'Anin, Barta'a-Reihan, Tura-Shaked
15:00 – A'anin Checkpoint
About 15 men, three women, and a boy are waiting. The soldiers are in their positions and by 15:15 everyone has crossed. There were no particular problems, but one woman spoke to us in Arabic (her husband translated), saying,
"Do you see what is going on here?" We say that we do. A fence separates the village of A'anin and their land.
15:25 – Shaked – Tura Checkpoint
As usual there is little traffic at the checkpoint at this hour.
15:55 – Barta'a Reihan Checkpoint, Seamline Zone Side
Two Palestinian workers, wearing orange vests, are cleaning the parking lot. The swings have been dismantled but two
slides are waiting for children to play on.
Workers are returning from work in Israel and the seamline zone. There are also a few families dressed in holiday clothes, crossing to the West Bank. Occasionally there is a backup and a line forms near the workers' line on the seamline zone side. The workers in Israel are exempt from undergoing this check. A few people cross from the West Bank to the seamline zone through the terminal.
A resident of east Barta'a says that about two weeks ago, his son was working the family's fields, between Barta'a and the Israeli-Arab village of Um Kutuf, and the police confiscated his permit which designated him as a "permanent resident of the seamline zone," under the pretext that he had stayed in Israel illegally. The young man went to the Liaison and Coordination Administration twice, but his permit has not yet been returned. He therefore cannot go to the West Bank and return to his home in the seamline zone.
16:40 – We returned to our car and saw that people were going into the checkpoint on their way home. One of the people tells us that we should come on Sunday mornings, when the checkpoint is crowded.