Morning

A routine awful morning - no special incidents. Pedestrian traffic moving smoothly northwards. South-bound (Jerusalem) pedestrians in two packed, tense lines for slow checking. The pedestrian route is bounded at the north end by a coil of barbed wire, easily shifted. Small children (say up to 9 or 11) pass freely, though some get their bags shaken by way of checking. Parents with toddlers and infants are sent back 40-50 meters to stand in line with the crowd. Passage takes up to one hour. One man protests vehemently and his (blue Jerusalem) ID is taken as a punishment, returned some 40 minutes later. One woman asks us if we can't persuade the IDF to have separate lines for men and women. The commander of the checkpoint agrees that once the pressure eases, he will see to it. Troops are an infantry unit (brown boots) with some reservists. Reasonably civil. E-Ram: smooth, reasonable passage of cars, pedestrians checked by vigorous, gruff border policeman. Down below (Sunny 2000) three border policemen (no jeep) check IDs. Civil enough and swift. They tell us that there is a hot warning of a terrorist, complete with explosive belt about to cross the checkpoint at any minute and please keep eye-contact with them for our own safety.