Turah barrier: "they" are guilty

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Observers: 
Marina Banai and Ruti Tuval Translation: Naomi Halsted
Jul-17-2022
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Morning

05:55 Barta’a Reihan checkpoint (Palestinian side): Full, with large numbers of workers going to the checkpoint, beside the road, at the junction, in the parking lots and on the way up the sleeveinfo-icon at the exit from the terminal. We went down to the parking lot on the Palestinian side. We distributed 5 notes with details of Sylvia’s team, which helps the Palestinians clarify why they are prevented from entering Israel. The parking lot is exceptionally dirty, even though there are attendants who collect payment for parking – the money goes into the pockets of any of the owners.

06:25 Hermesh checkpoint: Nothing happening here. Cars zigzag between the concrete slabs in both directions. The other side of the checkpoint is considered to be Area A (of the Palestinian Authority).

06:35 Ya’abed-Dotan checkpoint: From the top of the pillbox (watchtower), we were informed that the soldiers from the Golani patrol had left (evidently on an operation, as we heard on the news) and the Nahal soldiers had not had time to raise their flags. Traffic is moving with no delays.

07:05 Barta’a-Reihan checkpoint: Still at this hour, throngs of people were continuing to come up from the terminal and walk through the sleeve, including an elderly woman who moved with difficulty. No one helped her and we remembered, too late, that it would have been possible to ask for a wheelchair for her. We regretted not doing so. 

07:15 Tura-Shaked checkpoint: We were told that the checkpoint opened at 7:10 this morning – 40 minutes late! Are the workers’ employers considerate when they arrive late? Again, we exchanged words with the soldiers about the responsibility for cleaning up the surroundings. Obviously “they” (the Palestinians) are responsible and not the soldiers, even though this is a military area. There is no local council here for us to contact and for sure no one in the IDF, even though the dirt has already spread into the checkpoint and along the sleeve.