ברטעה-ריחן, ג'למה, טורה-שקד

Rutie Tuval (photographer), Rachel W (reporting)

14.30  Jalama Checkpoint

We arrived with a mother and her 2 ½-years-old daughter, together with a cousin, whom we had brought from The Rambam hospital. The baby is getting daily dialysis at the hospital in Haifa.

We got out of the car at the checkpoint and were immediately surrounded by the security guards who asked what we were doing there, and who we were. One of the guards knew who we were. We heard that on the occasion of Ramadan the checkpoint is closed at 10pm and not at the usual 7pm.

There is a new roof at the vehicle entrance.

Tura-Shaked checkpoint

The garbage container is overflowing in all directions. Nothing has changed, the situation is only worse, and the filth is everywhere, including the other side of the road.  We obtained the telephone number of the checkpoint commander but he didn’t answer, so we left him a message about the state of the container. The soldiers at the checkpoint told us that they also would like the container to be removed, since it is already a health menace.

As usual only a few people passed through the checkpoint, which is really superfluous.

16.00 Barta’a-Reihan Checkpoint

There was a lot of traffic of workers returning from their jobs, although less people than usual pass through today.  There were also families who crossed to the Seam-Line Zone to celebrate the holiday with their relatives.

Passage through the checkpoint was quick and there were no queues at the inspection machines, even though only three out of the four were operating. Here also, like in Jalama, there is a new roof over the car entrance.  One of the security guards told us that there is a new coffee place for the Palestinians. When we wanted to receive more details, he was ordered not to talk to us.