מחסומי הצפון: פסח ליהודים, סגר לפלסטינים
15:00 – Anin Checkpoint
We were a bit early. Six people were already waiting to pass through to the West Bank. They wished us “Happy Holiday.” One person asked how to greet us in the afternoon. (In Arabic there is a separate greeting/blessing for morning and for evening.) We said that “Shalom” is the best greeting, but peace doesn’t come. Another person says that last Monday (the checkpoint is only open on Mondays and Wednesdays), soldiers only came at 19:00 (it is supposed to open at 15:15) and even then they didn’t let them pass through. (We weren’t sure if all or only some of them didn’t pass through.) People had to go to Barta’a Checkpoint and cross there. The price of traveling from Barta’a to Anin by taxi is NIS 20-25 per person, and for a taxi, it is NIS 70.
Today the soldiers arrived and opened on time. Among those waiting were another nine people. By 15:25, everyone had gone through.
15:35 – Tura-Shaked Checkpoint
Two private cars and a new, shiny yellow taxi pass through from the West Bank to the Seamline Zone. One car passes through to the West Bank. For this “busy traffic”, they set up a complete system of automatic barriers and traffic signs.
16:00 – Barta’a-Reihan Checkpoint, the Palestinian Side
The parking lot is not full. Only a few return from work. Following the Passover closure
(the holiday of freedom, as it is known among Israelis), no one returns from work in Israel to the West Bank, as most of them do on regular days. For reasons unknown to us, they didn’t let the workers in Barta’a, which is in the Seamline Zone, pass through early in the morning; only at 08:00.