Barta'a checkpoint: breaking the records of his own dirtiness and ugliness

06:00 – Barta’a-Reihan Checkpoint
There are many people at the intersection.  Even the parking lot is full.  We cross over to the parking lot on the Palestinian side.  The crossing shed is full of workers who progress quickly to pass the terminal. Around the lavatories, there is an overflow of sewer water. The route that leads to the terminal is packed and is dark for some reason The parking lots at the foot of the checkpoints continue to fill up and people climb on the steep embankment on a footpath within the mountains of trash.

06:45 – Hermesh Checkpoint
Two soldiers man the post that has functioned since the end of May.  Then there was an attack in Hermesh.  Traffic is poor.

On the way to Ya’bed Checkpoint, at the junction of Amricha and next to two pillboxes (guard posts), there are guard posts with pairs of soldiers, carrying rifles drawn and aimed. 

07:00 – Ya’bed-Dotan Checkpoint
This checkpoint, which we have avoided for the past couple of weeks (for security reasons), has, in the meantime, undergone a serious upgrade.  Two wide roads were paved on both sides of the long cement blocks.  In place of bumpers and potholes, there are strips and striated vibration lines that slow down cars. Soldiers, stationed on the eastern side of the checkpoint, the West Bank side, keep an eye on cars that pass on to Area C.  They approach us, we exchange a few words, and they promise to enter area M”1.  The plaza in front of the monument to Moshe Tamam is covered with cobblestones.

07:30 – Tura-Shaked Checkpoint
Female students in striped dresses march up the path to the checkpoint. We weren’t able to see if they entered the inspection room, but they were seen beyond the fence, hurrying on the way to school. We asked someone who arrived from the West Bank, “How are things”?  “How was the passage”?  “Every day is garbage,” he answered and walked on.