Afternoon

Observers: I. M, R. B, N. G, D. M., A.K. & J. (American Jew coaxed by Gideon Levy's article distributed by one of us to come and see for himself, which he certainly did)A-Ram, 3.15 PM, no detainees, a blue policeman and a soldier standing in the middle of the street as if looking for a particular person.Qalandya South 3.50 PM. Dense congested traffic, all in a swirl, three soldiers sitting at the booths, but only randomly checking and the line flows.Qalandya North - the atmosphere is marked by the killing of the two soldiers two days earlier in El Hader checkpoint. Collective punishment was not only implemented but proudly admitted to and righteously justified. Almost all of those who were sent back are informed of the two soldiers who were killed; 'Have you heard' they bark at the innocent victims. Two young men who live in A-ram, returning from a day's work on the apartheid wall (or rather the dirt path on both its sides), 'armed' with a letter to the army in Hebrew indicating they work on the wall, and are allowed to cross the checkpoints, with their ID numbers listed on the document, are sent back, no explanation given just a rude go away.After we interfere the soldier says: 'Well we don't know the letter refers to them'... 'But you can see that their ID numbers match those indicated on the list in the letter' we say... 'Oh show me then... 'Well the army doesn't work with this contractor, they can't pass' he concludes. We call the civil administration's hot line called (by the army) moked humanitari, who won't or can't help. The men are not allowed through. Two students from a Nursing College doing their internship in a hospital in Ramallah, two days a week, on their way home to Hebron are turned back because they don't have a permit. They explain that they did in fact go to Beit El, where they were told by Bassem that they can only get a permit in Hebron's DCO. We try and explain to the soldiers that this was an impossible situation, that in order to acquire a permit they must pass Qalandya for which they have no permit, so what are they supposed to do? No... who cares... we don't know... he knew....answered who ever answered. So we call the civil administration's hot line (the so called 'humanitari...') who eventually says those guys must go to the Palestinian DCO and hand in/register their application there, then the application will be sent to Beit El, then Bet El will issue some sort of temporary permit allowing them to cross the checkpoint that once, which they will have to collect at the Palestinian DCO, and with that they will be able to arrive at/to the right DCO where they can try and acquire a valid permit. 'But it is Ramadan... It will be closed... and so is Beit El'. 'But no, nothing can be done and that's that'. Time passes, and they stay, having nowhere to go to, and Ihab the shift's commander arrive at the Northern side. So we ask him as well. First he says no too, and why not go through Surda, but after a while, after being approached again, he says he would check their IDs, and then more time passes, in which he goes to eat, and returns, and then suddenly (I'm not even sure he checked their IDs through the system) he says they can pass, which they do quickly before he changes his mind.... The whole time since we have arrived there is a man with a brown thin horse. We learn that he lives in Bir Naballa, and wants to go back home. However he and the horse are not allowed through. One of the soldiers, apparently concerned with animal' rights scolds the man: 'How can you treat your horse like this' he accuses him, 'I shall call the animal protection center and report you... you should be ashamed of yourself for treating him this way'. 'How is he not ashamed of himself for how he is treating his horse?' interferes a very upright young man, from Bir Naballa too, 'How are you not ashamed with yourself for how you are treating him?' Both the horse owner and his concerned advocate are not allowed through.