'Anin
The olive harvest begins!
On Saturday morning, Simhat Torah, M., a resident of Anin, in the district of Jenin, phoned me. He offered me and my family greetings on the holiday and asked if the checkpoint would be open the next day. Anin Checkpoint allows the farmers from the village of Anin to pass through to their lands, in this case, their olive orchards, which are trapped in the Seamline Zone. During the olive harvest, the checkpoint is supposed to be open every day; in other times the checkpoint is open only on Mondays and Wednesdays.
I was surprised, and asked, “and on Sunday?” M. answered that they say the harvest will begin tomorrow. I promised to find out. I called the District Coordinating Office (DCO) and a polite soldier answered that as yet they don’t know. They didn’t receive any instructions and there is no one to ask, because “the officers are at home.” She suggested that I call on Sunday morning. The suggestion didn’t seem logical to me; I was concerned that the farmers would lose one day of the harvest. In the meantime, Shuli turned to someone else in the DCO and requested an answer. She later received a response that the harvest would begin tomorrow, that the checkpoint would open in the morning, and that the residents of Anin know this. M. was happy and we wished him a successful season. It is important to note that the residents of Anin are very lucky that at least there are no aggressive settlements close to them.