Barta’a Saturday, 24/7/2004 Observers: Irit R., Sarit A., Yael H., Noa L. (reporting) Summary: In general, not a calm day. First of all there were two problems that were brought up by all sides: Detainees. The telephone inquires with the GSS take hours. Meanwhile the Palestinians who are waiting in the sun are getting dehydrated, it get crowded and the pressure builds both among the soldiers and the Palestinians, everyone runs out of water and all sides get hurt. Lack of coordination between the different parts of the army and the DCO.WWWWW Until recently people holding pink permits exited at Taibeh (Tulkarm) CP. Now it has been decided that they will not leave through there but via Barta’a CP. At Barta’a, the army sends them to Jalama. All this creates a chaos and useless stress for both the Palestinians and the soldiers. If there really is a reason for the change, at least they should be sent to the right place. 8:30. Everything is clear and calm. The soldiers are polite and efficient; most of them are from the Military Police, some from another unit.Very quickly the heat started to rise both literally and figuratively. A number of problems with permits cause the line to slow down creating a traffic jam. Some of the time only one soldier was checking. A number of drivers tried to cut to the head of the line causing anger and arguments that made the line go even slower. Towards the end of our stay, the bearded volunteer showed up to stir things up with his annoying manner. Even with all the problems, the soldiers manage to keep cool and to solve any problem within their jurisdiction. They even managed to find the time to fix the access to the cement steps at the entrance to the pedestrian pass. On the whole, cars coming from Barta’a going into the West Bank waited at the most 30 minutes when it got busy; pedestrians passed immediately both ways. Pedestrians who were detained in order to get permission from the GSS (including an old woman) waited at least two hours. Problems: Two cars full of Palestinians lead by the Head Councilman of Barta’a arrived with the body of a dead woman to be buried in the village, hoping to pass quickly. The soldier explained that they would have to wait since he needed someone to guard him while he inspected the vehicle carrying the body. The people escorting the body were upset that they had to wait and immediately started shouting. The officer stopped the argument quickly and after inspecting the vehicle sent them through. Family unification. Married couples where one of them has a blue ID card (Israeli citizen) and the other doesn’t are not allowed to cross. We explained that there is nothing we can do and they must go to the DCO on Sunday. This is a political problem and a decision has been made in by the government not to issue permits. A student studying in Jenin claimed that he always has trouble crossing with his car. Today he crossed but by foot. We suggested he contact the DCO as well as the Moked (Center for the Defense of the Individual). Israeli citizens, who tried to cross without their IDs but with other papers, were held up but were eventually allowed to cross.