Jalama, Reihan, Shaked, Tue 9.2.10, Morning

Translation: Bracha B.A.

06:50 – Shaked Tura Checkpoint
Both gates are open.  The gate farthest from us opens at 06:58.  There are nine people next to the turnstile.  Two cars approach the gate.  At 07:13 the first car passes through as well as the first pedestrian.  Inside the checkpoint building a man, woman, and girl are waiting.  The girl's mouth is covered with a mask to protect her from infection.  The driver who will take them to Hadassah Hospital is already waiting for them.

07:24 Meanwhile, they are waiting for permission to go through from the Liaison and Coordination Administration.  A taxi passes through with eight women students.  The last student leaves the inspection booth at 07:42.  School children are checked by a woman soldier outside.  A transit arrives at 07:30 filled with young children.  Some of them pass by the soldiers, and the littlest ones remain in the car while the driver goes into the inspection booth to be checked.   At 07:32 the mother and daughter are finally allowed through.  "They are always creating problems for us.  It's been two years already!" explains the mother in English.  By 07:45 all the commotion at the checkpoint is over.

07:55 Reihan Barta'a Checkpoint
Three vans are waiting to be checked next to the inspection facility.   At 08:00 12 people are waiting next to the entrance gate to the terminal.  A woman's voice can be heard speaking very loudly from the position near the entrance gate: "Yalla, ta'al!  (Yalla, come here!  Shut the gate!  Another five!  Shut the gate!  Go in!  A worker who entered the terminal at 08:08 was observed going out through the sleeve to the upper parking lot seven minutes later.

At 09:10 we pick up Riad and his young son who is being treated for burns on his head at Rambam Hospital.  The father who is a welder is now disabled because of a work accident in Israel and is still fighting in the courts for severance pay from his Israeli employer for whom he worked for 16 years.