Rihan

Rihan, Tuesday, January 11, 2005, AMObservers: Ricki Y., Joy H., Meriam L., Tammi S. (reporting)10:00 - 12:00The checkpoint operated in a quite relaxed manner. The soldiers listened to the Palestinians (one of them spoke Arabic) and even spoke with us.Ricki brought a box of Chinese oranges and shared them in a non-discriminatory way between the soldiers and the Palestinians. All ate the offering willingly.We encountered one problem: 5 farmers from the village of Kapeen, holding agriculture permits valid until April of 2005, arrived at Rihan and the soldiers would not let them go through, claiming that the permit states that they should pass through gate number 12. Gate 12 is closed and therefore they tried entering through Rihan. Also, their lands are close to the Rihan checkpoint.Gate 12 (apparently, the old Barta'a gate) is controlled by the Tul Karem district. We made a few telephone calls to the Salem District Coordination Office (DCO) and later to the Tul Karem DCO. The heads of the DCO in both places were willing to help, and in the end the farmers did go through.