04.10 Irtah. Dawn shift

Cold and rainy and less workers are expected to come.  The line begins at the entrance and people climb the fences so as to push themselves into the line. Part of the passage from the turnstile to the entrance where the magnometer posted is not covered and people run through it.  When they get to the magnometre some of them had to take off their shoes on the wet ground.

We were surprised at the number of women coming to work. At the exit we met some of them and spoke to them and they said that they were working picking strawberries. They pick between the intervals of rain.  One asked me if I had children and told me that that she has three and that's enough.  Another woman whom we met complained that on Fridays,  there is no separate entrances for women and asked us to deal with this.

On our way to the side of the exit a man speaking Hebrew told us, "It is good that you continue coming, but all the while we hope that things will improve and nothing does.”

About 5 o’clock we went back to the entrance and saw that the line had become much shorter. People come and go,  through in a steady stream.   The problem about the rain was the lack of shelter for the workers after the checking.

Habla 06.30.

The opening of the gates were delayed. The amount of workers arriving was small because of the rainy & cold weather. The checking was done as should be. That is that 5 at each time had to run in the rain in the direction of the booths and to the entrance and also then to the exit and to the gates.

We drove home. At the gate “the entrance to Israel”  We aroused the suspicions of the ‘keeper of the gate”  who demanded to know from where we came, where we had been and was only satisfied when she could check the car baggage & our Ids and after  one more telephone conversation we were allowed to go on our way leaving behind us a long line of cars (settlers?) who were delayed because of us.