Jalame, Shaked, Rihan, Wednesday, 28.6.06 AMObservers: Leah R, Netta G (reporting)06:05 – 09:50Jalame Checkpoint 06:00 – 06:35 Transit of workers proceeds normally. To judge from the number of transport vehicles waiting in the parking lot, the number of permits seems to have increased.The soldiers say they open the checkpoint at 05:30. They don’t know how many pass during the morning. They tell us that the prison visits have been cancelled since the incident at Kerem Shalom on Sunday morning.Six long trucks are waiting at the gate of the back to back lot.Shaked Checkpoint 07:15 – 08:05The gates are locked. A few individuals are waiting on both sides. We phone brigade and they say they will investigate. A military vehicle passes on the “system” road without stopping. A second one stops on the Palestinian side of the fence but the soldiers in it don’t open the gate. A third one passes. A fourth arrives, stops in the usual place, between the gates. 07:35 – they open the gate for vehicles on the Palestinian side.In response to our question, the soldiers answer that they were delayed because of an incident at Aanin.,b>07:40 – they begin to process the people who are waiting. Seven soldiers are busy passing a dozen Palestinians to the West Bank, and less than that number to the seam zone.An elderly couple from Dahar el-Malch, who want to go to a doctor in Tura, are not allowed to cross. They have passes for Rihan. It is a long way around and there is no transport. We talk to the officer on the spot, a pleasant captain from the new armoured battalion. He asked them to wait till the others have passed, and then lets them through to go to Tura by the shortest, most logical way.Rihan Checkpoint 08:15 – 10:40Workers from Jenin and Kabatea, going to East Bartaa, are waiting on the road facing the Israeli parking lot for transport. A Border Policemen drives them away from the main water tap, telling us that they close the water for the soldiers.The pedestrian crossing functions normally: not much traffic at this hour.09:15 – the pedestrian crossing is closed for roughly twenty minutes. The soldiers are having breakfast. Some thirty people are waiting in front of the gate at the Palestinian parking lot. When the gate reopened, transit was reasonably fast, the people being called by fives and coming out of the terminal within five minutes.At the vehicle checkpoint a tender loaded with vegetables is being checked in parallel with a private car.A young man with an Israeli ID, resident of West Bartaa, wants to go home. He has a one-time pass for Rihan through to Zebada, to accompany his grandmother. The pass expired on 23/6, and the soldiers at the terminal will not let him through. The commander of the vehicle checkpoint, a sergeant, helps us find the checkpoint commander, a lieutenant. The officer asks us to call the young man. They stand on either side of the net fence of the Palestinian parking lot, passing the ID and permit over the fence. The youngster doesn’t speak Hebrew. One of the Palestinian drivers serves as interpreter. Strange sight! The officer phones to check up on the youngster. We left before the clarification was over and, regrettably, did not take a phone number.