'Anin, Reihan, Shaked, Thu 10.1.08, Morning

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Observers: 
Sima S, Anna NS (reporting)
Jan-10-2008
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Morning
06:15 Aanin Checkpoint
Very cold. The checkpoint opened at 06:00. According to the soldiers, 15 people have passed, among them an adult with three small children.
06:30 – the soldiers close the checkpoint. We ask whether more people are waiting, and the officer replies airily that there are perhaps two or three. They were late by five minutes and will not pass. Tomorrow they will be a quarter of an hour late. The soldiers close the checkpoint – and we hear the cries of the disappointed people as we make our way to the car.

06:50 Shaked-Tura Checkpoint

The soldiers are making the last arrangements to open the checkpoint. A few are waiting on the West Bank side. All are complaining about the cold.
A Hummer arrives with the soldiers from Aanin. We heard by phone that 20 people were waiting after the checkpoint was closed in their faces.
The officer denies that anyone was waiting when he closed the checkpoint:  "Yuo agree that an officer won’t lie," a woman soldier at the Jenin DCO says. I don’t agree. She then says: "No one is waiting." We explain that we received phone calls from people who are waiting there. Finally she says she will check.
They did not reopen the checkpoint.

07:30 Reihan-Bartaa Checkpoint

No passage into Israel, apart from workers in the Seam Zone. The checkpoint opened on time. Fewer people than usual in both directions.
Two pick-up trucks wait at the checkpoint, and four more in the inspection compound. A few drivers are clustered around Walid’s hot samovar while he makes tea for them.
Sun, rain, cold, and wind.
At Amriha people are passing according to the set formula: local residents with IDs, and others with permits. President Bush is in Ramallah, and people joke bitterly that what has been will be...
A resident of Bartaa tries to obtain permission to transfer the residence of his old and sick parents from Jenin to Bartaa, close by his home. They will not give it to him. They suggest that he move in with them, in the West Bank.
08:45 – cold. We leave.