'Anin, Barta'a-Reihan, Tura-Shaked
Anin agricultural checkpoint will continue to remain open five days a week for the duration of the olive harvest until the end of the month.
07:05 – Anin Checkpoint
A vehicle from the Coordination and Liaison Administration is already parked between the two fences. The soldiers arrived shortly after we did and were a bit late. They greeted us and allowed us to enter the checkpoint area up to the CLA vehicle. A polite person from CLA explained to us that the checkpoint would be open five days a week for the duration of the olive harvest, as opposed to twice a week during the rest of the year in order to take the farmers of Anin into consideration.
07:30 – Tura-Shaked Checkpoint
There are still a lot of workers grouped around the turnstile. Someone jokingly says that today they opened "early" at 07:00, which is the hour that the checkpoint is supposed to open. We wondered where the school children were and we received several answers. One reservist told us that he knows, but is not obligated to tell us. A Palestinian man told us that the schools are closed because of the security situation. Another tells us that today is the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed. (This was later proven to be false by someone at Barta'a Checkpoint who told us that Mohammed was born in April). An Arabic teacher searched on the Internet and found nothing about a strike in schools in the West Bank. We later received an explanation that today is the 27th anniversary of the day on which Arafat declared a Palestinian state. One month later his declaration was approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations.
07:55 – Reihan–Barta'a Checkpoint
The parking lot on the Palestinian side is completely full; some cars were even parked in the blocked areas inside. These were evidently vehicles belonging to merchants who had parked there the previous evening. The turnstiles are empty. Occasionally several workers arrive and enter immediately. The parking lot opposite, which is meant for trucks, was also completely full, as well as the sides of the road on the way to the checkpoint. We met N., an old acquaintance of Leah, from the checkpoint. N. recently lost his eldest son, who was handicapped, and he has another five children at home who are paralyzed. They require medical equipment that he cannot afford to buy.