Aanin, Shaked (Tura), Rihan (Bartaa), Jalama, Monday, October 23, 2006, AMObservers: Anna NS, Netta G (reporting)07:00 – 11:10Aanin, 07:00We checked by phone yesterday, and people in Aanin told us that this morning, Eid el-Fitr, they would not go out to pick olives. Nevertheless, we passed Aanin checkpoint on our way to Shaked. The soldiers were preparing to lock the gates. They told us that no one had passed this morning.Later, the deputy head of Aanin council told us on the phone that, to visit relatives in the seam zone, a special permit had to be obtained.Shaked (Tura), 07:05 – 07:30 Few people, dressed for the festival, passing in both directions. The soldiers check by phone regarding an older man who wants to cross from Tura to the seam zone. In answer to our question as to the problem, they say they are trying to get a permit for him. The sergeant major emphasizes that he speaks Arabic. Another soldier says he shouldn’t talk to us because afterward it will look bad in the newspapers. The man did not go through.Rihan (Bartaa), 07:40 – 09:30When we arrive there are 11 detainees in the terminal. By 08:10, eight of them were released and crossed to the West Bank. At 09:30 when we left, one member of that group still remained and two new ones had joined him.The man who had been detained a long time told us that this happens to him every time, because he is “prohibited” by the police. He was arrested three years ago in a violent incident in Umm al-Fahm. He had received his punishment, but still remained listed on the computer.The pedestrian traffic is steady but not great, in both directions. All in festive garb, the little girls with colored ribbons and white stockings. People passing from the seam zone to the West Bank are laden with sacks of gifts and food (Ramadan custom). One man is not allowed to take through a large quantity of shoe boxes.During the three days of the holiday Israeli Arabs are allowed to pass at Rihan. They are forbidden to cross in their cars.One checking station suffices at the moment. No line is forming, apart from between 09:00 and 09:25, when for some reason passage from the West Bank to the seam zone is stopped. We’re told that it isn’t a food break.In the parking lot there are no pickup trucks with commodities.A few cars wait for passengers to the West Bank. One of the drivers says that he has to work during the festival in order to somehow feed his family.With the end of Ramadan, Said and Walid, the checkpoint children, are back in the lot selling tea, coffee and halva. Even during the eid, the children are trying to make a living.Jalama 10:30 – 11:10 The back-to-back is empty when we arrive. The District Coordination Office representative at the checkpoint tells us that earlier there was movement of goods. He also says that families crossed on prison visits this morning. Israeli Arabs are permitted to pass Jalama checkpoint on foot during the three days of Eid el-Fitr. The parking lot on the Israeli side is full of private cars. Complete families exit from the cars, resplendent in festival finery, and enter the terminal. One checking station is working, but transit is fast. We see a bus waiting for people on the Palestinian side of the checkpoint. Strange to write this, but there is a festive atmosphere at Jalama checkpoint.The soldiers at this checkpoint seem particularly pleasant. Perhaps the location on the Green Line contributes to that.