Morning

The E-Ram roadblock was very quiet. A feeling of "Shabbat", without pedestrians and only a few cars.Qalandya South, no checks. On the north end, three women soldiers and a volunteer who at first would not let us take pictures. Z and N both came with their cameras. They are Bezalel students/graduates. Once he caught on to who we were, he turned "sweet", but he has no clout with the girl soldiers who only go by the book and don't use their common sense. One Palestinian guy from Kalkilya who had been on a visit to Ramallah and did not have a permit was not allowed to return home. Under moderate pressure from us, and after quite a while, the soldier went with him to ask the higher up if she could let him through and indeed they would. There was a "mixed" couple, he with a blue ID, she with a green one who were not allowed to pass through. A few older Palestinian women, obviously village women, who called themselves "ichtyar" (old) and wanted to go on a family visit for the holiday, were not allowed. Another couple, this time with a child, was not allowed to pass. It was not quite clear whether they were in reality a couple, but they had to go back. One guy, an paramedic working at the health services in Ramallah, was not allowed to go home to Jabba. His ID did not have the address of his rented room there and he went back. The commanding officer of the checkpoint would not talk to us or otherwise assist. I tried to call Safadi, but the connection was broken. I called the aide, and asked him to send someone to the checkpoint to use some common sense during these days of id's, which are unusual.In big lines, if you don't have a permit, you have to return. It was freezing cold in the early morning and we were dispirited on our way back home.