Ar-Ram, Qalandiya, 18.1.06 PM, 3:15 – 5:30Observers: Daniela Y., Ivonne M. (reporting)Guest :Yaacov ( Photographer from Finland)Bags and property that Palestinians place on the 2 meter-long conveyor belt at the new Qalandya checkpoint disappear. The soldiers tell the owners: “Come tomorrow morning and we will check to see whether it is here”.Ar-Ram 3:15 – There is a long line of cars waiting to go to Jerusalem. No checking on the way north.Qalandiya 3:30 – The segment formed by the concrete 8 meter high blocks that connects the East-West wall with the South-North wall at the south of the checkpoint has not been finished. A very broad road is being built that connects the Modiin-Jerusalem 443 road with the settlements east of Qalandya (Adam,etc.) and this road will pass through the checkpoint, to be used by Israelis/Jews only.Our visitor, who sees the many layers of walls for the first time has difficulty understanding their logic. There is an east-west wall surrounding Qalandya village, a parallel east-west wall some 100 meters to the south. Due to the building, there remains very little space for taxis and for maneuvering and the drivers are all very nervous and ready to fight. There are still a few food vendors standing by the wall in the southern part of the checkpoint and a few at the northern part.At 3:45 we see about 100 people trying to cross from north to south. Karts are not allowed to pass through the checkpoint, children tell us that until yesterday they were allowed through with their karts. The soldiers confirm that today they cannot pass. We ask: “Why?” No answer.People who were standing at the entrance of gate No. 2 were asked to move to gate No. 5, but a few minutes later they were moved again to gate No. 3. Every time this happens they have to stand in line again, with the accompanying tension and loss of time. They have to guess which entrance will not be closed when they are waiting in line (sometimes for 20 minutes) and then they have to start the standing in line again.The bathrooms are locked. Will they be opened for the photo session? Every few minutes orders are shouted through the loudspeakers. It is impossible to understand one word, either in Arabic or Hebrew.At 3:55 there are about 15 cars waiting in each direction.At 4:05 we meet a man who has come to claim a package that was lost on the conveyor belt where everyone has to place his/her belongings. The conveyor belt is about 2 meters long and people place their belongings at one end and pick them up at the other end. The soldiers sit behind walls and “check” by electronic means.A woman with 2 small children is pleading to the female soldiers to help her find her hand bag that was just lost in the conveyor belt. The soldiers, in order to get her out of their sight, tell her to come tomorrow morning and look for it, maybe then it will be found??!! How can a bag or a package be lost in the conveyor belt? This is of no concern to the soldiers. After all, the property of Palestinians is not important. They create a chaos where ten people at a time have to place their belongings in a hurry and with shouting and the rest is not their problem. The same happens with the traffic jams that are created by the procedures and building of the checkpoint and also here the army attributes the problem to the Palestinians themselves.On our way back, a very friendly Palestinian woman wants to show us her appreciation for us and pays for our taxi, our protests don’t help.Ar-Ram: A peddler that sells things north of the Ar-Ram checkpoint tells us that Beni, the border police commander, harasses them and has in the past even asked the inspectors of the Jerusalem Municipality to confiscate their products. This is the same Municipality that doesn’t dare enter the area to clean. Today Beni has found an unauthorized passenger in a taxi and the 35 year old woman, as well as the very unfortunate taxi driver, are being taken to the Atarot Border Police station. The driver’s taxi (he has 10 children to feed, he tells us) will be confiscated for 1 month. He pleads with Beni that the passenger lied to him and said she had a permit but Beni says “the law is the law and you know nothing you say will make me change my mind”.