Reihan, Shaked, Sat 30.6.12, Morning
Translation: Bracha B.A.
Shaked-Tura Checkpoint, 07:00
The western gate (on the Tura Side) opens five minutes late. There is a lot of vehicle and pedestrian traffic in both directions. A herd of goats crosses outside the sleeve.
A group of ten men and a woman in holiday clothing is waiting for a ride. Apparently they are teachers from Yaabed or Jenin who are on their way to serve as proctors at the matriculation examinations in Barta'a. Today there are exams in physics and history. The teachers have special permits for the duration of the examination period.
A lieutenant-colonel who introduced himself as Yoni, a reservist from the Air Force, comes up to us. He arrived in a jeep with a flag bearing blue wings and the number 490. He wanted to know what we saw. Do we have any comments? "We have to behave in a humane fashion." While we were talking he told another soldier or officer who attempted to approach us, presumably to protect him, to leave us alone.
We referred him to our website, but he said that he was not interested. After about a half hour while we talked with the teachers, he approached us again. He is in favor of dialogue. Did we have any explanatory activities? We proposed that he join our shift. That was not what he intended; he proposed that we reach the soldiers by offering chocolates and cookies and gain their support by being there. We explained our feelings about the existence of the checkpoints, and his reply was the usual, "Look, we gave them Gaza and look what happened…the rest is history."
We left at 07:50.
08:00 – Reihan Barta'a Checkpoint
There are a lot of empty Transits in the parking lot and little traffic. People go through quickly and emerge holding their belts in their hands. A young man says he waited for over an hour because he has no permit for the steel plates that he has between his bones.
08:50 – Amjad and little Mari come through the checkpoint and we left with them at 09:00 for Um Al-Fahem.