Qalandia, Jan. 9, 2005, AM Election day Watchers: Ilit R, Chana A (reporting) and guests from the World Council of Churches (Joanna, Camilla, Hannah)7:00 Very thin line of pedestrians going through. MP more numerous than Palestinians, headed by a reserve soldier, Arabic speaking, very soft spoken. For a long time the line of people is very thin, until after 8:00 it starts picking up. There is a general "shabaton" or day off on the West Bank, so what's the need to get up early? Only young men looking for work, or working, are going through. The check-up at the head of the line is cursory. An indifferent glance is thrown at the ID's of all colors and people go through. Yet here and there young men are detained, but not longer than 10-15 minutes. One young man without papers is sent back and so are several others during our tour of duty (until 10:15) but very few. The lines of cars move fast - ten minutes waiting at most.Shadi comes to us and starts a conversation. He tells us that because of all the interest in this day, all the cameras, all the international monitoring bodies, the army is trying to put its best foot forward. All five pedestrian lines have been opened and cars have two lanes in each direction at their disposal. Indeed there are lots of TV crews from Spain, Greece, England, to give only a few examples, interested in interviewing. An office of the CEC (Central Election Committee) has been set up in Beitunyia which hands out helpful material, with statistics, maps (OCHA ones). We only get a glance at them from people coming back from the office. There is a feeling of heightened awareness on the part of the Palestinians concerning their importance in the international arena.