A-Ram: Pedestrians pass freely by showing their IDs. Pupils pass
unchecked. Cars are inspected efficiently.

Qalandya: The taxi parking lots were closed off on Thursday and
people had to get on and off the vehicles along the road. The taxi
drivers did managed to push the stones aside at one place so that
they could get in and out of the lots.

Hundreds of people were passing southward when we arrived, among
them many pupils. The checkpoint had apparently just been opened.
Compared with last Thursday, when the same strict rules of a severe
closure were implemented, the going ons were somewhat less harsh.
The rules: elementary school children passed through the side lane,
older ones had to queue with the adults, physicians (including Dr.
Asad) were let through, all non-blue ID holders (including
teachers) were let through only if they had a special permit for
the week. As long as Captain Shadi was there, the atmosphere was
not too tense. When he left, the soldiers became shove-happy and we
had to intervene. The checkpoint commander was strict but
polite.

Cars had to wait for over an hour to pass southward.