'Anin, Reihan, Shaked, Mon 17.12.07, Morning

Translation: Devorah K.

06:05-09:30 06:05 A'anin CP
The gates are open and the people are going through. This morning the inspections are being carried out above, on the road near the gate on the side of the seamline zone. This may be because of the amount of mud near the middle gate. 
 06:30 The soldiers close the gate on the A'anin side. The people who arrived before 06:30 but have not yet gone through are waiting between that gate and the one in the middle. The CP commander, a Second Lieutenant, tells us that those who came late would not be allowed to go through.
People tell us that four people have arrived after the gate was locked.
 07:10 A man and two young boys are waiting. The officer and another soldier go to open the gate in order to send the fellow who does not have a permit back to A'anin. We ask the officer to let the four 'latecomers' go through. He says that it is impossible, it is against the instructions. When the officer comes back, he tells us that those four were no longer waiting on the other side of the gate. 
All together 40 people and a few tractors went through this morning.

 07:20: Shaked-Tura CP
The gates are open, adults go through via the inspection pavilion. Pupils go through in the ordinary way. This morning, they are not inspecting the schoolbags of the little children. A soldier comes up to us and asks if the CP is working satisfactorily. He agrees with us that the fence and the CP are not in place. Going on, he tells us that in the afternoon the children throw stones at the fence and the soldiers do not know if they should chase them into the village.

 08:00 Reihan-Barta'a CP
In the upper parking lot, on the side of the seamline zone, drivers are waiting for people to go through. We go down into the sleeve. A security guard on the observation tower above it tells us that the water flowing on the other side of the sleeve is rain water and not sewage.
People coming up in the sleeve tell us that they were put into rooms and the passage took half an hour. At this time, only one window for inspecting documents is operating. There is no queue near the window. The delay is inside. 
08:20 In the lower parking lot, the Palestinian lot, many drivers are waiting for passengers. Six loaded pickup trucks are awaiting inspection. Four are in the inspection compound.
There is relatively a lot of pedestrian traffic in both directions; among the people there are families with children who are dressed up for the holiday. The feeling of festivity of the approaching Holiday of the Sacrifice is already in the air.
Our friends, the drivers A. and M.  tell us about the traffic jam at the Mavo Dothan-Amriha CP. During the last three days, they have been inspecting every driver and every car meticulously, even if they drive back and forth and go through there several times in the course of the day. This morning there was a queue of 20-30 cars. They claim that the conditions in the afternoon are even worse, and people going through the Reihan-Barta'a CP to the West Bank are forced to wait for their drives for a long time. Before the holiday more people than usual are going through and the delay at the Mavo-Dothan - Amriha CP is unbearable.
08:45 The inspection of the four pickup trucks has come to an end and an additional quartet has entered the compound.09:30 We leave.
Eight pickup trucks are waiting for inspection at this time. There are no private cars at the vehicle CP.

The construction of the imitation well in the CP compound has been completed. There is a pail with a rope on the top. What moving nostalgia! What terrible taste!

We drive via Barta'a. The market on the main street is more crowded than usual. The Eid el Adha (Holiday of the Sacrifice) is almost here.