Qalandiya

Observers: T., E., B. Guest: P.
(photographer)

A-Ram: Absolutely no southward passage for people without special
permits or blue IDs, regardless of age. .

Qalandia South: cursory check of IDs

Qalandia North: Minimum age for passage: 50. Many people seemed
totally unaware of the day's age limit. A very aggressive volunteer
with a Russian accent ran towards us yelling that we should tell
"those idiots in the Palestinian Authority" that they
should announce on the radio that the minimum age is 50. He claimed
that they were saying 40 rather than 50, deliberately misleading
people in order to create problems at the checkpoints. He didn't
wait for a reply from us.

We were asked for help by a young man whose ID had just been taken
away by a soldier and who had been told that he would get it back
at 10 p.m. (12 hours later). We pointed out to the soldier that
this is illegal which did not noticeably interest him. A lieutenant
named Moshe who seemed annoyed with our intervention said he was
going to take care of the matter. Not quite relying on this, we
called the Moked on the spot and had barely finished the call when
the young man got back his ID.

A UN field worker who was observing the checkpoint also pointed out
to us that on top of the fine that the drivers of the confiscated
cabs at the airport have to pay, they are also charged 30 Shekels
per day for the privilege of having their cars standing there
unused.

Contrary to our expectations, this being the last Friday of
Ramadan, there wasn't a particularly large crowd of people trying
to get to Jerusalem. The UN- field worker, a Palestinian himself,
suggested two possible reasons for this: a) people were so
frustrated with their experiences last Friday that they didn't even
try to get into Jerusalem, b) some people managed to enter already
on Thursday in order to make sure to be in Jerusalem for the Holy
Night of Ramadan 27. He also told us that for all of Jericho, only
26 entry permits were issued for this particular Friday (he'll
supply us with data regarding other places in a few days). N.B., we
had been told at A-Ram that "whoever turned to the DCO on time
requesting a permit has also been granted one".

A woman in her early forties with a little girl just wouldn't take
no for an answer. A soldier talked to her for a long time, first
harshly, then more gently, after the little girl broke into
heartbreaking sobs. After a while he took the woman aside (in order
not to be overheard by us?), and a little later she and the girl
passed.

When we felt that we couldn't be of any help at Qalandia, the UN
worker took us to a checkpoint in Shuafat the existence of which
was entirely new to me (you reach it by going up Street # 1 all the
way, then turning right underneath the bridge, taking the first
turn left and afterwards turning right towards Anata). It used to
be a mobile checkpoint and was turned into a permanent one. It was
guarded both by army and BP personnel. The behavior especially of
the female officers was appallingly rude. Interestingly, the age
limit here was 45. The owner of the land that was graced by the
presence of the checkpoint had to plead with the soldiers in order
to be allowed to park a large towing truck on his own
land.

The woman with the little girl whom we had seen in Qalandia
reappeared here, again managing to pass the checkpoint. Hopefully,
her steadfastness and stubbornness were rewarded and she finally
made her way into Jerusalem.