Jalama, Salem DCOSunday morning, October 24, 2004Observers: Ana N., Netta G. (reporting); Shula B. joins at the DCO 06:30 – JalamaAbout 30 workers, men and women, who had exited the “sleeve” are waiting at the parking lot for transportation to work. Since that area is blocked to us, we asked them to describe the inspection process. There are three inspection posts and a conveyor belt on which they put personal belongings and shoes. At this time there is only one sleeve in full operation, but due to the partial closure in effect [restricting passage], there are few people waiting and there is no pressure. One of the workers, a carpenter who has been working in Kibbutz Mesilot for 33 years, asked us if we watched the documentary film “Checkpoint” on [Israel TV’s] Channel 2. He had. Six buses are waiting to drive family members of prisoners to visit various prisons, from Gilboa in the north to Nafha in the south. 07:00 – We ask to go to the waiting shed and to drive to Checkpoint 250. As customary in the past two weeks, we are not allowed to do so. We ask about the passage of prisoners’ families and are told that for the first time it will take place at the back-to-back area. [where commercial vehicles offload and reload merchandise crossing the CP without the vehicles having to cross it] 07:15 – The buses go to the back-to-back area, escorted by the Border Police, and we follow them. The buses were waiting for the families as we watched them from the gate. 07:30 – A car and two long trucks arrive at the gate, prior to the opening time (08:00). The female Military Police soldier there tells them that they will be allowed in only after the arrival of the staffer from the District Coordination Office [DCO, IDF Civil Administration that issues passage permits], following the passage of families. 07:55- The buses are directed into the concrete sleeve designated for the passage of tankers. The families (as much as we were able to see from the distance) who came out of the sleeve got on the bus and set out on their long journey. 08:30 – The second bus is on its way. The tanker is allowed into the parking lot. No other trucks came to the gate, and we didn’t find out why. 09:15 – Salem DCO We try to observe the Palestinians’ entrance to the DCO. They gather at the bottom of the “hill” on which the DCO is located and go through a fenced path to the Border Police post, from which they take the stairs into the DCO. About 80 men and women are waiting and are being called in one by one. Among those passing through, we recognize lawyers who are on their way to the military court at the DCO. The Border Police soldier at the post tried to send us away and refused, rudely, to answer our questions. We go to the DCO through the main gate of the base. We have a pre-scheduled meeting with Major Bassem. The major explains and elaborates on the general roles of the DCO. He leads us to the waiting shed across from the reception windows. At this early morning hour, the number of those waiting is few, and the area appears organized and clean. There are benches, big air fans and clean lavatories. There are signs in Hebrew and Arabic. Three reception windows are operational: one for requests for magnetic cards [proof of security clearance], one for requests for other permits and the third for permits as well. According to Bassem, at peak hours, there are 200 people waiting to be served. Most of the requests for permits are turned over to the Palestinian DCO in Jenin or Tubas. Permits for residents of the “seam line” area (the villages in the northern part of the West Bank, caught between the Separation Fence and the Green Line) and for those working there, are being taken care of at the Salem DCO, because the Palestinian Authority does not recognize the existence of this region. Regarding the question of family reunions, the major said that residents of the “seam line” area who are married to residents of the Palestinian Authority can obtain a permit to bring in their wives to live with them legally. However, the opposite — wives from the seam line area, who wish their husbands to move in with them — are not granted permits. The Israeli DCO also takes care of emergency cases, such as transfer of a baby who was in an urgent need of treatment at Rambam Hospital [in Haifa] during the night. This was made possible due to the assistance of the DCO in arranging the permit.