Rihan, Thursday 23.9.04, AM Observers: Matti S. Mara B. (reporting) 7:50 – We arrive at the checkpoint.On the northern side (Israel) there is no one and not a single car at sight. From the southern side we see a few pedestrian who cross the c.p. without delays. About 8 cars arrive at the gate, and after a short check they all go through except for the UN Ambulance. As it turns out, this ambulance is a mobile clinic which goes, at times, to Barta’a. They are not allowed in because they lack a permit. According to the DCO they usually cross with no problems, but now, apparently due to the tight closure, they are not let in. They call UNRA head quarter and awaiting instructions from Jerusalem.We speak with Shahdi from the DCO who says that in the past whenever he was nice to the UN, he would get complaints from his superiors. From time to time the UN needs to come to the DCO to receive the proper papers. He sees no problem with that.On the Palestinian side we notice a creative way in which they had solved the problem of the signs that were written in Hebrew only, they simply took down all the signs. They are pilled on the side with no ability toinstruct people as to which direction to take , where they should stand and where not…We left at 8:50 while the ambulance was still waiting to cross over.