'Anin, Reihan, Shaked, Mon 7.4.08, Morning

Translation: Devorah K.

06:05 - 10:25

The CP opened at 05:50 and about 100 people are waiting. A woman goes through with her 8 year old niece from the nearby Bedoui village. The child goes down to the village on foot, about a 20 minute walk. The Bedoui village was part of A'anin until the separation fence was constructed. The residents preferred to remain in their own location. About 40 children from the village go to school in A'anin and live there with relatives. The woman is going to the family's olive grove, and she intends to go back to A'anin during the morning. She left a baby at home. They will let her return after the passage to the seamline zone ends. A young man is detained because he tried to go through with his brother's ID.

The tempo of the passage is slow, bags are inspected meticulously and everything in them is spread out on the ground.

06:30 The soldiers lock the lower gate, dozens of people and a few tractors are still waiting within the CP. One of those going through shows us a card on which are written the seven commandments of Noah together with a picture of the Rabbi of Lubavitch.

07:05 Shaked-Tura CP

On the Palestinian side about thirty people are waiting. They are going through to the seamline zone through the inspection pavilion.

A little boy and two little girls, dressed up like dolls, go through to school in Tura. The soldiers glance into their schoolbags and also into the bags of the other pupils that go through quickly. People complain about one of the soldiers. They say that he is the only one who inspects the schoolbags of the little children. Five cars are waiting to go through to the West Bank. In one of them there are teachers who teach in Jenin and are angry about having to wait. A number of students from the seamline zone are on their way to Jenin. a herd of sheep and a shepherd go through from the West Bank in the direction of the lone house that is between the fence and the settlement of Shaked. It seems that even the sheep know the rules of the CP.

08:00 A'anin CP again

There is another detainee. He shows us his hands in handcuffs. About 20 people are still waiting. Additional soldiers arrive to help out. An older man is not allowed through."Go to Salem" a soldier says to him. The man tries to argue, but to no avail. "Yallah get out of here!" says the soldier.

08:30 The passage is completed. All those who have gone through had to get to the CP before 06:30! The woman we mentioned above returns to the village. About 15 people who were not allowed to go through try their luck again. Most of them are turned back to A'anin. The conditions of three of them are still being clarified. We did not see how it ended. The handcuffs of the second detainee are unlocked and he is released to go home.

08:45 The first detainee (23 years old) was not released. His parents and his younger brother (13) went through to the seamline zone. The mother, a stout diabetic woman is crying. The father tries to appeal to the officer. The mother begs the soldiers. They give her some water to take her medicine but do not give in to her pleas. The father tells us that his old father has a big olive grove. The old man cannot work any more. The grandfather, the father, the sick mother and one of the sons (18) all have agricultural permits. The rest of the people in the family do not have permits.

An officer who is a second lieutenant tells us that they have asked for the police to come for the detainee who tried to go through to Israel with an ID that is not his, and he will be taken for interrogation. We told the soldiers that he did not want to go to Israel, but only to the seamline zone.

09:15 Reihan-Barta'a CP

There are only two taxis waiting for passengers in the upper parking lot. People complain about the inspection in the terminal rooms. Three women have come back from the doctor in Jenin and were inspected in Room 2. A woman with a baby who is very ill and has a kidney disease, was also forced to go through that room. The women tell us that sometimes they are required to take off their coats and that is something that is forbidden according to their beliefs. From the opening of the terminal we saw that one inspection post for checking documents was open and the woman in it is from the Security Company. There were no soldiers in the terminal.

09:30 Only four loaded pickup trucks are waiting in the Palestinian parking lot. As usual, taxis are waiting for a few passengers. According to the people we saw, the CP at Jerushiyeh has been taken apart and the only CP between Jenin and Reihan is at the junction of Ameriheh/Dotan.

09:50 Finally, the taxi that the women are waiting for has gone through. A man from Kabatiyeh collapsed and died in Barta'a last night, either from heart failure, or he was murdered. They hope that the death will not spark the old conflict between Kabatiyeh and Barta'a.

10:25 We left the CP.

Later the father of the fellow who was arrested in A'anin called us and told us that his son is being held in the Ariel police station.