Ar-Ram/Qalandiya Monday 3.1.05 PMObservers: Hava B., Noa A., Guests from Tennessee, Tova S. (reporting)Ar-Ram, 2:30: no pedestrians, very few vehicles.Qalandiya: Driving to and from Qalandiya on the eastern side of the Wall -the road on the eastern side is in better shape than the western side, but here too there are huge puddles.No venders were seen on the south side of the CP except for the fellow selling bananas in the pouring rain. A BP jeep stands by but does not intervene. Walking involves treading large, deep puddles. Mud, a huge traffic jam, and filth.At the CP, very few pedestrians. The humanitarian line is out in the open, away from the roofed part. Shadi agreed to shift it back for protection from the rain. The flow of pedestrians is rapid even when their numbers increase.Very few soldiers checking, but people move. Not so at the vehicle line. At first, only two soldiers present, unwilling to open another line for “lack ofmanpower”. Though the pressure is heavy. At Shadi’s intervention, another lane is opened.The jam at the entrance to the CP resulted from a truck standing so that the traffic does not move in either direction. A few minutes later, the problem is solved: the truck is sent back to Jerusalem. As reported last Sunday, we too are informed that blue ID holders registered as residing in Beit Hanina, Shuafat and/or Jerusalem are not allowed to enter Ramallah. No further explantions (elections?), regardless of the fact that some of these people actually live beyond the CP.At the north side of the CP, very few vendors on the Separation Wall.Pouring rain.We drove to Ar-Ram: long line of cars in both directions. Few pedestrians,still there are detainees: two young men, four young women. The CP’s woman commander tells us that “the line to Qalandiya is long because cars are carefully checked, as there are many stolen cars in Ar-Ram”. The line to Jerusalem is long since the checking post is not manned despite the drivers’ desperate honks. We turned to the soldiers hiding under the awning, who responded: ‘What, you want me to get wet?”The detainees wait for a long time since no checking can be performed at the post, the computer is not working. It is very cold, and raining very hard. The detainees are under a roof but the rain enters from all sides. We called the BP complaint hotline and Nava did not offer us any hope that anything could be fixed as long as there is no electricity… The army is looking into it.The young women were sent along without checking.The young men are waiting. We left heavy-hearted, defeated by the weather. We did not manage to get the detainees’ phone numbers. Nava informed us they were released.Elections: a few posters are the only sign of the coming elections.