Ar-Ram, Qalandiya Tuesday, 7/12/2004 PMWatchers: Norah O. Gal K. Shira H. and Iris B. (reporting)Ar-Ram 15:40Very few people are making their way to Jerusalem. No detainees. ID cards are being checked for those who are making their way north, but no line is being created and generally, it looks like checking the cards is being made more for the sake of harassing than for a particular reason. Rain begins to heavily fall. Each and every week we ponder how we will get to Qalandiya. Whether from the right side of the wall, the left, through the village of Ar-Ram, will there be any huge ponds, any pits? And almost always it looks like we will never be able to get to Qalandiya. Today, we get there through Atarot! The wall to our right is seen behind little garbage hills. More pillars have been added and it reaches closer and closer to Qalandiya's roundabout. Qalandiya 16:00H. tells us that rumors have been spread that on December 20th all checkpoints will be removed. We hear the same from other Palestinians but Emil (DCO officer) claims that no particular orders regarding the upcoming elections have been issued as of yet, and he does not know anything about the removal of CPs. On the way to the gates we meet a church congregation group mainly from Southern Illinois. They have been on a pilgrimage trip in various holly sites and decided that they also want to feel how it's like to be crossing a checkpoint. They have made their way north and back through the CP. They ask for a short explanation about who we are and what we do. We lecture shortly, answer questions and exchange cards. At the checkpoint, we meet a new group of soldiers who seem inexperienced. Part of the men force have been moved to Bitaniya and in addition, so says Emil, a decision was made that no volunteers will be serving in Qalandiya. The reason for the decision is unclear..One of the soldiers is trying to order around the people who stand in two perfect lines and yet the lines move very slowly. "I am politely talking to you.. Trying to explain something to you.. You do this all day". And on and on he speaks to them as if the same people stand in line all day. As always, people are seen as one group of "something" (not humans obviously) – "something" that makes troubles and does not understand what it's being told.. The people are rightfully angry about his ways of ordering them around, the humanitarian passage is closed and a heavy line begins to form. So we intervene – as if we understand better how to ease the line – as if it is our job to tell the soldiers to open the humanitarian passage. And they do.Two teenagers (16) and a man age 24 are being detained for over an hour now. The man is selling cellular phones and has made a rare trip from Hebron to Ramallah. Usually, he says, he tries to avoid crossing checkpoints. He has a TASRICH but it has expired two weeks ago. He tells it to the soldier and is being sent to "go through Surda". He meets the two teenagers who volunteer to show him the way through the query and this is where the three are caught. We hand out our telephone number in case they will want to update us and decide to go to Samir A Mees to see how the army camp is being deconstructed (indeed it is..). When we are back, the detainees have already been released.The vehicles line to Jerusalem is very long. An ambulance is being checked; ID cards of all passengers (driver, woman with cancer and a man who goes with her) are being taking: the soldier says that if the man who accompanies the woman will not go with her they will be able to cross much faster. The driver disagrees of course. Emil's intervention once again proves to help out and the three continue on their journey.