Anata, Qalandiya, Friday, 9.6.06 AMObservers: Ronit S, Keller A (reporting)Guests: Iris, youngster with doubts before inductionSummary: new commander who hasn’t heard of previous procedures – no flexibility or consideration for special situations, and no one passes without a permit. The commander threatens to use gas and indeed a gas grenade is thrown. 09:00 Anata Eight Border Police at the checkpoint. Few cars or people passing. The Border Police are not interested in talking to us: “Don’t interfere with our work.” A jeep is inside, in Shuafat. A group of people are standing in the street, not approaching the checkpoint. A Palestinian tells us that there are a lot of people next to the refugee camp, having arrived by bus for prayers, but the army is preventing their entry. We go into Shuafat and locate the commander, Y., who has come from Hebron, according to people here. He does not behave rudely, but is not prepared to pass anyone unless they have a special permit. We ask him whether, nevertheless, it isn’t possible to behave as in the past and to let at least the adults proceed to prayer. He hasn’t heard of such a thing. He does not know that there is a ruling about a certain age over which it is permissible to pass even without a permit. He is prepared to communicate and check, and he does indeed talk to somebody at the DCO, but ultimately the answer is negative.People approach us in the hope that we will help them pass, but this commander is adamant about not passing anyone, and refuses to use his own discretion. He also explains: “I can use discretion about one person, or maybe two or three, but if there are 300 adults here, what can I do? Pass them all?!”A student from Bir Zayit comes up. She is invited to an interview at the US Consulate following receipt of a scholarship from America. The interview is at noon. She holds the invitation, in Arabic and English. She doesn’t have a permit: she went to the DCO on Wednesday. And was there from 10:00 to 17:30 and did not receive a permit. She explained to them that it is urgent, and was told that she would get it only on Sunday. Here again he wasn’t convinced that it was possible to use discretion.Sadly we return in the direction of the checkpoint and enter the pedestrian sleeve, together with a group of Palestinians. Most of them do not have permits and are sent back bluntly. The commander arrives and turns to us: “It’s not nice that you brought them with you to here!””We didn’t bring anyone. They came by themselves.”He begins to lose patience and declares: “Everyone back, there will be gas soon.”The people move slowly. Suddenly, for no apparent reason, a Border Policeman throws a tear gas grenade at a group of people at the side of the road.Meanwhile, the blue police have arrived at the checkpoint.We talk with a number of Palestinians who tell us their personal stories (injury, loss of mother, imprisonment, poverty). One of them explains why separation is preferable: that way there will be more unity on the Palestinian side, and a return to religion with less lawlessness. Another says that only force will extract the Palestinians from their miserable situation.11:00 QalandiyaPerhaps 12 cars standing. The external barrier is only opened when the internal line is shorter. At the pedestrian checkpoint, few people.We return by car through Hizmeh.