Qalandiya, Wednesday, 22.02.06 p.m.Observers: Ivonne M, Tami BA safari type army vehicle emerged from the section of the checkpoint south east of Qalandiya and engulfed a woman, with her four children in holiday garb and with a baby in her arms together with suitcases and bags, in a cloud of dirt together with an old woman who was slowly making her way with two plastic bags, taxi drivers, and two machsomwatch women. Behind it followed another truck, two cement mixers, a van with a wagon, and a silver private vehicle — all on official duty and all contributing their share to the sting of the warningt: perhaps one had better think twice before coming to this place. It is a fact that in the parking lot of taxis and transits east, north and south — to Azariyah, Bethlehem, Hebron and Nablus, there are now only about 10 vehicles whereas there used to be dozens, even a month and a half ago. Everything is tentative and changing all the time for the worse, and the struggle for survival adjusts accordingly. Now, we only want to ask of the officer to move the yellow barrier (a yellow piece of metal well known from the fence but new here, on the walls of Jerusalem) a bit forward in the direction of the checkpoint so that people will not have to walk 400-500 meters from taxi to taxi. The meanwhile, the person from the private security agency, Ari, on commission from the Defence Ministry in the service of the occupation, promises that no car will cross the border.At the checkpoint itself, the sound system blasts out instructions, sometimes in a quiet gentle tone and sometimes in a shrill tone, in fluent Hebrew that is as effective as speaking to a deaf person, and this is directed to everyone. Even if it is clear as a bell, if not the first time in a positive manner, then a second time in a less friendly manner and then with a touch of Arabic. “Yalla, Come here, Yalla, all bags in the machine, lower the belt, go through the machine again”. “Yalla! Take it! Take the bag, the bag! Straight! Left! Straight!”Five”, is called out from the sound system, and 15 men who were standing quietly in the second lane run quickly to number 5. “Four” and seven men from line number one run quickly to number 4. That’s the way it is at the passages, “the hope of us all” with commands from afar via tens of cameras and television monitors in a closed circle and 5 xray machines, checks, and a magnometer, and gates that are operated by a press of a button from the room of the commander and electronic boards and illuminated signs that explain everything. (Welcome, take off your shoes, go in one by one, leave your bags on the xray machine, don’t leave your possessions alone, have a pleasant and secure time). Fifty meters from here, in the lane for cars, there are several soldiers from the old times that check by hand, outside, but this too will soon change. However, from under the very nose of this futuristic electronic surveillance in the passageway, the toilets and sinks of the bathrooms were stolen. The army, which knows how and when to react to such situations locked the doors. The sign which the Nazis used “arbeit macht frei” has been taken away, thank heavens. The copywriter of the security forces is working on something new.