Jalama, Shaked, Rihan, Barta’a, Sunday September 4, 2005, AMObserving: Raya Z. , Neta G. (reporting)Jalama checkpoint, 06:00 – 06:05The CP is deserted. Closure goes on. A man and a woman from Israel are going into the sewing workshop in Jalama. The regular employees are allowed in, even on days of closure. The soldier on site tell us that the back-to-back park operates as usual.Shaked gate, 07:05-07:55Both gates are open. The man with the donkey goes through; school children wait by the gate and are called in, two by two.They are being inspected by a list held by soldiers, and their school bags are inspected as well. The older students are required to present ID cards. More pupils show up from time to time.Soldiers order them to move backward and not pass the first gate. Pace of passage is reasonable. By 07:50 all the students had gone through. Some of the students attend school in nearby Tura and others go in a vehicle that waits for them on the other side of the gate and drives them to the high school at Ya’abed. The officer on site says the list has 30 students. He also explains that the gate’s opening hours are changed daily by the District Coordination Office (DCO) and there is no point of listing the hours on the gate. Nonetheless, he did say that most days they open it from 7:00 to 8:00 in the morning and between 12:30 and 14:45 at midday. Rihan checkpointThe checkpoint is still closed to Palestinians. It will reopen after all removing all the rubble of the destroyed houses of the settlements Sa-Nur and Homesh. A female soldier suggested we should not go through Barta’a due to an alert concerning two terrorists who are said to be on their way to the CP. Despite the warning we did drive through Barta’a.Barta’a checkpoint, 08:05 -09:15On the Israeli side of the inspection post there were many people and cars. Due to the high alert concerning terrorist activity, soldiers demanded that drivers as well as pedestrians do the “dance” procedure. Very few people agreed to that; the rest refused and the head of the East Barta’a municipality arrived on site to support his people. The protest was quiet and dignified. The soldiers stayed calm. Whoever complied with their demands, went through. They didn’t bother those who protested.In the meantime passage of vehicles from the West Bank went on in an orderly manner. Average waiting period was 20 minutes.There were 3 detainees who were released in a relatively short time.At 08:40 the “dance” procedure was stopped for those going into the West Bank. Passage was swift and in a short while all people and vehicles went through.At Barta’a there was no closure. Many Arab Israelis walk through in both directions.