'Anin, Reihan, Shaked, Mon 15.12.08, Morning

Lea R., Anna N. S. (reporting)

Translation: Devorah K.

6:30 - 9:30 A'anin CP and other CPs at the same time
We give a ride to a sick child and his mother from the Rambam Hospital to the Reihan CP; from there they will go on to their home in Ya'abed. On the way I get off in the A'anin CP and Lea goes on with the child and his mother to the Reihan CP (New Barta'a); she does observations at the CP and goes on to the Shaked (Tura) CP.
People are going through slowly, about 2-3 minutes for each person. The first to go through note that every person is inspected and all his personal details are recorded in the soldiers' list. Since the CP opened (at six) no more than 15 residents have gone through. One of the soldiers was asked why they are not equipped in advance with a list of those with agricultural permits - for efficiency's sake - the soldier did not have an answer.
A resident of A'anin dressed in a shirt with 'ORT School' printed on it, is questioned about where he got the shirt and why he is wearing it. He says that he bought it in Jenin and the soldier told him not to wear it in the future.
A diabetic woman went through but her son does not have a permit and he does not go through with her. She asks to go back home; she will not go without him. Only after a wait of three 45 minutes do the soldiers allow her to go back home.
A Hummer arrives; we thought that it brought some reinforcements for the staff, but no, they are having a discussion in the middle of the CP and in the meantime the passage has been halted. A pickup truck arrives from the DCO. The CP looks as if it is on the verge of a battle, at least eight soldiers are underneath. But the passage is terribly slow. We call the DCO and try to comment on the tempo. They tell us that people from the DCO are on their way and everything will be in order. We say that the DCO people are already here and so is the disorder. 07:00 - About 100 people are waiting; we do not see them but the noise reaches us. Everything is proceeding very slowly. People come out with a minimal amount of equipment; they are not allowed to take any more.

A woman from Umm el Fahm is waiting near the CP for her eight-year-old son. The child is returning from a vacation in his father's house in A'anin. The father is not allowed to go through and there is nobody to take the little boy from there to his mother. The soldiers refuse to let him through. The mother has been waiting for twenty minutes and keeps asking them to allow him to go through to her. After a lot of persuasion, they relent and allow her to approach and take the child from the CP.

07:15 We were told that another hundred men and women are waiting below. The DCO people have gone away on the patrol road, so we could not speak to them. The soldiers stop two people. One of them, a young man, is handcuffed with his hands behind his back. We heard different versions of the reason for the punishment. The man has gone crazy, does not obey the soldiers, screams and curses; the soldiers shout back at him. He asks them to relieve the pressure on his wrists. The soldiers worry that he would try to run away and refuse.

07:30 - The soldiers say that until now (an hour and a half) about 66 men and women have gone through. Another 70 are waiting. We hear shouts and quarrels in the queue. We phone the DCO in connection with the slow tempo of the passage. Whether or not because of our call, another Hummer arrives. For a few minutes, the tempo of the passage is quickened, but very soon it falls back to the slow routine. Two-three minutes for a person to go through. A tractor arrives, with the driver and his wife. The driver says that his wife does not feel well. She threw up and fainted in the grove, and he now asks to go back home. A soldier who arrived in the last Hummer says in a hostile tone: Let them come back at three (the hour when the gatesinfo-icon open in the afternoon). I ask to talk to the CP commander. After I cross the forbidden line in order to call attention to myself, the commander arrives.
"What would they do if we had already closed?" he asks.
"They would get in touch with the 'humanitarian center' and ask them for help."
The soldier asks them to get in touch with him and tell him to let them through. He is not willing to make the decision on his own.

Those coming out tell us that there are still 30 people waiting and the lower CP is still open. The commander tells us that the man they arrested was caught with two counterfeit ID cards. The older man who was arrested but not handcuffed is suspected of having given him one of the IDs. The young one, handcuffed, is causing a disturbance and gets to the middle of the open area of the CP, yelling and claiming that he did not even want to go through. He just wanted to talk to the soldier. Three soldiers grab him, free the pressure on his wrists; he falls fainting to the ground; Afterwards he gets up and tries to attack the soldiers again. The soldiers take pictures of him, and of us. 09:00 The lower CP is closed. The last people to come out say that they closed the gates in the face of people who were waiting. The soldiers claim that those are people with invalid permits. In the meantime, the owner of the tractor and his wife are waiting. We try to speed up the procedures.

09:30 - The permit that comes through only allows the woman to enter. Her husband asks to go through with her but is refused. The claim is that the permit is only for her. We get in touch with the brigade again and explain the situation, and after a few minutes he is allowed to go through too.
The CP is closed.
Soldiers are waiting for the police to arrive.
We leave.

07:00- 07:30 Reihan (New Barta'a) CP

The last of the workers are now leaving. The passage is routine with a regular tempo. A number of loaded pickup trucks and a few private cars are waiting.

07:40 - 08:40 Shaked (Tura) CP

Many people are going through in the direction of the seamline zone, mostly agricultural laborers with tools. University students and pupils from school are going through to the West Bank. There are many cars on their way to the West Bank; they are inspected slowly, and their exit is delayed.