Shaked, Rihan, Saturday, 1.7.06 AMObservers: Dahlia Z, Rachel H (reporting)07:20 – 11:00Shaked CheckpointSummer vacation. The children passing are in festive clothes. Today they get their school reports (so they tell us).Testimonies: * A woman with a Russian passport wants to pass, with her children, from the village next to the checkpoint, Tura, into the seam zone. No permit. The relative who is waiting for her, comes through and goes back.* A man from the “lone house” of Mizlat Zaid (the village which is entirely on the east side of the fence except for the one house) wants to cross: “You – will cross only at Rihan!” “I haven’t been at Rihan for a year.”He waits.We call the DCO and ask that they help him. After 10 minutes, he is allowed through.* A child who is entitled to cross to the school on the east side of the fence (the West Bank) is accompanied by his father, who is not entitled. The father asks the soldier to allow him to go with his son. The soldier (a staff sergeant): “Don’t put me in this situation. If I pass you, what will the ones who I didn’t allow have to say? How do you know that I’m new? Okay, from today, the new ones won’t pass anyone. Do you know how many who want to cross are told ‘no’? Do you understand?”Father: “Help me.”Soldier: “You give a finger, they want the whole hand. The child could also be stopped from crossing here!”He turns to us: “What do you think – that I don’t want to be with my girl right now? We are protecting you!”We took the two of them to Rihan…Rihan Checkpoint08:20 – drivers in the west parking lot are waiting impatiently for the women workers from the West Bank, who have not yet completed the process of crossing.They say that the gates opened only at 07:30 this morning.Two DCO representatives come out of the terminal, explain that according to “Shabbat procedure” 07:00 is the opening hour. but “they have become accustomed to the fact that over the last three weeks, the opening here has been at 05:30 because of mis-coordination.” 08:30 – the pressure of pedestrians who are waiting outside the yellow gate has grown. Some 30 people are waiting. Very, very hot… The sun is blazing down, the gate is locked, the military policeman in the hut is on the phone, and answers us: “I didn’t receive orders to pass antyone.”The DCO representatives: “There’s pressure, it’s the process.”And it takes 20 minutes to the exit, with trouser belt in hand. 08:50 – the yellow gate is opened. Eight pass through. The turnstile jams. Shouts: “irjah, irjah” (back off).Punishment: everyone is returned behind the gate.We complain. The DCO representatives go into the hut to the military policeman.08:55 – the gate opens, ten are allowed to pass, then another ten. A gynaecologist with a mobile ultrasound with the others, but passes escorted by an elderly IDF volunteer.We wanted to pass to the Palestinian parking lot: “closure!” says the gate guard. A woman soldier is summoned from the tower: “No talking!” He explains, in his defence: “I’m only trying to drive them away.”We helped a grandmother to carry heavy packages to a taxi, and gave her a drink before she passed out from heatstroke. We did not see any cars in the direction of Israel.09:35 – five pass, there are still 15 outside the gate. Leor, the military policeman in the hut, comes out with an empty water bottle. Leaves the door open, as though he’s going only for a moment…And so the people stand outside the gate, in the heavy heat, with new people joining. Women, babies, old men, old women.Until 10:40 we phoned the DCO, the Humanitarian Centre and the brigade. Everywhere they promised “to check.” After a second call , “dealing with it.” After the third call – same as before.The armored corps soldiers who are on guard detail tell us that the team are eating breakfast, and even soldiers are entitled to an eating time. The soldiers, male and female, come out from breakfast, but don’t go to the checking stations. They continue to chat and amuse themselves, and are angry with us because we prod them to start processing the waiting people who have already been more than an hour standing in the sun.10:45 – they begin to process the waiting line, among them people who have been an hour and ten minutes under the blazing sun.11:00 – we leave, after almost everyone has gone through into the terminal.