Barta'a-Reihan, Tura-Shaked

06:05 – Barta’a Checkpoint
The upper parking lot was full of workers.  Some of them sit on the new, shaded benches, eating and drinking.  Already here they tell us that at the entrance to the terminal there is large crowding.  Indeed we see that the line is very crowded and reaches to the main road.  Groups of 50-60 people enter the terminal one after another and yet the crowding in the line doesn’t diminish.  All the people who come out of the checkpoint complain about the line outside.  Inside the terminal, 6 inspection windows are open but from time to time there is a pause and no one goes through.  One of the guards approaches us and says hello, complains about the checkpoint, and says that we are doing “good work.”  It is nice to hear a different opinion.

06:40 – The line outside still hasn’t gotten shorter, but there are people going up the sleeve (the fenced-in pathway out of the terminal) constantly.

06:55 – Tura-Shaked Checkpoint
It looks like the checkpoint has opened only now and at the turnstile, at the entrance in the Tura side, there are a lot of people. At 07:00, 4 people come out at a very slow pace and after that, there is another pause.

07:15 -  Many cars pass in both directions. The people next to the turnstile are brought into the inspection room one-by-one.  They leave at a very slow pace and everyone complains about the female soldier who works slowly.  The few people who pass through to the West Bank go through quickly.

07:30 – There are still many people next to the turnstile.  Outside, in the Seamline Zone, drivers are waiting for the workers who are late in coming out.  The drivers also complain that “every day it is the same thing”.

We leave and marvel at the empty garbage container and clean area.