Reihan Wednesday, 18/8/2004 Observers: Lea, Suzan F., Mara B. (reporting) 15:15-17:45, Reihan West. We reached the Reihan checkpoint after a short tour (which was extended a lot more on the way back because of a navigation error). On both sides of the checkpoints, there were no delays. A few cars on the eastern side passed after a short examination. From the west, very few cars arrived. A truck with Palestinian license plates, loaded with cows, was standing on the western side. According to the driver, he bought the cows at Moshav Yogev (or at Kfar Yehoshuah), and because Jalama checkpoint was closed (or because there was no transfer to Jenin), they told him (at Jalama) to travel to Reihan. One of the cows was sick, and he wasn’t allowed to pass even though all his papers were in order.We went to hear “the other side.” Here the version was slightly different: The driver arrived with an Israeli truck, asked to transfer one sick cow (so she wouldn’t die on route) only to a Palestinian truck which came towards him from the east. The CP commander allowed him (for humanitarian reasons…) to transfer the sick cow, and strangely enough (!) all the cows passed to the Palestinian truck, and the Israeli truck vanished at once, without a trace. The soldiers at the checkpoint had no way to check anything, not even to make sure the cows were not stolen or that the documents weren’t perhaps forged. The Palestinian dealer stood hours at the checkpoint, trying to coax the soldiers and us in turn, to allow him to transfer all the cows to the West Bank. At 17:00, in a conversation with Shadi from Salem DCO, no solution appeared, except to order transport by an Israeli truck, which would take the cows back to Jalama. Finally, the assistant commander of the brigade arrived, and he let the cows, with the driver, enter the West Bank. Basically, the atmosphere was relaxed. On the western side, there was a group of people without transfer permission; they waited for their identity cards to be checked. All passed by the time we left at 17:45. Reihan East. The soldiers didn’t really want to allow us to cross. They were worried for our safety, but we explained to them that we took all the responsibility on ourselves. From this side the direction signs to those coming to the checkpoint (pedestrians; cars; no entrance; etc.) were in Hebrew only. I drew the checkpoint officer’s attention to this, to which he responded that it’s true that this isn’t right, and that he would take care of this the same day. There were also policemen in blue, one of them ready to help, the other less so. A strange sort of person also arrived in a cowboy hat, who talked and expressed himself quite freely, blatantly racist. The policeman asked him what exactly he was doing there, and the surprising answer was: “There’s a line, so you come to see.” I also won from him the constructive criticism in the words: “Nothing will come from this writing. You have to teach them before they get to the checkpoint.” I asked: “Whom exactly?” The conditions for the soldiers are more difficult here, at Reihan, than they were at Barta’a, and to the people of Barta’a there is a longer trip to the checkpoint. The institutionalization is depressing, because it proves that this is not something temporary.