Reihan, Shaked, Wed 19.11.08, Morning
Observers:
Nava and Hedva (reporting)
Nov-19-2008
|
Morning
Translation: Devorah K.
Shaked (Tura) CP:
As we get out of the car, a Palestinian with a donkey cart is waiting for us. He tells us that he is on his way to the olive press in Tura, a village near the CP on the Palestinian side. In the cart there are three sacks of olives and some empty plastic containers for the oil. He lives very close to the CP on the side of the seamline zone, but the soldiers did not allow him to go through without a special permit. He was told to phone the DCO and that is what he did. There he was told to wait and he was now under pressure because he knew that at ten o'clock the CP closes here. We called the DCO and they immediately explained that the case is known to them and we were asked to tell the man to go to the gate immediately, that this time he will be able to go through -- there is a permit. And indeed that is how it turned out.
After that a young Palestinian who went through in the opposite direction (from Tura to the seamline zone) talked to us and complained that he is not allowed to transport containers full of oil - all together three containers for household use for his family. The soldiers claimed that he must show a permit for the oil and he did not have one. We thought -- what will happen when the man who talked to us before will want to return home with his oil and he, too, will have to have a special permit for that. At the end of the soldiers' shift, at 10:00 and before the gate closed we asked a soldier in the CP why there is a need for a special permit to transport olives and oil if they are in small quantities for household use only and this is the olive-picking season. We were told that it is already the end of the olive-picking season and at any rate we should ask the DCO in order to find out about this topic (as about every topic).
Reihan CP:
From the upper parking lot we go down into the sleeve, on the way to the terminal. At the entrance to the sleeve, a few Palestinian men talk to us, greeting us, and complain that they have been waiting for the van that brought them to the CP and turned into the vehicle CP for inspection. They went through the terminal some time ago and the vehicle is still being delayed. A few minutes after that we saw that the car was free. In the sleeve and also near the entrance to the terminal, we received various reports about how long the inspection takes there.
A few people told us that it took them a quarter of an hour from the minute they entered and until they left. But there were two who reported angrily about an inspection of almost an hour and a half. They said that they came from Tul-Karem and maybe there is some connection with that!? At any rate those coming from Barta'a reported that the passage was quick and without any particular delay. In the lower parking lot we noticed three trucks loaded with goods and two Transits. They did not go through to be inspected until we left the CP. The procedures in the inspection post of the vehicle CP seemed to take a long time, considering that the traffic was very thin.
A few people told us that it took them a quarter of an hour from the minute they entered and until they left. But there were two who reported angrily about an inspection of almost an hour and a half. They said that they came from Tul-Karem and maybe there is some connection with that!? At any rate those coming from Barta'a reported that the passage was quick and without any particular delay. In the lower parking lot we noticed three trucks loaded with goods and two Transits. They did not go through to be inspected until we left the CP. The procedures in the inspection post of the vehicle CP seemed to take a long time, considering that the traffic was very thin.