Qalandiya Saturday October 1, 2005 AMWatchers: Rachel H and Nina M (reporting)We were involved in 3 issues: 1. blocking the pedestrian passage, 2. hustling of taxi drivers and 3. riding buses from Qalandiya to Jerusalem and back.Blocking the pedestrian passage One has to see it with one’s own eyes. The present pedestrian passage from south to the Qalandiya checkpoint is blocked by huge cement blocks so that people have to squeeze between them and then to continue along the long route lined with barbed wire and terrible dirt. At the same time one can see a new “terminal” with flower watering system already active and parking for disabled already in place, together with the separation wall growing from all directions. Observing all this one can try to imagine human rights abuse beautified by flowers and parking for disabled. The same people who have ordered to abuse Palestinians in the dirty and obstructed checkpoint will find the way to do the same around flower lawns.We tried to speak with soldiers about widening the passage. Nobody wanted to speak with us except the mature volunteer Z. We called all possible phone calls, mostly unanswered. Those who answered, for example IDF spokesperson, tried to pass the responsibility on those who build the wall. At the end the great symbolic moment came: Palestinians, all together, pulled one of the huge blocks down and opened the passage.The hustling of taxi driversThe endless fight with taxi drivers continue. Building of the separation wall along Qalandiya-Jabba road narrowed this part of the road significantly. Those who build the wall do not care – they cut a slope of a hill and all leftovers cover parking stands. There is no safe passage for pedestrians and Palestinians are guilty, as usual, and therefore punished. One of the taxi drivers told us how his keys were confiscated by a passing army jeep just half an hour before our arrival (around 8 am). Another driver showed us 500 IS ticket that he got from the blue police for parking in a “wrong” place.Riding buses from Qalandiya to Jerusalem and backA few weeks ago a dispatcher of white and green buses asked us to go on a ride with their bus. He and other bus drivers complained that very often a whole bus can be kept 30-40 min at Hizme checkpoint. We went by bus 78 , which serves Qalandiya Jerusalem route. The bus went to Jabba crossroad and than through Hizme checkpoint entered Givat Zeev settlement. At Hizme the bus was stopped and 4 IDs out of about 15 passengers were taken by a soldier to write down ID numbers. The procedure took 7 min. The bus crossed Givat Zeev and than entered Beit Hanina and continued to Jerusalem The whole ride took 35 min. We were told by the dispatcher that the short route through Ar-Ram checkpoint is impossible so they go through Hizme or Atarot checkpoints, where very often the waiting time can be very long if a soldier decides to write down names of all passengers. The way back is much shorter, just 20 min, because a bus goes through Ar-Ram checkpoint without stopping.