'Anin, Reihan, Shaked, Thu 31.5.12, Afternoon
Translating Dvora K.
14:45 Shaked-Tura CP
We came a little bit before the opening time of the A'anin CP and so we started with the Shaked-Tura CP. There are no people going through at this hour. Bored soldiers are looking at Palestinian workers (we do not know if these are Israeli Palestinians or Palestinians from the West Bank) who are completing the work of paving the CP area. The sleeve for pedestrians is now longer and the traffic light poles have been painted blue. A woman soldier sits in a new hut, a green one.
15:05 A'anin CP
The gates of the CP are still locked. About 25 people and four tractors are waiting to go through. The people complain that their permits will become void tomorrow and they still have not received new permits.
15:10 The soldiers arrive late and open the gates. Within ten minutes, some more soldiers arrive. A military policeman inspects documents and packages. A soldier keeps watch over him and another one takes care that those waiting should not go through the gate. The others watch.
15:35 All of the people have gone through. They lock the gates.
15:45 Reihan-Barta'a, on the side of the seamline zone.
There is no queue. A father and his two children are waiting on the bench in the terminal. They (the soldiers) are inspecting the records of the children in the father's ID. They go through. Workers arrive in groups. Two windows are open and most of the time there is no queue. From time to time, they decide to let people in, in fives and then there is a queue, of course. Two people brought giant television sets and one has brought a small cupboard. For them the soldiers opened the gate near the turnstile. 16:50 We left the CP without a queue. Workers continue to arrive. Many workers greet us heartily.
It is worth coming to the CPs if only for such a greeting!