Qalandiya 03.02.05 p.m.Observers: Edna K, Ivonne P, Lia N, guestAll those who are expectantly awaiting a new age and a solution right around the corner should have been with us yesterday at Qalandiya. There are extensive upgrades: the turnstiles have returned to the passageway heading north; on the southern side of the humanitarian lane, an iron gate has been erected; in the men's line, there is a new inspection booth; in the line for vehicles, there is an additional large inspection booth; two turnstiles have been readied at the end of the checkpoint and several rows of new concrete blocks signal future lines -- in expectation of the checking of the residents of East Jerusalem on their way to Ramallah?The disorder was enormous. At first, the humanitarian line was closed and everyone went through the men's line. When we asked about pregnant women having to go through magnetic inspections, A from the DCO said that the magnetic readers were not operational and the soldiers do only a manual check. The passage was quick and efficient: The major problem was actually that of people going north. Three or four soldiers checked all the men who were passing. The Palestinians were suspicious of the change and tried to figure out if this was the beginning of stricter regulations in crossing to Ramallah. The soldiers contended(to us -- they did not bother telling the Palestinians anything) that there was an alert that some wanted men were on their way to the checkpoint and that they were armed. They went on to say that they had explosive belts. The picture of one of the wanted men was shown to us, and they had the i.d.'s of the men they were looking for. Therefore, it was strange to see that they were checking men of all ages -- young and old. There was a feeling that the inspections deviated from that of specific wanted people. Perhaps this was indeed related to the new policy regarding passage to Ramallah. At the end of our watch, we were were told that the wanted men had been caught. And, as you know, that is what was reported later on the news. This was one incident. What was really difficult and disturbing was to see the gap between the atmosphere in the general Israeli population and the celebrations about the virtual window of opportunity and the reality that exists in the field. As one of the Palestinians said when he saw the new/old turnstiles in the passageway north, "Is this your peace?" On this point, when they were fixing something on those turnstiles, they moved all the people heading north to the humanitarian lane which, meanwhile, renewed traffic heading south. The people crowded together in the narrow passageway, each one heading in his own direction. A total mess. The commander, in his cold, apathetic, correct and cynical way accompanied one of those denied passage to this lane. He placed his hand on his shoulder, walked with him back and forth along the checkpoint and explained to him "this is the checkpoint." A. also refused to allow an Austrian citizen to pass, a lawyer who lived there for 17 years, because he was born in Bethlehem. The same with a man who lives in Dubai for five years. Two men stood in the dark, not knowing their way around. They were told in Ramallah that the way to Bethlehem passes through the Qalandiya checkpoint. (The Austrian/Palestinian said Qalqilya by mistake). Our phone calls to all kinds of people were of no help. After A., two reserve soldiers --relatively pleasant ones -- said that even if they wanted to do so, they could not allow those men to pass because A. had given specific orders not do do so, and the higher ups to whom we turned said that it was impossible. We met Mahmud from Jaffers at the checkpoint. He is having a hard time of it since his coffee shop was closed. Now, he must support four children on 2000 shekels a month which he earns from a baklava shop. He must pay rent and the cost of an operation for a child. The wall put an end to his work in Ar-Ram. He has no permit to go into Jerusalem, and soon, he will not be able to get to Ramallah. It is hard to see a man whose life is coming apart with no opportunity to do anything to make it better. At the Qalandiya intersection, business seems to be going much better than it has in a long time. Among the merchandise were fish and kababs. The road from Ar-Ram was somewhat improved. On the east side, it is paved. On the west side, it appears that they tried to straighten it out a bit. On our way back, we tried to cross the Ar-Ram checkpoint, but it was impossible. The border police were demanding 100% inspections. We waited 40 minutes and gave up. We managed to make a U-turn and left by way of Qalandiya.