Qalandiya and surroundings: Bir Naballah, Tues. 23.01.07 A.M.Observers: Neta E., Shira V., Tamar A. (reporting)7:20 – Ramot checkpoint This checkpoint is also being “improved”. In the lanes leading to Jerusalem, there are a type of obstacles which also for the closing of the road at any time by the “forces”, like those one finds at the entrance to a parking lot. In the lines exiting, there have been placed plastic blocks all along the road, leaving a narrow passage. Near the path which leaves from the right side from Bir Naballah, soldiers stand and check cars leaving. We continued north on the road to the Givon and Givat Zeev settlements which connect to route 443. On the right (eastern side of the road, the road which will encircle Bir Naballah from the West and which includes the settlements within is being built. 7:30 – El Jeeb checkpoint This is the second entry way, the northern one, to Bir Naballah, but this passage is permitted to only 30 or 40 people, according to the list of names, who live in the small Palestinian neighborhood near Givon which found itself on the Israeli side of the wall and is separated from El Jib, its neighbor in the Bir Naballah enclave. In order to carry out daily activities, the residents of the neighborhood are allowed to enter via the checkpoint to the enclave, but they are forbidden to exit by that checkoint even though the exit does not lead into Israeli territory but rather into the West Bank. The rest of the people are forbidden to go through this checkpoint. Even though they are able, in the meantime, to go through several kilometers south at the Ramot checkpoint. The checkpoint is manned by border police and civilian security forces. Regarding the question as to why they are forbidden, one of the border police answered, “It is forbidden because it is forbidden”. We visited the cut off neighborhood near Givon at the home of someone that Neta knows. The children have transportation to the school in Beit Ixsa. The father daily travels to Bidu village and from there continues in a taxi to his work in a small village. Why must he go by foot? A: because here it is forbidden for Palestinians to drive a car (it is not completely clear what the reason for this is — it is almost as if Israeli law has been imposed on this area, and B: The road to Bidu, some of which is not paved, is blocked to vehicles every few hundred meters by mounds of earth and rocks. Several meters after one block is another of iron, and behind them, there is the building of the separation barrier that will separate the area of the settlements and Bidu and neighborhing villages. It is not certain that the father will be able to get to the small village after the barrier is completed. 8:30 – Ramot checkpoint There is lively traffic, especially of transits into the Bir Naballah enclave. The soldiers guard over just those exiting and thus the road allows the only free passage from the enclave. Over the first part until Beit Hanina until El Balad, the word ‘road” prettifies the reality. This is really a path which is, in part, unpaved, with lage holes and it’s only with difficulty that two cars can pass. From the road from Beit Hanina, El Balad north to Bir Naballah, one sees on the right side route 443 , and under it, the barrier that will close off and completely separate the villages from Jerusalem, especially from Jerusalem Beit Hanina and from the industrial area of Atarot. 8:45 – The opening in the wall at Bir Naballah. At Bir Naballah, we turned right from the main road, however in order to complete our journey, we came upon a high concrete wall after a few hundred meters. Near the wall there is a factory that turns out beautiful products that are displayed in the store nearby, but customers no longer get there. The owner is planning to close it. He invested a lot of money and it will all go to waste. And he is still lucky. He is an Israeli from Abu Ghosh and can open a new shop in Givat Shaul or Talpiot. The meanwhile, he comes every day via Ramot just as we came, but the workers who are not residents of Bir Naballah cannot get permits to enter the enclave. The wall still does not hermetically seal the area. There is still a slit between it and the adjoining house. At a distance of 10 meters, there is another easier passway at the building site for the continuation of the wall. Here one need not climb, but the earth is very muddy after the rain. Taxi after taxi arrives and brings people who want to sneak into Jerusalem, young men who are looking for work, but also old women who find it difficult to climb over the rocks. But the physical difficulties are not the major problem. The army knows, of course, that there is this opening, and every so often, jeeps come in search of those trying to get through. Those getting out of the taxis run as fast as possible to get to the other side, and then a border police jeep arrives and they all run back. About 15 were waiting near the wall hoping to try again later.This cat and mouse game takes place all day.9:25 – Bir Naballah checkpoint A line of five cars.9:40 – Qalandiya checkpoint A line of 15 – 20 cars.9:45 – Leel checkpoint No line. The meanwhile, an additional checking station has been set up for the exit from Ramallah9:50 – Hizme checkpoint Almost empty.