Qalandiya, Ar-Ram, Sho’afat 14/3/2004 Watchers: Ayala S., Ruti E., Chana A. (reporting) 6:30, Sho’afat. About six women and twelve men were detained and standing on the side. The line of cars was endless. Sometimes this CP is less tense. When we arrived, there was an altercation with one of the detainees. The soldier there, Avihu, was furious at him, shook him by his shirt, then pushed him into the booth standing there while kicking him in the hind parts. When we approached the soldier and asked him what made him so angry, all he had to say was: “He disobeyed me.” Some of the men had been standing there since 5 o’clock in the morning. We talked to the CO of the watch with a Druze name who said he was working on clearing the names. We phoned the IDF Humanitarian Center and got an evasive answer from Efrat. We called her again and she was equally uncertain (they are illegal aliens, she said, but didn’t know why it took so long to return them their IDs). She promised to call us back and did after more than half an hour. All the detainees are released, she said. We didn’t go back to ascertain. 7:15, Qalandiya. Passing Ar-Ram we saw lots of traffice there. Buses, school children and others. At Qalandiya there was very lively traffic. The round-about there is gone and the usual pandemonium of cars prevailed. The pedestrian crossing was smooth, and it seemed everyone was allowed through. This impression was confirmed by the CO, Shachar, who again told us about the 16-35 problematic age for men, then he corrected and said 16-40. Two lines, one for men and the other for women, children and the elderly, the latter going much quicker than the other. At the other side, the taxi drivers complained about shooting in the afternoons. Boys throw stones and soldiers are trigger happy. Two detainees during our shift, both had gone through Tora-Bora and were now sitting out their punishment, facing the quarry as described in earlier reports. One was released, the other was threatened with detention until 11:00 (it was 8). 8:45, Ar-Ram. We stood waiting for slightly over half an hour. There was only one line for Palestinian cars and it didn’t move. When we finally passed (all three of our IDs were checked!), we parked, and went back to see why it had taken some twenty cars half an hour to pass. We found meticulous inspection of everything under the sun, including TV permits, traffic tickets etc. by one sour Blue Police officer. There were four male detainees and two women, a 20-year old and a much older one. As none of them spoke Hebrew or English, we didn’t get a lot of insights. During our half hour there the women were released. We called several numbers, and after some unanswered ones, were able to leave a message for the CO of Ar-Ram. It was now 9:45 and we left.