Jalama, CP 250 27/6/2004 Watchers: Anna N., Netta G. (reporting) 7:00. Some 70 men and 20 women are waiting to pass. The checkpoint for men is open from 5:00 while the women’s is open from 6:00, as the female soldier assigned to check the women does not sleep there so she arrives later.Minibuses await the female agricultural laborers. The queue progresses slowly as the people, some of whom have been waiting since 3 a.m.(!!!), are not standing in an organized fashion. 7:25. The checkpoint commander decides to gather identity cards and call their owners randomly. The soldiers call the people by megaphone. Because they mispronounce the names and have difficulties passing the megaphone back and forth between the male and female soldier, they ask one of the Palestinians to read the names from the pile of documents, and things start moving. It is strange to see how the Palestinian takes care that people should stand in the appointed place etc., and successfully takes the place of a checkpoint soldier. When the Palestinian assisting finally asks to go on to his job, a substitute is found among those waiting and so forth. The checkpoint commander agrees that the technique of collecting all the identity cards is not very effective. He is impressed by Anna’s recommendation to install a device for assigning numbers to the people waiting in line. He wonders how to prevent numbers being taken and saved for relatives etc. by powerful individuals.He promises to install a water carrier for the use of the people waiting to pass, and complains that the changing physical conditions cause difficulties for both sides because of: 1) the massive construction work at the checkpoint site and 2) the objections of the Palestinian gas station owners to allow the erection of a sheltered waiting area on their land. A shelter exists but is not used, as it is too small and stands in an inconvenient space.A family group – grandmother, father and a child (the child is to undergo an operation in Haifa) — are permitted to pass together through the women’s lane. A woman carrying a blue Israeli identity card is not permitted to enter Israel. We try to clarify the problem with no success. 8:30. The parking lot is gradually cleared of fuel trucks and fills up with lorries. 9:00, CP 250. The passage is clear. From time to time a random vehicle is checked. We stood there for about 15 minutes and only one car was stopped for examination. 9:15, back at Jalama. All the women have passed except for the Israeli citizen. We were unsuccessful in assisting her. The explanation offered was that she must enter by the checkpoint through which she exited. The men who waited have passed through both lanes of the checkpoint. None were detained.In the meantime, the parking lot fills up and a line of vehicles forms on the road, but the rate of passage seems reasonable.The checkpoint commander is open to various suggestions — that of a minibus driver that if documents are collected they be organized according to transports; that of some people waiting that separate lines be opened for laborers and merchants, as the latter carry large sacks that must be examined and are time-consuming. According to the commander, an additional line is not an option, but the merchants can be instructed to arrive later than the laborers. That way the laborers can pass earlier and get to their jobs on time without suffering undue delays and missing workdays.Passengers in vehicles and a bus from the settlement Ganim shout at us not to interfere with the work of the soldiers and advise the checkpoint commander not to speak with us.The construction of the permanent checkpoint goes on. Two wings of the building have already been painted in pastel colors of pink and blue(?!).