Qalandiya, A-Ram
Qalandiya, A-Ram, Sunday afternoon, 26/03/07Observers: Tamar F., Natanya G., Lizi S. and Phyllis W.(reproting)15:20 A-Ram: A detainee who arrived on his own was waiting for the return of his papers. Only on our arrival did the soldiers take the time to ask him where he was coming from and why. At that point it turned out that the papers had been confiscated near Bir Naballa and there was no reason for him to be waiting at A-Ram.15:45 – Qalandiya CP: Very few people were in the CP so that, even though only one passageway was operating, there were no lines. We continued to the DCO shed where a fair sized crowd of people were waiting – but we didn't manage to get in (although the soldiers let us into the passageway) because the inner turnstile was not working.16:00 – We decided to split up, with two of us passing through the CP to see how things were going in the vehicle lines. While waiting to pass through the CP we were astonished to see that two of the three (female) soldiers operating the passageway were dancing to the tune of some unheard music in full view of the people waiting. We reported to their superior officers.There was very little pressure in the vehicle lines. We questioned the soldiers as to the name of the DCO Representative at Qalandiya and were told that they had no idea. We decided to ask the civilian security personnel at the entrance to Headquarters but just as we reached them we heard a voice from one of their mobile phones saying, "Get rid of them." Could that have been the voice of the soldier whom we had just spoken to?We returned to the vehicle lanes just as an argument broke out between the soldiers and the driver of a car who lost his cool when the soldiers, after carefully examining his vehicle, decided to examine the sandwich being eaten by his 10-year old son in the back seat. The car was surrounded by armed soldiers while the frightened child shrank into the upholstery. The soldiers confiscated the driver's I.D. card and sent him to cool off and wait for the police in the CP bus station. Instead of a policeman, two of the civilian armed guards appeared and told the driver to come with them. Luckily, Tamar had reported the incident to Shadi who notified Abuhazeira who sent Babian the policeman. On Babian's arrival the armed guards disappeared and all the problems were resolved when the policeman apologized to the driver for the behavior of the soldiers in frightening the child. The I.D. papers were returned and the driver continued on his way.16:30 – We returned to the pedestrian area. Two passageways were operating even though there were few people in the CP. Waiting time was minimal. 17:15 – We left Qalandiya and continued to Bir Naballa. We were surprised to see that some authority has undertaken to repair the road infrastructure in Kufr Aqab. Because of the work on the roadway, traffic was very heavy. At Bir Naballa a military engineering unit was efficiently moving the traffic with minimum delay.18:00 – Making our way back to Jerusalem, we found a serious traffic jam on the road to Lil – nothing was moving. In the end it turned out that the jam was not caused by a CP but by a short-term curfew imposed for Condoleeza Rice's visit to Ramallah.