Rihan, Saturday, July 30, 2005, PM Observers: Devorah, Danya (reporting)1645-1830We recommend moving the Saturday shift to the afternoon on a permanent basis. The traffic was very heavy despite the closure. We were informed that only residents of the seam area and farmers with the proper permits could cross. Pedestrian crossing: There are two new additions to the staff at the pedestrian crossing. The first is a commander who works with the District Coordination Office. He claims that there is always a representative of the DCO at the checkpoints, “except maybe for Saturday.” I have never seen one. He speaks Arabic pretty well. A female solider also speaks a little Arabic. The second new addition is a civilian guard who is responsible for the merchandise and equipment stored in the new “terminal.” Pedestrians approaching the checkpoint are now asked to stop at an imaginary line several meters from the end of the sleeve. If they are not familiar with the new imaginary line, a solider standing on the other side of the fence, at a new cement block, will ask them to stop and wait to be called. On the other side, several cement blocks were erected in front of the yellow gate, forming a shaded cement corridor for the pedestrians to wait in. The line to cross back to the Israeli side is longer than I have ever seen it, 60-70 people. Although the actual inspection does not seem to be more rigorous than usual, it is extremely slow. On average, it takes 1-4 minutes for each person to cross. If 60 people are waiting, it can take 2 hours to cross.The inspections seemed to move faster when we were observing. We asked several people how long they waited. Most said an hour. Some claimed to have waited 3 hours. Either way, I have never seen the pedestrian crossing so slow. One Palestinian family with 10 kids emptied the contents of several plastic bags onto the ground. Not all the children were listed in the parent’s ID. The DCO solider argued with another solider that they should be permitted to cross back into the seam area. They were detained while their IDs were checked and released after a while. Four children with no ID were permitted to cross back into the seam area.Detainees: The computer that connects them to the General Security Services has been broken for a week and a half. The process of phoning the GSS with the IDs of every illegal sojourner takes a long time, according to the solider we spoke with, a representative of the District Coordination Office. Vehicle crossing: The soldiers communicate with the drivers with a megaphone. The drivers are asked to lift their pants and shirts when they reach the begining of the line, before they drive up to the inspection point. It takes 4-6 minutes for each car.