At the northern checkpoints the number of migrants increased greatly
15:00 – 16:10
15:00 – Barta’a Checkpoint
The last of the seamstresses from the sewing workshops in Barta’a and the first workers return via the long sleeve
(the enclosed passage) to the terminal and then home to the West Bank. Some of them complain about the crowding and slowness of the passage in the morning. The checkpoint has become an integral part of Palestinian life and a female beggar already has a place in the shed. Many people pass through from the West Bank to Barta’a—men, women, and children; some return home with shopping bags and some are waiters who cross to work at weddings in Israeli towns in Wadi Ara. One of the guards at the vehicle checkpoint stops a worker who came down the sleeve in the direction of the terminal and through the fence and inspected him and the contents of his backpack. Why? Is that his job?
The parking lots next to the village of Zabde (in Area C, opposite the checkpoint) are going through renovations and expansion and one of the workers at the checkpoint told us that the work is a joint Israeli-Palestinian project.
Four trucks with merchandise pass through from the West Bank for inspection and afterward, continue to Barta’a.
Around 15:30, the stream of workers gets heavier, and many buses and cars arrive at the upper parking lot. One person requested the note with Sylvia’s telephone number on behalf of his neighbor, who is prohibited from crossing.
15:40 – Tura Checkpoint
Five women with shopping bags wait in the shed. They arrived from Jenin and passed through the checkpoint by foot with all their bundles and now wait for men who cross the checkpoint separately, with empty cars.
Workers return from their jobs in Israel and the Seamline Zone. Women and girls pass through to the West Bank to visit their families. Groups of young men leave for work as waiters in Israeli Ara village and Palestinian cars pass through in two directions. I am impressed that lately many more Palestinian workers and residents than in the past, pass through Tura Checkpoint to the Seamline Zone. At 16:00, soldiers change shifts and crossing the checkpoint stops for a few minutes creating a long line of cars and people requesting to cross in two directions.
We are told that the new seating boards for the benches in the shed were donated by a Palestinian resident.
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