Shaked, Aanin, Rihan, Thursday, 29.6.06 AMObservers and reporters: Anna NS, Raya Z07:45 – 11:0007:45 – 08:15 Shaked CheckpointThe gate is open, five soldiers, one with weapon aimed at us, two in the emplacement with weapons pointed at the “red” area (borrowed military terminology). We advance “from blue to red.” A couple who want to cross to Israel are held at the gate. She is an Israeli citizen from Fureidis, he a resident of Nazlat Sheikh Said. She had visited him at the weekend and wants to return home. Beyond the fence (on the West Bank side) five workers from Tura are waiting. The soldiers are amiable and are clarifying over the radio, but blame the situation, the battalion and the orders that transit is denied everyone. The reason, after we strained to understand, is that the workers do have valid agricultural passes, but they are not included in the list that the soldiers are holding. Similarly, an Israeli citizen is not supposed to cross at Shaked (she was allowed finally), while her husband who is equipped with all the permits – is not on the list.After debate, the soldiers announced that they are compelled to close the checkpoint, but they will clarify and will return at 12:00 and, maybe, they will cross anyway.08:30 – 09:40 Aanin CheckpointWhile travelling in the direction of Shaked, we had seen farmers and workers walking alongside the road, and wondered whey they came from.At the entrance to thee road to Aanin, they told us that there is a change in opening hours. Now they open in the morning from 06:30 to 07:00 (or 06:00 to 06:30, according to another version), and in the afternoon from 15:00 to 15:30. This morning the gate opened at 06:45 and is still open. On the “blue” side (the seam zone), a group of youths and some 20 children are waiting. They tell us that there is a new law: in the morning transit is only from “red to blue” (from the West Bank to the seam zone), and in the afternoon only from “blue to red,” and so now, in the morning, they are preventing anyone from returning home to the West Bank. Last week they had gone to visit their grandfather in Um el-Rihan. That was on Monday and, despite the fact that it was a transit day at Aanin, the gate was closed. Today the soldiers are preventing them from returning home. Another talk with the soldiers, who confirm that they cannot pass into the West Bank except in the afternoon – even though they have valid agricultural permits, and even though their parents are waiting for them just across the fence to take them home (they are listed in their parents’ Ids).We phone the DCO and brigade and, after the usual delays, are told that an order will be passed down to battalion to let the children through, even though they arrived late at the gate (a lie – the children had been waiting, and waiting, and waiting for a miracle, and the soldiers confirmed that they were responsible for delaying the children). The delay seemed to be a personal initiative. In any event, until the order arrived from brigade to battalion, the soldiers are closing the gate while arguing with us and with those who are waiting in vain.While we are there, until the gate closed, all the people waiting crossed from Aanin into the seam zone – some 80 in all. The check was slow and thorough. It seems to us that half an hour in the morning is not enough, and in fact the gate closed very late according to the soldiers.One of the farmers complains that an unidentified element is dumping large quantities of henhouse garbage on his land in the seam zone.09:50 – 11:00 Rihan CheckpointAt the vehicle checkpoint five private vehicles are waiting on the road., and 11 loaded tenders in the parking lot. The check is extremely slow.Mustafa from Bartaa tells us that the DCO requested from the head of Bartaa Council to supply them with a list of all the plate numbers of vehicles of the local residents, and whoever has a police file will not be allowed to enter Bartaa with his vehicle.At 10:15 thirty people are waiting at the pedestrian gate, among them two children and a sick old woman. They claim that she had passed out earlier. There is no shade, the heat is heavy, the gate has been closed for an hour and a half. A policeman and a soldier come to check the state of the ill woman – and claim that she is okay and there is no reason for uproar.After debates they open at 10:45. For security reasons, all the soldiers take a meal break together and during that time, the gate must be closed!At the vehicle checkpoint: one of the tenders loaded with citrus plants, jasmine and tomatoes, is being prevented from transit. Though he has permanent coordination to pass here, that is only for food. Transfer of plants requires special coordination, and tomorrow’s list is already closed.When we leave at 11:00, they are checking three tenders in parallel, so the transit is faster.