'Anabta, Irtah (Sha'ar Efrayim), Wed 17.2.10, Afternoon
Translation: Aliya S.
16:05 Anabta:
It is completely open.
A flock of sheep and goats filled the road, while 2 shepherds were moving them across. One shepherd was holding a plastic bag.
As he came near the car Nadim called to him and we saw he was carrying a new born lamb in the bag. He explained that the mother had just given birth to it in the field and he was carrying it back to the sheepfold. At that point we saw the mother sheep, standing not far from the car, spread her back legs as the placenta slowly came out. Isn't nature wonderful!
16:25 Irtah
On the way to Irtach we picked up one lone worker walking along the road. He gave us the whole story of what had gone on that morning.The first group of 20 workers who went through the gate stopped inside and prevented all the other workers from crossing. They blocked the gates
and didn't let anyone through. Then they negotiated with the administration of the passage for 2 hours. The agreement includes: more stations being open in the morning; opening the passage half an hour earlier; and the workers from Jenin will not go through Irtach. After that 11 workers went through but all the others had gone home.
The passage was empty; we didn't even get out of the car.