Reihan, Shaked, Wed 20.10.10, Morning
08:15 - Shaked-Tura checkpoint
Three vehicles and two pedestrians cross over from the SeamLine zone into the West Bank. There was no one on the opposite side. One driver asked me to talk with people from the radio station "The voice of peace" who had visited Daher-el-Malec at the SeamLine zone. People in the village expressed their hardships and asked that the checkpoint would stay open for a longer time.
I spoke about school children who go through the checkpoint and of limitations of quantities of foods allowed in. For example - one brought a slaughtered sheep for a wedding and was forced to divide it to 10 portions asking 10 different individuals to walk it through the checkpoint. In that same way they bring in large quantities of Pita bread. Young soldiers have no idea of quantities of foods needed for large families and suspect that the residents lie to them. The military decides how much oil the olive trees yield. Some of the residents own olive groves on the other side of the fence but the authorities limit the amount of oil that they are allowed to bring into the SeamLine zone.
09:10 - Rihan-Barta'a checkpoint
12(!) trucks waited for inspection in front of the vehicles' inspection post. At the Palestinian car park new toilets are been built. A new "Kiosk" was opened at the park, an initiative of a Palestinian from the West Bank. Drivers set unemployed, as usual at this time of day. Very few cross over, mostly are merchants who distinct themselves by their private cars. During our stay there, not even a single car filled up with passengers going to Jenin. 10:30 - We left the checkpoint.