Were there also crossings for pedestrians at the Zufim checkpoint, or just for vehicles?
Pedestrians could definitely cross there. In the morning, there were people who were from Zufim or were permanent residents.
Did they have freedom of movement?
They had to be checked, but yes.
Were the agricultural crossings always open?
Of course. The Zufim checkpoint was open twenty-four hours for the residents there. For the most part, the agricultural gate is open only at certain hours. Aside from that, there’s a facility in every area where they check pedestrians.
Permanent residents couldn’t cross there?
They could. It’s a bit vague.
Can a Palestinian cross at two in the morning?
No. There are defined hours at the checkpoints, even if you’re a permanent resident.
But if someone Jewish comes at that time, can he cross?
Yes. Even though we carried out our work in Reihan as strictly as possible, there were always people who could cross as long as we were at the checkpoint. Only if they came from the Israeli side, for example, could they cross late at night, because there was no reason to keep them on the Israeli side. The authority to check someone was ours alone, and no one else’s.
You said there were blockades set up between the Palestinian villages, Azun-Atma and Beit Amin.
It’s like in Hawwara—you play bingo. You have a short version of the ID number, the last four numbers, and you’ve got the program on the computer. You check the number—for the most part, there’s not much reason to keep inspecting. The thing is that there’s no fence to prevent people who live in Azun-Atma from crossing into the Israeli side because they’re there. If they leave the village—but they can’t leave the village because there’s a prohibition because they’re Palestinians—but if they were to travel west, they’d be considered illegal aliens. The reason for the crossing is to prevent Palestinians who don’t have a permit from going to visit Azun-Atma, or to catch a wanted person who wants to go there.
So if someone’s not a resident of Azun-Atma, can he go there?
No.