'Anin, Reihan, Shaked, Mon 27.8.12, Morning
Translation: Bracha B.A.
06:10 – A'anin Agricultural Checkpoint
About 50 people – mostly young – are waiting inside the checkpoint by the middle gate. Many have received permits for the first time, for the next three to six months. Recently more than 100 permits have been issued.
Two soldiers are standing facing groups of ten or more people – this time without loaded and cocked weapons, as we have been accustomed to seeing. The crew is new, working slowly. Wahel, a representative of the Liaison and Coordination Administration, is present. The registration is done in a routine manner using the computer.
During our observation several young people were sent back to the village because their permits had expired. They claimed that they had applied for new permits early, but the paperwork had not yet been completed and they had attempted to cross anyway, without success. The question is, why can't permits be renewed before they expire? For the workers, who never know whether their permits will be reissued, this is a tiring and tense time, since they cannot plan their lives or livelihood until they know whether they will receive a new permit.
At 07:00 there were only a few people waiting, and we left.
07:16 – Shaked – Tura Checkpoint
A soldier is attempting to break the lock to the gate of the pedestrian sleeve
, unsuccessfully. Apparently the lock has been out of order for several days, because people who are headed for the West Bankare going straight to the center of the checkpoint without being stopped. About 20 people are waiting to enter the seamline zone and several cars are waiting to enter the West Bank. The checks in the inspection booth are routine. School will begin again on September 2nd, and meanwhile there are few children going to the West Bank. They ignore us when we ask where they are going, but we later learn that they are going to sit for their examinations again because they did not pass the first time.
07:40– Reihan – Barta'a Checkpoint
Seven cars are waiting to cross to the West Bank. The first is a yellow car with many passengers. They wait with their children to be checked before they can cross. We walk forward and are greeted by the security guards with "good morning" as they move the yellow gate. We were surprised to find a lot of people waiting to enter the terminal from the lower parking lot, which was unusual for this hour of the day. They nevertheless entered quickly and only had to wait when the terminal became full. A civilian car which waited to cross the checkpoint was forced to wait until the last of the workers entered the terminal, and the driver began honking impatiently for the inspector in the booth to open the gate. Men exiting the terminal are attempting to refasten their belts while they walk. They report that everything is going as usual, and that luckily the holidays are over and things can return to normal again.
We left at 08:45.