Qalandiya, Tuesday 7.2.06, PMNorah O., Roni H. (reporting) guests: Claudia from Switzerland, Rosemarie from Canada and Hilde from GermanyThe day after the shooting incident at QalandiyaA day of great tension and measures of collective punishment.Yesterday immediately after the shooting (about 10:00) the checkpoint was closed down and nobody could pass. In order to get to Ar-Ram one had to go through Surda (like in the “good old days” of “go to Surda!”) At 14:00 the checkpoint was opened for Jerusalemites only but at 19:00 it was again closed down for throughout the night. T he car passage was completely blocked from yesterday untill today about 16:00. We heard that the detour through Surda took hours, because every couple of kilometers there were flying checkpoints! At 15:15 there were at least 200 men waiting in front of the first row of turnstiles. The sight was exasperating! Nothing was moviing. Only the lane of the women advanced slowly. We glanced into the operating booth and saw that it was manned by four soldiers which means that there was no shortage in men power. It rather seemed to be a measure of colletive punishment! We spoke with one of the waiting men who was standing there already for an hour. And then, all of a sudden, the turnstiles were unlocked and within a couple of minutes the 200 men passed! End of the punishment for today! At 16:00 the car passage was still blocked since yesterday. We observed the soldiers who stood at the barrier with their guns aimed threateningly at everybody in their vicinity, obviously in great fear, almost in hysteria. One could feel the tension in the air. All of a sudden two of them dashed forward, covering each other and called a young man, a taxidriver, who stood next to his car in a distance of 15 meters, to approach them. The driver went towards them, his hands empty and his shirt open. They had a long discussion, which we could not understand and when the driver returned angrily and without his ID he was not ready to explain anything. But it was obvious, that the soldiers were in a state of high alert, looking out for the people who have shot yesterday but managed to escape. At 16:15 an ambulance arrived at the checkpoint and passed after a short checkup. In its suite came 2 private cars who were let pass as well and slowly the lane leading out of Qalandiya filled up with cars and the passage was opened. On our way back there were no long lines. But a man, who queued up in the women’s lane was punished by being sent back and he had to line up again in another lane. Also we were “punished” by having to take out all our belongings from the backpack and put them on a table. From behind their secure bulletproof windows the soldiers looked at our things and decided that they were not “suspiscious”.