Morning

8.30 am. E-Ram: It is raining, cold, muddy. Almost no traffic going north. A few cars going south are waiting to be checked, they seem to move without much delay. Very few pedestrians going south. At Qalandya: there is no checking at all on the south end. We passed through the mud and puddles and saw the new sign, and asked a Palestinian who speaks Hebrew to translate it for us. It says that everyone can go north without any restrictions, but only those with the blue ID can return. On the north side, going south, are 4 reservists – including one woman soldier. They let people with blue ID’s or with permits pass without problems, but turn back those who have no permits. The woman soldier does this almost apologetically. There are not many pedestrians at this hour.An old man is not let through – he says he lives in the E-Ram side, and that he will therefore have to go all around (in the mud and rain) – the woman soldier nods, acknowledging that he could indeed do so, but saying: “But you can’t go through here…”Later, a man passes with an orange ID, and I ask him if he has a permit – he says “no, but it is because I am old that they let me through” – he does not seem any younger than the man who had to go all around…. (though another one of us thought he had a permit inside his ID, not as a separate piece of paper). It seems so arbitrary.Two women without a permit are turned back, a young one and an older one – the older one starts to plead and cry – and the woman soldier says to her male colleague: “ Let’s let them pass” but he answers: “No, she will tell the others, and then they will all come and cry here.” We try to interfere, and talk to the male soldier, saying she is in older woman. He says: “So what - there were no women terrorists?” A Palestinian man with a blue ID also tries to interfere, but to no avail.After nine, the pedestrian traffic south increases. At 9.30 we leave. It is still raining.