Barta'a-Reihan, Tura-Shaked
15:20 – 16:45
15:20 Shaked-Tura checkpoint
The site is quiet. There are very few people among them students from Jenin returning from the West Bank.
Passage is swift.
There are hardly any people crossing over from the Seam Line zone.
15:50 Rihan-Barta'a
We go down to the lower car park and meet A. who tells us of his difficulties getting a job in the West Bank. He says that at the construction site of the new city that is being built with American support they require professional documents that he cannot provide and he misses out on an opportunity to earn a living.
16:10 A stream of workers returning from Israel and from Barta'a floods the checkpoint but passage is quick and without delays and without problems. One tells us that despite the DCO declaring that his permit was "ok", he is delays every morning at the checkpoint. Workers who left this morning through the Yirtach checkpoint by Taibe, say that the morning conditions there are still bad. Some of those working in Israel (even if it's in Hadera) prefer crossing over through the Jalame checkpoint where passage is faster, though recently even there things have slowed down.
Another person complains that at A'aneen they stopped giving out agriculture permits. (?)