Ar-Ras, Habla, Irtah (Sha'ar Efrayim), Wed 18.8.10, Morning
Translation: Suzanne O.
Chabala
6:40 a.m.
The gate is closed. On the other side there are a few tens of Palestinians waiting for the opening. Tom contacts the DCO. Answer: The people who should have been there had to go to another project which has caused the hold up.
6:50 a.m.
A military vehicle arrives and two soldiers alight. We ask the reason for the hold up. Soldier: "If Arabs decide to jump over the fence in a different place... there are hold ups. There's nothing we can do."
We wait for the military police. Tom contacts the DCO again.
7:00 a.m.
A jeep drives by without stopping. We approach the soldiers again and ask them to find out what is happening. Soldier: "If they make problems, this is what happens."
7:05 a.m.
The gates
finally open but still no one crosses.
7:17 a.m.
The first people go in for inspection. The first five leave and, to our surprise, smile and greet us with "Good Morning", without getting angry.
7:20 a.m.
Another five people cross through the gate. There are no complaints this morning.
7:25 a.m.
We leave while there are still tens of people queuing, relatively quietly, to cross.
Sha'ar Ephraim
7:30 a.m.
The traffic flows.
The turning onto Road 574 north: the slip road is not paved.
Jios - agricultural gate
7:45 a.m.
We meet a man and a woman at the entrance, they live in Jios. They are at the gate observing like us. According to them the gate opened at 7:30 a.m., and closes at 8:15 a.m. This morning a number of farmers crossed. A young man crosses on foot and a second on a donkey.
7:55 a.m.
We leave them and continue on northwards.
Sha'ar a-Ras
8:15 a.m.
3 soldiers come over to us wanting to know who we are. We request permission to drive onto the Security road and after a quick telephone conversation it is granted and we drive to Te'enim Crossing. At the roadblock there are soldiers and police but all is quiet.