Barta'a-Reihan, Tura-Shaked

15:35 – Tura-Shaked Checkpoint
On the way to the checkpoint, we saw Israeli police stop a Palestinian car and inspect the paperwork strictly.  The same police car appeared afterward at the Barta’a Checkpoint. A number of cars passed the checkpoint in two directions.  Workers returned to the West Bank and women with packages returned from the direction of the West Bank to the Seamline Zone.  The passage was quick.  Despite the thin traffic, at the exit from the checkpoint, a traffic light was working..

16:00 – Barta’a-Reihan Checkpoint
Many workers, among them a few seamstresses, went down to the terminal on their way home, after a day of work.  Because they don’t have to cross the terminal and they don’t have to go through a biometric inspection anymore, they don’t hurry and walk leisurely.They even stop at the buffet that is still open, for a cup of hot coffee and fresh pastry.  Inside the terminal, one inspection window is open, serving a few young people who are returning from the West Bank.

One of those passing through told us that his brother arrive one day at the terminal and discovered that he had forgotten his permit in the car.  Since then they are not letting him pass through the checkpoint, even with the permit in his hands.  He turned to the District Coordination Office (DCO) and wasn’t accepted there.  They told him that he will only be accepted with a "invitation".  In my conversation with the DCO, it turns out that anyone who appears once at the checkpoint without a permit, is registered in the computer as someone who has stayed illegally in Israel (shabah) and therefore he has to renew his permit with the DCO, although there is no need for an invitation.