Rihan, Thursday, 20.7.06 AMObservers: Chanita H (guest), Revital S (reporting)06:30 – 10:30Aanin 06:30: when we arrived the gate was already open. On “our” side (seam zone) there was nobody, on the other side (West Bank) perhaps 60 people were waiting to cross. We were permitted to stand among the crowd seeking to pass, and they even made use of our feeble abilities as translators. About an hour after we arrived there was a shift change, which took ten minutes during which the gate was closed.Generally speaking the transit was horrifyingly slow. When we left after three hours, there were still people who had not crossed to their lands. Most of the time the soldiers were busy with teaching the people waiting to stand in line (Out of Zion shall go Forth the Law!) and punishing them by stopping passage whenever they looked like a flock…When we left, a young man was waiting on the other side of the fence, holding a pass to work anywhere in Israel, except Eilat. He works in Tel Aviv and sleeps in Bartaa. This morning, when he was already on his way to work, someone phoned to say his father had died. His pass is for Rihan, but the route to Taibeh is shorter through Aanin, and he asked to use it. Neither I nor the Palestinians standing around (many of whom know him because his wife is from Aanin) believed that he had a chance or that there was any way to help. Hanita, without any confusion, did succeed and he crossed by the more logical route as far as he was concerned.As always, many approached us with requests to assist them in removing the unexplained “prohibited by Shabak.” I transferred all the information, including the forms stamped “prevented” to Anna and Raya to be dealt with.Rihan 09:30: upon our arrival two vehicles with agricultural produce were being checked. Each box was unloaded and checked separately. Three more tenders loaded with produce were waiting – one with eggs, the other two with fruit and vegetables.At the vehicle checkpoint, at any given moment, there were no more than one or two cars. Today was the dance routine (raise shirt, roll up trousers, pirouette) but the passage was smooth.At the pedestrian checkpoint, next to the terminal gate, 15 people were waiting. Apparently the breakfast break had just ended, and the gate was opened. “Two by two…” announced in bad Arabic by an invisible woman soldier from inside the hut, and the transit was fast. People coming out of the terminal reported that there were detainees inside, but the checkpoint commander denied it.The commercial centre in the Palestinian parking lot is blooming. Somebody needs to make a film about Said, the checkpoint coffee seller.Shaked Checkpoint 10:30: locked and empty, as expected.