Qalandiya, A-Ram
Qalandiya, A-Ram, Sunday afternoon, 11/02/07Observers: Tamar F., Lizzie., Phyllis W. and a guestPhyllis reporting15:30 A-Ram: Passing through A-Ram CP on our way to Qalandiya we saw there were no lines and no detainees – just a bunch of soldiers in a deserted CP.15:50 – Qalandiya CP: Arriving at the parking lot, we could feel the tension in the air. A jeep was standing in the Northern Square and groups of youngsters were forming at the edges of Qalandiya Refugee Camp. Here and there we could see some small fires burning, fed by what looked like the innards of tires. We went over to see a friend in one of the stores at the entrance to the Camp. He told us that there have been daily clashes between the soldiers and the children for the past five days starting at about 3 PM and lasting until the fall of darkness. The worst of the clashes occurred on Friday with 15 children injured from the shooting. We parted in the hope that today would be quieter.16:00 – We returned to the CP. Very few pedestrians were waiting to cross, only one line was operating. We crossed through the CP to the southern side and went to look for the place by the fence where Taha Aljawi bled to death last week. While walking around the area we heard a shot fired from the direction of the Northern Square and decided to return and see what was happening there.On our way north through the CP we were confronted with a new procedure called "Breaking the Routine." A line of some 20 people was crowding around the only carousel on the passage north while a soldier checked the ID's of people crossing into PA territory. Only a random sample was actually examined (rather politely) and the wait was not long. 16:30 – On our return to the Northern Square we saw that the fires had got closer to the Separation Wall and thick smoke was rising from the fire burning closest to the watch tower near the Square. The children continued to group near the line of stores and a few of them had climbed onto the roofs. One jeep and one Hummer were standing in the Square.Every few minutes some of the children would run up to the watch tower and throw stones. Once or twice we saw that they had managed to break a window pane at the top of the tower. Once we saw a youngster jump from behind a mound of earth and throw a (glass) bottle at the army vehicles in the Square. The bottle missed the jeep and broke on the stone pavement. The soldiers did not react. At 16:50 both vehicles drove away to return some 20 minutes later, wait a few minutes and depart. At 17:15, two vehicles drove through the Square and parked inside the CP fencing. Five soldiers got out with their weapons and stood along the southern margin of the Square. No clash developed and after a few minutes the soldiers returned to the vehicles and drove off. All the while, one of the little fires constantly moved closer to the watch tower until it was finally at the foot of the tower. The entire northern side of the tower was engulfed in thick black smoke.Because we were 4, we were able to split up. At 17:00 Tamar and Lizzie drove to the Bir Nabala CP where they met the Military Engineering Unit under the command of Amnon. The line of cars at the CP was not long. A youngster from Bir Nabala who forgot his papers was waiting in the cold for someone in his family to bring them to the CP. A fellow from Nablus was refused entry to Bir Nabala and sent packing.At 18:00 we joined forces and drove back to Jerusalem through the LIL CP (where we found the soldiers dining).