Barta'a-Reihan, Tura-Shaked

06:05 – Reihan – Barta'a Checkpoint

At 06:20 the order to enter in fives is no longer enforced and people enter freely. 

At 07:25 I timed a person who entered the checkpoint from the West Bank.  He emerged on the seamline zone side after 15 minutes.

The coffee vendors are already very busy.  M.Z. tells me that his son is being detained inside.  This has happened often despite the fact that at the Liaison and Coordination Administration they were told that he was cleared.  

Several minutes later N., who is in charge of the checkpoint, sees me from inside the terminal.  He is accompanied by a security guard.  He approaches me and I ask him about Z.  He explains that Z. is not being detained, but rather he was sent to the Liaison and Coordination Administration because he was previously banned from entering Israel for forging permits. 

At 06:45 the flow of people slows down and the voice of the supervisor on the other side can be heard throughout the checkpoint. A lot of workers are waiting for rides to work.

07:07 – Shaked – Tura Checkpoint

The soldiers are getting ready to open the checkpoint.  School begins today and the children from the Lone House, located on the side of the security fence near the settlement of Shaked but belonging to the village of Tura on the Palestinian side, are the first to go to school.  For some reason they are sent to the inspection room.  The other children will cross through the vehicle crossing and not through the fenced-in sleeve for pedestrians.  

The litter in the sleeve from last week is still there. A soldier tells me, "It's theirs," and points to an aluminum pan with a Hebrew newspaper in it.  He promises to clean up the mess. 

At 07:30 the banker arrives with three schoolchildren. His brother, the children's father, arrives with his small son and watches from a distance "just to make sure that everything is OK with them and there are no problems at the checkpoint." 

At 08:05 we hear music from the direction of Tura followed by an excited speech, probably the school principal. I wonder what he is telling the children for the opening of this school year. I ask someone and he reports that they don't talk to the children about Gaza, and don't allow them to watch television.  "It's not for children," he says. He tells how his house in Dahar el Malakh was demolished because it was built without a permit. "What permit? The entire checkpoint is sitting on my land.  It's all s^^t."     

At 08:20 three more students cross through. The checkpoint is fixed and I left.