Reihan, Shaked, Sun 17.7.11, Morning

Translation: Bracha B.A.

06:00 – Reihan Barta'a Checkpoint

The seamstresses greet us as we arrive.  They are smiling and elegant as they sail off to work in Barta'a in their yellow taxicabs. Several workers follow them out.   "We’ve been inside for an hour.  How much longer?  Until we die?"  We hear shouting from inside the terminal.  People are not coming out.  We walked down to the Palestinian parking lot after one of the guards attempted to prevent us from doing so.  A man we know says he was in the terminal for an hour.  The guards urge us to move on and not talk to anyone.  Nine trucks and vans are waiting to be checked.  Workers are congregating at the entrance to the building.

07:00 – Shaked Tura Checkpoint

The gates are open. An archeologist is waiting for 20 workers who are working with him at the archeological site at Shahak.  There are about 40 people in front of the turnstile. 

At 07:06workers, a herd of goats, and a donkey arrive.  The school principal arrives at 07:10. He brings a young man to the checkpoint, drops him off, and leaves.  At 07:12 a Subaru arrives with two women, three children, and a driver.  It passes through in 9 minutes.  Cars coming from the West Bank pass through in a couple of minutes after the driver had gone through the inspection booth.  Two students, a woman, and a girl pass through in 7minutes. 

At 07:25 a minibus arrives with wheelbarrows on its roof.  Suddenly it turns around and returns towards the West Bank.  A group of workers leaves and makes room for a group of mothers with babies.  It appears that they are rearranging themselves in front of the turnstile, and the minibus has turned around towards the seamline zone.

At 07:38 the archeologist walks up to the head of the checkpoint and declares, "This is idiotic. This country is shooting itself in the foot."  He walks up to and peeks into the inspection booth and the soldiers follow him. 

At 07:48 the minibus drives up to the checkpoint again.  The driver gets up on the roof and begins to unload the packages, which look like sunshades, from underneath the wheelbarrows. 

At 07:50 the archeologist’s workers begin to come out and two minutes later the minibus arrives.  The driver says the soldiers are new and the archeologist claims that the policy at the checkpoint has changed since last week and they were previously able to leave by 07:30.  During this time six girls and a teacher pass through on their way to a seminar in Ramallah, carrying large posters.  The mother of one of the girls had to go back and retrieve the girls' ID cards and a boy who was with them collected the ID cards from the inspection room and returned them.