car arrives from the Seamline Zone, and two people get out who go to the West Bank. The car picks up three who are waiting and returns in the direction it came. As we travel from the checkpoint, a large refrigeration truck travels opposite us. We wonder for a moment if it will have a problem at the checkpoint. There is no problem; the truck doesn’t travel at all to the checkpoint, but instead it enters Daher-al-Malec.
15:10 – Anin Checkpoint
About ten people, one woman, and a tractor loaded with junk, wait to pass through to go home to the village. The soldiers are a bit early, but they only open the checkpoint at 15:20. There is a relatively large number of security cars. A vehicle that does maintenance of the fence at the Seamline Zone, stops and a driver asks Tsafrira and the guest if they know if the border and this place is dangerous. Tsafrira answers that in this state, there are no borders. The man says something to us about his protection. I look at the anemones and photograph three of them in the shade of the wire (Photo). An army maintenance vehicle and two cars with civilian licenses also passes through. All turn into the security road between the fences.
We pass Barta’a Checkpoint. The parking lots are full, the sides of the road are empty from fear of getting a fine. We continue to the junction and turn east in the direction of Jenin Junction, Ya’bed, and Mevo Dotan. A lot of traffic in two directions passes through Ya’bed-Dotan Checkpoint. Even without inspection, there is a heavy load of traffic, due to the concrete blocks that narrow the road and allow traffic in only one direction.
We return in a southwest direction and travel to the settlement of Harmish. We are stuck in an unexpected convoy: cars crawl along behind heavy trucks that appear to travel in the direction of Tulkarm. The checkpoint on the road is open, as usual for the last two, and we return to Barta’a Checkpoint.
16:10 - Barta’a-Reihan Checkpoint, Palestinian Side
In the meantime, despite the prohibition and the fines, a few vehicles park on the sides of the road and we are among them. Many workers return from work in Israel and their cars already leave the parking lot. Others travel home in authorized taxis or in private vehicles that function as taxis. One young person bows in prayer on his small carpet behind the shed. A few ask after our health and bless us with peace. A beverage seller asks if we have a government yet. He says he’s had it already with their government and with ours. It doesn’t matter if it’s with Bibi, without Bibi; there should just be a government and there should be peace already.
16:30 – The inspection at the vehicle checkpoint doesn’t really understand who we are, but after a quick inspection of our car’s trunk, they wish us a safe journey.