Afternoon

Both E-Ram and Qalandya were not crowded, the traffic flowed swiftly, so we decided to go to Surda. Called Ali, it took him about 20 minutes to arrive (he told us it will take 10) and he was our self-appointed guide.This strange checkpoint is a very long and actually without any checking point. Only a jeep patrolling and two heaps of dirt blocking the way for cars. It was a clear and beautiful morning and people were walking quietly along the path from onepoint to the other. The BP jeep arrived, stopped people at random, but checked their papers very quickly and let them continue their way. An administrative worker from Bir Zeit stopped by and told us about the arbitrariness of the whole place. Sometimes cars are allowed through. They never know ahead of time and never get an explanation for either permission or prohibition of movement.It was an eventful shift. Ali took us back, and to our surprise charged us 80 shekels, explaining that it was a return trip and he waited for us. Actually the whole tour took 45 minutes from the time he picked us up.