Qalandiya, Sun 20.6.10, Afternoon

Guests: Jenny and Linda- from the USA

Jenny and Linda became more and more excited as we got closer to the checkpoint: "We've heard so much about the checkpoint, we've seen so many photos and now we are finally going to actually be there..." - as though after years of expectations they had finally made it to one of the Wonders of the World (the Taj Mahal for instance). Jenny had sat in a lecture by Esti Tzal at Boston several years ago, and shard the impressions that the lecture and photos had left, with her friend. This week, while their daughters were touring Israel with "Taglit", the two mothers had the opportunity to accompany them and go on their own excursions, ones that their daughters will never be exposed to.

Checkpoint and its vicinity:

For the past months A' had been trying to handle the traffic chaos on the northern side of the checkpoint; sometimes he is successful but on days as that one it's like  going against the stream, angry and bitter because the response to all the suggestions and ideas he brought up before the area commander, such as the smart and logical suggestion to reduce the size of the traffic island and use vacant space by creating a new vehicle lane that will shorten the waiting time and ease the traffic, was: "I am in charge of security here".

A' told us about a number of officers with maps who had toured the area, he thinks they were making preparations towards the up and coming Ramadan which is due in the beginning of August.

He could also hear the yelling of the soldiers at the front and bullet proof post, and the orders they had been giving out to the drivers trying pass through the vehicle checkpoint; he felt resentment towards them for being rude, he felt especially angry because a female soldier: "She keeps saying this word, which I'm not going to repeat...", when I kept insisting, trying to understand what word it was, he mumbled with embarrassment: "Sharmutot" (sluts).

• - At lane number one, through which we passed, the metal detector above the people's heads, was extra sensitive and beeped even when there were no metal objects.

A young woman was sent back and forth, she was forced to take of her earrings, her hair clips and her shoes. She got upset and yelled at the soldiers that she didn't have any metal objects and insisted that they perform a physical examinations as proof. But there wasn't a female soldier present and after a loud and long discussion, she was sent to another lane, perhaps the metal detector over there wouldn't be as sensitive or maybe there would be a female soldier that could see she isn't carrying a bomb on her body.

• - An ambulance from Shderot was driving a sick man from Gaza (52 year old) and his wife. The patient was transferred from one ambulance to the other in the hot weather, which probably didn't do his health any good. When the ambulance from the Occupied Territories had arrived he was taken to a hospital in Nablus where he was to be operated.
• - Inside the vehicle checkpoint two police motorcycles parked. Their riders in uniforms had a glowing vest on; one of them was facing the vehicles arriving from the West Bank, and the other was looking towards Jerusalem. They stopped whatever vehicles they saw fit and perform an inspection which included: license examination, the turning of the wheels to the right and left, checking the plate number, the opening for the hood and examination of the engines inside... The slow pace of the traffic which is standard in this checkpoint grew even slower due to these inspections, but that didn't seem to bother the people who were in charge. It seemed quite the opposite, after all it was an opportunity to cash in.