'Anin, Barta'a-Reihan, Tura-Shaked

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Observers: 
Tsfafrira Zamir, Neta Golan (reporting), Translator: Dvorha K.
Feb-27-2014
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Afternoon

 

15:15 A'anin CP

We arrived late (our hitchhiker from Rambam was late). All of the people have already gone through Only the soldiers were waiting for 15:30, the official time for locking up the CP.

 

15:40 Barta'a-Reihan, on the side of the seamline zone

Already at this hour, many people who work in Israel and in the seamline zone are returning to the West Bank. Those who work at picking citrus fruits are returning with sacks full of fruit. One person has a box full of flowering plants, and offers us some as a gift. We thank him and refuse. A sweet boy gives each of us an orange. It is tasty and refreshing. A few mothers with little children go through from the West Bank to the seamline zone. They are from Jenin and have received a permit to visit in Barta'a. The husbands and fathers apparently did not get permits. One of the women told us that her husband is forbidden to go through to Israel and some other people told us that they have permits to the seamline zone but not to Israel, and therefore cannot find work for their livelihood. We gave all of them Sylvia's telephone number (her team helps those who have been barred from travel, by the General Security Service and the police, to overcome the complicated bureaucracy and try to find out why they are forbidden to travel, and whether it is possible to get permission after all.). Another person told us that passage in the afternoon is all right, but in the morning the conditions are terrible. He asked us to come every morning when they open at 05:00.

 

16:30 Tura-Shaked CP

According to the army's definition, this CP exists so that Palestinians from both sides of the West Bank can lead their lives with minimal interference caused by the separation fence. That is the source of its (improbable) name : the"fabric of life" CP. It turns out that refurbishing a house is not part of 'the "fabric of life".

 

A small truck is waiting in front of the CP, on the side of the seamline zone. The driver, a resident of Daher el Malek (a small village in the seamline zone, near the CP) tells us that in order to refurbish his house, he bought some construction materials on the West Bank and he wanted to transport them to the house in his truck, which has a permit to go through this CP. The soldiers did not allow him to transport the materials. Two hours ago, he called the Salem DCO, to speak to First Lieutenant T., who is the soldier responsible. He sent her a photograph of the construction materials via his phone. He is still waiting for an answer. We saw the photo which shows that he is really talking about a small quantity. The man telephoned T. several times, but did not get an answer. We also phoned her and there was no answer. At 16:30 a soldier from the DCO answered us saying that "it is forbidden to transport construction materials at the Tura CP. It is allowed at the Barta'a CP." She had no explanation for why he had to wait for two hours to get this response. The man is not allowed to go through the Barta'a CP with his truck. Moreover, it is far away and it will cost, he says, NIS 500 to transport the materials to another pickup truck, and this is more than the materials themselves cost. The DCO does not care about all this. As noted, refurbishing a house is not included in the 'fabric of Palestinian life'. 

 

16:40 A small wagon pulled by a donkey went through from the West Bank to the Seamline Zone with olive seedlings, which are included in the "fabric of life" concept.