Jalama, CP 250 Sunday, 25/7/2004 Observers: Ana N., Neta G. (reporting) 6:00, Jalama. Only one checking post. The electronic gate is open, manned by an officer and a soldier from a new armored force battalion. According to them, they had opened the gate at 5:30. About 20 women and about 50 men are waiting to get through at this time. Israeli mini buses await them on the Israeli side. 6:15. Military police soldiers arrive and open another checking line. They have only one metal detector and therefore do not open yet another gate. Meantime, the number of men waiting the checking is growing and their patience is growing smaller. Merchants loaded with packages start coming. 7:00. The soldiers stop the passage. Those waiting to pass through go down to the road and the soldiers are afraid that they might stand in the way of the driving by vehicles from the settlements of Kadim and Ganim. 7:15. The passage is renewed with the soldiers arranging for two lines by the table with one metal detector. 7:30, CP 250. The soldiers tell us that there is an alert and that we should not stand too close. They check vehicles coming from Jenin and some of the cars from Jalama. Checking is swift, and the lines are not long. 7:50, Jalama. Only a few women are still waiting, but the number of male workers and merchants has increased. The soldiers worked out a system to keep order: they parked a jeep in front of those waiting and arranged, on the side, a small group of people at a time, who would be called for checking. Meanwhile another metal detector is found and there three lines. Very much in order but extremely slow. The parking lot is beginning to fill up with trucks but there is no long line on the road. 8:40. When we left the check point, all women have gone through; the passage of men was advancing slowly. We have continued our conversation with workers who have crossed the gate to the Israeli side as well as with the drivers, driving them to work. They all complained of the slow process of crossing the gate and that those who work in the Tel Aviv area are not allowed to cross at the Tulkarm checkpoint. We were unsuccessful in getting hold of the DCO. Later in the day we found out that they were on a tour at Yad Va’Shem(!) [Memorial for the Jewish victims of the holocaust]