Rihan, Tuesday, March 1, 2005, AMObservers: Yocheved G., Chasida S. (reporting)08:30 – 10:00At this early morning hour, the checkpoint is quiet. Once again we checked whether it was possible to get to Barta’a through the security road and were told by the CP commander, Sergeant G., that passage from there is permitted for residents of East Barta’a only. There is no way of getting to the CP through the village, like we have in the past.In the shed, there was no one waiting.One man tried to go to Barta’a, but his passage permit was valid through Jalama only. There was nothing to be done about it. According to him, he owns a store in Barta’a but has no passage permit for Rihan. He was told that he should take care of the matter at the District Coordination Office (DCO) in Salem or through the head of the municipality of Barta’a.We walked down to the Palestinian parking lot. There were about 20 people sitting by the road, next to piles of waste. They are trying to make a living by driving people. They complain that they only earn about NIS 10 per day. We tried convincing them to at least pick up the garbage, but apparently this was perceived as paternalistic. In any event, the owner of the makeshift kiosk there promised to clean up.We went back up the hill to the vehicle passage post. Very few cars were inspected. There were no unusual problems.