Reihan, Shaked, Sun 9.8.09, Morning
06:30 – Reihan Barta’a
About 50 men and women are already waiting in the upper parking lot for their rides to work. 35 people come out of the terminal within five minutes.
At 05:45 the terminal is almost empty.
At 5:50 a caravan of tenders with merchandise arrives at the inspection facility. A tender going towards the West Bank goes through within a minute. Two cars are waiting to be checked.
At 06:05 the entrance gate to the terminal from the lower parking lot is empty. 12 people who arrive on foot going towards the checkpoint leave within 12 minutes. A., the driver, tells us that the Dotan Checkpoint opened this morning at 05:30 (one hour late) and that everyone who arrived at the Barta’a Checkpoint at 05:00 had walked there.
06:45 – Shaked-Tura Checkpoint
06:50 – Two soldiers arrive and open the gate. Within 5 minutes 4 others arrive, including two military police. At 06:58 all the gates
are open and about 35 people approach the turnstile. At 07:01 the first person comes out of the inspection room. People going towards the West Bank get through within 4 minutes. A herd of goats goes obediently through the concrete roadblock.
At 07:11 the first car arrives from the West Bank.
At 07:15 a woman and four small children arrive from the direction of the West Bank and enter the inspection room without waiting and come out immediately.
At 07:20 it appears that the turnstile is stuck and people coming through the inspection room are delayed. The car in which the mother and children arrived willpick them up [on the other side of the checkpoint] at 07:26.
At 07:24 a yellow car arrives going in the direction of the West Bank carrying 11 young women – apparently students. The car continued on its way at 017:33.
At 07:35 there are about 8 people waiting in front of the turnstile, and cars pass through within a minute or two. We returned to Reihan to pick up Ali and his mother to bring them to Rambam Hospital. The first tender with merchandise leaves at 07:40 8 vans are waiting to pick up workers.
A young man at the gas station near Kibbutz Hazorea recognizes my Machsom Watch tag and smiles. During his military service his commander, whom he admires very much, punished him for being insolent to women from Machsom Watch.