Mevo Dotan (Imriha), Reihan, Shaked, Sun 27.3.11, Afternoon
Translated by Dvora K.
15:00 Shaked - Tura
The CP is almost empty. A soldier is talking on the phone and he waves a greeting to us. There is a thin stream of people and cars going through. Still, there is a change in the backdrop: A concrete hut in the shape of a three-sided rectangle from which an armed soldier oversees the CP, was raised on two concrete blocks. Now the observtion post is higher and wider than before. The driver of a Transit tells us that he was not allowed to transport a washing machine. Now he is being called on to translate a discussion which is going on between the soldiers and a member of his family. The pass of his relative's wife is no longer valid. At the DCO she was told to bring the old permit, but it was taken from her by the soldiers at the CP and they refuse to return it to her. A soldier who was kind enough to talk to us said that she would not have any problem. The details written on her former permit will be found in the computer when she presents her ID card at the DCO.
15:55 Mevo Dothan
There are cars waiting on both sides of the CP. We ask the soldiers why they have to wait and they immediately let them through. After a few minutes, three soldiers walk off in the direction of Mevo Dothan and after that into the olive grove south of the CP. We approach the center of the CP. A soldier who is at the top of the pillbox explains to us that the soldiers which we saw have gone out on a patrol and the drivers know that they are now free to go through. But they are still hesitant. We signal to them that they are free to go through.
At 16:30, after we had walked around a bit in the settlement Mevo Dothan, we returned to the CP and discovered that the drivers are confused. There is a military jeep on the other side and they do not know if they are allowed to go through; they are waiting for a signal. We advise them to go through and they do so. Five minutes later, seven soldiers arrive. There are five cars on each side of the CP. "Should I begin to let them through?" "Don't take anything for granted!" "Where did you come from? From Tel Menashe? Did you work there? Ok" The driver of a truck loaded with sacks of cement on the way to the West Bank -- presents his papers to the soldier and goes through.
17:00 Reihan / Barta'a
The southern parking lot (the Palestinian lot) is completely full. At the northern entrance to the terminal, two windows are manned for the workers who are returning to the West Bank from the seamline zone. The passage is quick and the bench for the illegal sojourners is now empty.