Barta'a-Reihan, Tura-Shaked, Ya'bed-Dotan, Sun 9.6.13, Afternoon
Naomi Gal translation
Turah-Shaked Checkpoint
15:50 we arrived rather late, after we took a mother and her two children from Rambam Hospital to Jalama Checkpoint. The family lives in Jenin.
The checkpoint is very quiet. An Israeli truck drops off a worker; a tractor with a cart passes to the seam zone; a boy is waiting for someone and a woman greets us. Suddenly the banker passes swiftly on his way home. Little happens at this "fabric of life" checkpoint, but its development and expansion, with the traffic lights and the fences, gives an impression of importance and perhaps a preparation for something bigger...
16:05we leave.
16:25 a military vehicle stops next to us and a nice Lieutenant Colonel descends, asking if we need anything, and tells us that stones were thrown on the road in front of Yaved (we saw no stones on the road).
Traffic increases when workers return to the West Bank. Vehicles pass without being checked.
Four command-cars arrive and soldiers spread out in the olive groves searching for the stone throwers (probably).
16:45we left.
Barta’a-Reihan Checkpoint
17:00 alongside the sleeve descending to the checkpoint there's new construction. Containers, walkways, expansion.
At this time many people are returning from work and are rushing to the checkpoint. The passage is quick and without delays. Two women descend from a car carrying lots of bags. We wonder how they could carry everything, but within a minute they enlist men who pass by and the stack disappears.
A private car is being checked in the facility across the street. The doors, hood and trunk are wide open.
Before we leave a young man comes up to us and tells us that his father is a school teacher and has a permanent permit ("all zeros", refers to dates) but they do not give him permission to go to Jerusalem to visit his wife, who is hospitalized there. The father already has two lawyers, but the son thinks that maybe we can help.
17:45we leave.