Ar-Ram, Sho’afat and Qalandiya September 5, AMWatchers: Ora A, Malka, Chana A (reporting)6:40: Sho’afat: A long line of cars waiting to be checked going to Jerusalem. The line moves fast. There was such a crush of cars and pedestrians that we couldn’t see the place where the detainees usually stand.7:00: Ar-Ram: Schoolgirls aplenty walking to the waiting buses. No checks either on them or their elders (cursory if at all). Hardly any cars going south. Civilian police come and park their van right on the road used by the schoolgirls, so they have to go around. When we ask the police to move their van, it turns out they did it on purpose.7:30: We start going north to Qalandiya. Halfway there, the road is blocked by military police. Reason? A suspicious object further up on the road.We decide to go around through Ar-Ram, and go up a steep road leading to another, paralel road going north. This one was also blocked off for the same reason as was another road further up the hill. We give up and start making our way back. Roads by now are full of cars, full of potholes, and steep inclines. We manage to get ourselves out of the scrape. On the way back, there is a line of cars about 500 meters long waiting to pass the Ar-Ram roadblock going north. When we call B later, he confirms the suspicious object story and says the object has been exploded just now. 8:15: We continue to Sho’afat where there are now 20 detainees. We talk to one, from a village near Ariel. Has been on his way since 3 AM and was caught in the attempt to avoid the checkpoint. We wait with him for one and a half hours, when his ID card is finally returned. In the meanwhile we have called B and S who are both pleasant and willing to help (call the soldiers at the checkpoint.) At 10:00 we return home, frustrated and tired.